Climate conditions on the planet are changing faster than natural and many species are difficult to adapt to. However, when it comes to climate change, most attention is paid to the consequences they have on people - quality of life and health, but also the consequences they leave on property and the economy. It is as if we forget that we are not the only inhabitants of this planet and that the changes caused, primarily by human activities, affect all living beings on Earth. In the years behind us, due to the high temperature, heat and drought, many plants died. Environmentalists claim that 2019 was the driest year in the last hundred.
Due to record droughts and fires in Australia, the koala population, along with its habitat, has shrunk so much that these animals are now considered "functionally extinct".
The president of the Australian Koala Foundation, Deborah Tabart, estimates that more than 1,000 koalas died from the fire and that 80 percent of their habitat was destroyed.
Recent fires, along with prolonged drought and deforestation, have led to koalas becoming "functionally extinct," according to experts.
Deforestation and fires are destroying the koala’s main food source, the eucalyptus tree. An adult koala eats up to two kilograms of eucalyptus leaves a day as the main ingredient in the diet. It takes several months for eucalyptus plants to recover after a fire, which does not leave a suitable source of food for koalas, so many die of starvation.
Port Macquarie Koala Hospital is collecting donations to help treat injured koalas. To date, 1.33 million Australian dollars have been raised from over 30,000 donors.
Part of their effort is to set up drinking stations for koalas in areas devastated by fires. The funds will also be used for the "Koala Arch", ie a shelter for koalas injured in fires.
Koalas and humans, believe it or not, have one thing in common, which you will surely be surprised by. Namely, these cute teddy bears, who spend most of their lives peacefully chewing eucalyptus leaves, have fingerprints, which are completely equal to human ones. "Dermatoglyphs" (fingerprints) are best explained as a way to adapt to a life that involves daily climbing tall vertical trees and taking food in your hands. This marsupial herbivore inhabits the warm coastal areas of eastern and southern Australia. Although most people think that these are small bears, they are not bears, but small baggers. The word "koala" in the Aboriginal language (indigenous tribes that inhabited the area of Australia), in free translation means "without water". This is due to the fact that koalas almost never, that is, very often drink water, which they make up from the juicy leaves of eucalyptus. Thanks to their slowed metabolism, which keeps food in the digestive tract for a long time, they are able to spend up to 20 hours a day sleeping. When they are born, they weigh barely 300 grams, have no hair and are blind. Only after 22 weeks do they get out of their mother's bag and climb on her back, where they stay until they become independent. An adult koala weighs about 8 pounds.
In the small pockets they have in their mouth, they keep the leaves, which I will chew only later, after the meal, when they get hungry again.
Source and photos
Google.com
I always have to add to these things that happen in the habitats of wild animals. Man is his own worst enemy. He attacks nature which is the same as attacking himself. For all the consequences that our bad habits of life bring. Destroying the environment is a knife to our own neck.