Koalas
Koalas,aniconicsymbolofAustralia,faceextinctionasrapidurbanizationalongtheeasternseaboarddestroystheirfragilehabitat,environmentalactivistshavewarned.
TheAustralianKoalaFoundationhaswrittentothegovernmenturgingittodeclarethekoalaavulnerablespeciesafterasurveyof1,000koalahabitatsfound30percentnolongerhadakoalainthemand60percenthadsufferedwidespreaddestruction.
"Itrulybelievethatinmylifetimethekoalawillbecomeextinctunlesswedosomething,"DeborahTabarat,executivedirectorofthefoundation,toldreporters.
Koalasareprotectedbylawbuttheeucalyptustreestheycallhomeandwhichprovidetheironlysourceoffoodarenot.
Thereareabout100,000koalasinAustralia,downfromanestimated7millionto10millionatthetimeofwhitesettlementin1788.Inthe1920s3millionkoalaswereshotfortheirfur.