Koala range

The animals are vulnerable to bushfires due to their slow movements and the flammability of eucalypt trees.[103] The koala instinctively seeks refug

e in the higher branches, where it is vulnerable to intense heat and flames. Bushfires also fragment the animal’s habitat, which restricts their move

ment and leads to population decline and loss of genetic diversity.[104] Dehydration and overheating can also prove fatal.[105] Consequently, the koala is vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Models of climate change in Australia predict warmer

and drier climates, suggesting that the koala’s range will shrink in the east and south to more mesic habitats.[106] Droughts also affect the koala’s well-being. For example, a severe drought in 1980 caused many Eucalyptus trees to lose thei

r leaves. Subsequently, 63% of the population in southwestern Queensland died, especially young animals that were excluded from prime feeding sites by older, dominant koalas, and recovery of the population was slow.[43] Later, this population declined from an estimat

ed mean population of 59,000 in 1995 to 11,600 in 2009, a reduction attributed largely to hotter and drier conditions resulting from droughts in most years between 2002 and 2007.[107]