koalas on the way out?
By cloudwatcher
@cloudwatcher (6861)
Australia
November 10, 2009 3:13am CST
Today’s news gave us the information that there is now only an estimated 35,000 koalas left in Australia with the maximum possibly at 60,000. This does not put them in the endangered classification but certainly in the vulnerable. It was suggested that there would be no more koalas living in their native habitat in 30 years.
I’m sure everyone remembers the story of Sam the koala who was badly burned and given a drink of water by a fireman during the devastating Victorian bushfires last year. Sam was a top youtube story. Sam died later from his injuries, but Sam was only one of thousands.
Those fires wiped out 413,000 hectares or 1600 square miles of bushland, thus destroying the habitat of many Australian native animals. Koalas were probably the worst affected because they are slow moving. More than one million native animals are estimated to have been killed in the 595 fires.
Of course, the biggest tragedy was the human loss, with almost 200 killed in the fires or as a result. There were almost 2000 homes completely destroyed and more than 8000 people were left homeless. Many of these fires were thought to be deliberately lit.
What penalty do you think would be fitting to someone guilty of arson causing this destruction and loss of life?
Have you handled a koala? Have you seen a real one? How does the thought of them becoming extinct affect you?
5 people like this
7 responses
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
11 Nov 09
The biggest problem would be in catching them / proving them guilty.
Many suspects were questioned, but proof is almost impossible in a case like that.
1 person likes this
@weasel81 (2496)
• Australia
10 Nov 09
my partner and i along with another couple saved a koala, earlier this yr on our way home from a night out. it had been hit by a car, and my partner nearly got hit by a truck that didn't slow down even thou he could have. the police weren't even a help on getting help for the koala, we're lucky the pub knew who the wires people were and phoned them for us. the local vet once again had not answered the phone.
we did hear the churchill fires, were lit on purpose some one on a motor bike or something like that.
you feel more sorry for the animals that suffered, during this time.
if caught people should face time for what they have done.
1 person likes this
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
10 Nov 09
I'm so pleased you were able to get help for the koala. If the report today is right, we need to do whatever we can.
Not only is so much of their habitat burned out, but development is taking more.
I know many suspect arsonists were questioned, but it would be a very difficult crime to prove.
@KrauseHome (36447)
• United States
14 Nov 09
It is sad that there are so many people out there that have been known to be arsonists like this, and not care about what they might be destroying in their path as well. I know personally it is sad to see animals like this destroyed and killed, and the thoughts of them one day extinct is not a lovely thought at all. I have seen a Koala in a zoo once, and they are beautiful looking creatures for sure. I always would have wanted one for a pet.
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
14 Nov 09
They are very cute, but I don't think they would make a good pet. It is against the law anyway. When kept in koala sanctuaries there are very strict rules. Koalas sleep long hours and are only awake for little more than two hours a day and that time is spent eating. The time that koalas can be handled is strictly controlled and log books kept and supervised. At Lone Pine a team of men are employed just to cut down eucalyptus branches to feed them.
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
16 Feb 10
Sorry only to find this discussion my friend, koalas look so cute and furry but those claws, it's bad enough having to clip my cats claws imagine their claws which have to be strong enough to grip trees digging into you OUCH! Nevertheless they are beautiful creatures like all the animals on this good earth and I can't abide anyone being cruel to them. Trouble is in our country the laws are not stiff enough and there is no deterrant for animal cruelty. If I had my way I'd do what the culprits do to animals and turn it around and see how they feel, maybe lock them up in a small cage and poke them or push them in the bush and set fire to it, sorry but it angers me cruelty to animals. New legislations need to be enforced to make sure culprits are dealt with properly and not given mediocre sentences which are ludicrously laughable.
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
16 Feb 10
Wolfie I think they are too docile to USE their claws, but I have seen two koalas fighting and I wouldn't like to be at the mercy of their claws. The noise they make when fighting is incredible.
I agree there needs to be harsher penalties for animal cruelty. We do see cases here, but a slap on the wrist and a fine is usual. Animal cruelty - and ALL crimes - need harsher penalties which are applied, not suspended.
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
10 Nov 09
That is so sad
I have only ever seen a Koala in the Zoo and never had the pleasure to handle one
They are so sweet
I used to have a cuddly one and I really loved it, but it went missing when I moved and I don't know where it went and the thing is I have not found one here to get myself a new one and when I did find one it was to expensive
But it is so sad that they are dying out as they are so lovely
I think a severe punishment is in order for People who can do things like this
All those lifes gone because of some evil and cold hearted People
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
10 Nov 09
Gaby the koala you had was most likely much more cuddly than a real one, but it is an experience worth having.
I wonder how someone who caused such devastation and heartache can live with himself, but I doubt if such a crime could ever be proven.
2 people like this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
11 Nov 09
hi gabs because my hubby knew how much I loved koalas he gave me a stuffed
'one for a present years ago and now I can see him from where I sit typing
and it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling because of who gave it to me and because
it is so cute and so realistic too. I may sound brutal but having lived close
to some very destructive arson set fires I wish that once caught an arsonist'
could experience first hand what pain a human or an animal suffers when burned.
just a light singeing on the arms perhaps but enough to show them the pain then sent to prison for life for all the lives they cost.
1 person likes this
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
16 Nov 09
That's really sad. 200 killed as a result..
Personally, I've never handled a koala, but I'd love to someday. I think the idea of the koalas getting decreasing and to the point of near extinction is really sad and I hope that their population can be retained and increased, if possible. The fact that they are slow moving is also so sad to know, because otherwise, they could have escaped a lot of things unscathed. Like the fire..
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
16 Nov 09
Koalas "in the wild" could be extinct in 30 years, according to the experts, but we have a number of koala sanctuaries, including Lone Pine which keeps hundreds of them and they breed there.
Even if the koalas were faster moving, not many would have escaped those fires. Thousands of cattle were burned. One man who lived by immersing himself in a water hole says he'll never forget the screaming of his cattle nearby as they were burned alive.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
11 Nov 09
I live in Southern Ca and we also have had a lot of devastating fires here andmost by arsonists so I feel for the australians deeply .arsonists should have to have a few burns first then be sent to prison for years and years if they caused deaths of people and animals as that is murder. I was in a pet store one time when a young koala got loose and climbed up on my shoulder.he was so cute but the law would not let us have him as a pet so he was not for sale. but he started my love affair with koalas.that is so sad to hear they may become extinct in thirty years. I hope something can be done to prevent this. They are adorable creatures and we all are better off having seen them and known about them.we must try to restore the balance of nature before it is too late.
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
11 Nov 09
Hi Hatley. Yes, koalas are cute. I don't think there is another animal anything like them in looks, but really they are not very cuddly and wouldn't make a good pet. They are rather lifeless and are only awake for a couple of hours a day, and then they are feeding. But they certainly are cute! Koalas will still exist in the koala sanctuaries, but not in the bush.
One reason they were so hard hit in the Victorian fires is that they are so slow moving - and were most likely sound asleep. The fires moved at tremendous speed. These fires were very different. Everything was so dry from years of drought, that huge fireballs moved THROUGH THE AIR, travelling up to 20kms and starting a new fire.
I have a friend who lives in the fire area of California, right on the edge of the valley. They have been evacuated a few times but haven't suffered loss.
I doubt if bushfire arsonists are ever caught. It would be so hard to prove anything in that situation. At least in the latest fires, having seen the destruction of the first few (there were 595 fires) the charge would have to include manslaughter at least.
