Most Americans picture a fluffy marsupial clinging to a tree when they think of koalas and a species slowly disappearing from the wild. That image isn't wrong. But in one corner of Australia, this situation is reversed. The koalas are not disappearing. They're multiplying so fast that scientists are now warning of an impending ecological disaster.
According to a new study published in Ecology and Evolution led by Dr. Frédérik Saltré of the University of Technology Sydney and the Australian Museum, alongside researchers from Flinders University and the University of Wollongong, South Australia’s Mount Lofty Ranges has a koala population that has grown far beyond what the land can cope with. According to this research, which delivers the first detailed population estimate ever conducted for the area, this one area now holds roughly 10% of all koalas in Australia. And without action, that number could increase by another 17 to 25 percent over the next 25 years, putting enormous strain on the forests that these animals rely on for food.
