Once a koala population falls below a critical point it can no longer produce the next generation, leading to extinction.
The Australian Koala Foundation announced they believe “there are no more than 80,000 koalas in Australia,” making the species “functionally extinct."
What does ‘functionally extinct’ mean?The term “functionally extinct” can describe a few perilous situations. In one case, it can refer to a species whose population has declined to the point where it can no longer play a significant role in their ecosystem. For example, it has been used to describe dingoes in places where they have become so reduced they have a negligible influence on the species they prey on.
Functionally extinct can also describe a population that is no longer viable. For example in Southport, Queensland, native oyster reef beds are functionally extinct because more than 99 percent of the habitat has been lost and there are no individuals left to reproduce. Exhaustive multi-disciplinary koala research continues apace in an effort to find ways of protecting wild koala populations and ensuring that they remain viable now and into the future. Habitat loss, population dynamics, genetics, disease, diet and climate change are some key areas being studied.
The estimated percentage of koala population loss in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia was 53 percent, 26 percent, 14 percent and three percent, respectively. The estimated total number of koalas for Australia was 329,000 , with an estimated average decline of 24 percent over the past three generations and the next three generations.
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