Wildlife activists have expressed concern that hundreds of koalas could have been burned alive by a massive forest fire that spiraled out of control in their main home in eastern Australia.
The fire, which erupted on Saturday due to a lightning bolt near Port Macquarie in eastern New South Wales, damaged more than 2,200 hectares, including fertile land important for the growth and livelihood of koalas.
The head of Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, Sue Ashton, said forest fires that broke out around Lake Ines, south of Port Macquarie, were a breeding ground for hundreds of koala.
The New South Wales Fire Service Rural Fire Service has been battling the south-wide blaze for days, and the blaze has yet to be contained by high winds.
Last year, a non-governmental organization, Worldwide for Nature, said in Australia that about 20,000 koalas were likely to have left NSW and could become extinct in the state by 2050, due Largely to «excessively deforestation for agriculture».
The Australia Koala Foundation estimates there are between 34,000 and 100,000 koala in Australia, noting that the animal is "severely endangered."
• It is possible that 20,000 koalas have left New South Wales and could become extinct in the state by 2050.