The distinctive koala has been officially listed as an endangered species by the Australian government, according to Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley.

According to media reports, the Minister also said that the govt has approved the Threatened Species Committee's proposal that koala populations in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, and Queensland be classified as endangered. It comes ten years after koalas were first listed as vulnerable due to land clearance and bushfires that drastically reduced the marsupials' habitat.

In a statement, Ley stated, "Today I am enhancing the protection for koalas in NSW, the ACT, and Queensland, classifying them as endangered rather than vulnerable." 

"The advice was prompted by the effects of a long drought, followed by the catastrophic summer bushfires, as well as the cumulative effects of disease, urbanisation, and habitat loss over the last two decades." "The new classification emphasises the species' problems and guarantees that all assessments made under the act are assessed not only in terms of their local impacts, but also in terms of the overall koala population," she said.

The announcement came only weeks after the Australian government committed A$50 million ($35 million) to rescue the endangered species. Since the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires, which killed or harmed 60,000 koalas, environmentalists have pushed for koalas to be designated as endangered. The species was nominated for endangered status by the Humane Society International (HSI), the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and WWF-Australia.

"Within a decade, the koala on the Australian east coast went from no listing to being classified endangered," Dermot O'Gorman, WWF-chief Australia's executive, told local media. "For one of the world's most iconic species, that is a frighteningly swift fall," he added. "If the uplisting acts as a turning point in koala conservation, there is still time to conserve this globally iconic species." To safeguard their forest homes, we need stronger regulations and landowners incentives."

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