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<ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Australia's fires are producing so much smoke that it will travel all the way around the earth and back to Australia, NASA said.</strong></li><li><strong>NASA said that the smoke had already travelled "halfway around Earth" last week, reaching South America, and will "make at least one full circuit around the globe, returning once again to the skies over Australia."</strong></li><li><strong>The fires have devastated Australia, killing dozens of people and an estimated one billion animals, burning thousands of miles of land and creating hazardous air quality.</strong></li><li><strong>The effects have reached other countries, including turning the sky red and glaciers black with smoke in New Zealand and affecting sunrises and sunsets in South America.</strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.insider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</strong></li></ul>NASA predicts that the massive bushfires devastating Australia will produce enough smoke to make at least one full circuit around the planet and return to Australia.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/nasa-animates-world-path-of-smoke-and-aerosols-from-australian-fires">NASA's Goddard research center said</a> that the smoke had already "travelled halfway around Earth" as of January 8, "crossing South America, turning the skies hazy and causing colorful sunrises and sunsets."<br /><br />"The smoke is expected to make at least one full circuit around the globe, returning once again to the skies over Australia."<br /><br /><br /><span class="image-source-caption ">The sky turns red from bushfires in Bemboka, in Australia's New South Wales state on January 5, 2020. <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-sky-turns-red-from-bushfires-in-bemboka-in-australias-news-photo/1191825660?adppopup=true"><span class="image-source">SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images</span></a></span>NASA noted that the fires in Australia are "not just causing devastation locally," blaming the "unprecedented conditions" of "heat combined with historic dryness."Bushfire season began in the country in September 2019. The season has particularly intense <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/when-how-australia-bushfires-started-in-2019-2020-1?r=US&amp;IR=T">thanks to a period of prolonged drought</a> that helped fires spread, leading to unprecedented damage and the death of an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/australia-bushfires-one-billion-animals-feared-dead-2020-1">estimated one billion animals.</a><br /><br />The fires have killed at least 28 people and destroyed thousands of homes.<br /><br />Satellite images have shown clouds of smoke from the fires drifting away from the continent:<br /><br /><br /><span class="image-source-caption ">NOAA satellite imagery showing smoke clouds away from Australia on January 2, 2020. <a href="http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis/online/images/hi_res/himawari-8/full_disk_ahi_true_color/full_disk_ahi_true_color_20200102051000.jpg"><span class="image-source">http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/</span></a></span>They're so big that they have created their own weather, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/australia-bushfires-generate-pyrocumulonimbus-thunderstorm-clouds-2019-12">in the form of giant thunderstorms that can then create new fires</a>.<br /><br />These storms are sending smoke into the stratosphere, with some plumes reaching 9.3 miles (15 kilometers) from the ground, NASA said.<br /><br />And this smoke then "can travel thousands of miles from its source, affecting atmospheric conditions globally."<br /><br />NASA drew particular attention to Australia's neighbor, New Zealand, saying: "The smoke is having a dramatic impact on New Zealand, causing severe air quality issues across the county and visibly darkening mountaintop snow."<br /><br />The fires have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-australia-bushfires-new-zealand-sky-2020-1?r=US&amp;IR=T">turned skies in parts of New Zealand sky orange</a>, even though the country is around 1,200 miles away.<br /><br /><br /><span class="image-source-caption ">The sky in Auckland, New Zealand. <span class="image-source">Phil Walter / Getty Images</span></span>NASA said that the overall effects of this, such as whether the extra smoke ends up helping to heat or cool the earth, is "currently the subject of intense study."<br /><br />In Australia, the smoke is creating dangerously low air quality levels. Parts of Melbourne <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7883461/Hazardous-bushfire-smoke-blankets-Melbourne-sparking-warnings-STAY-INDOORS.html">reached hazardous levels</a> this week, and people were urged to stay indoors. <br /><br /><br /><span class="image-source-caption ">Melbourne commuters walk wearing a mask as the city suffers hazardous air quality on Tuesday. <span class="image-source">Luis Ascui/Getty Images</span></span>The fires have far exceeded the size of the fires in the Amazon in 2019, which then prompted global outcry.<br /><br />They have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/australia-prime-minister-fires-climate-change-emisisons-2020-1?r=US&amp;IR=T">prompted calls for the resignation of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison,</a> who has continued to support the country's coal industry.<br /><br />

Australia's bushfires are producing so much smoke that NASA expects it to travel all the way round the world and return to Australia

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Anna Levan/Shutterstock</span></p><p class="caption">No more than 80,000 koalas remain in the wild, according to the Australian Koala Foundation.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Experts say no more than 80,000 koalas remain in the wild, making the marsupial "functionally extinct."</li><li>The extinction is part of a larger trend: Species around the planet are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/signs-of-6th-mass-extinction-2019-3">collapsing for the sixth time in Earth's history</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/types-of-pollution-health-effects-2019-3">Human activities are to blame</a> for this mass extinction, especially actions that destroy habitats and cause climate change.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>Australia's cutest marsupial is now "functionally extinct."</p><p>Experts at the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) <a href="https://www.savethekoala.com/sites/savethekoala.com/files/uploads/AKF_press_release_10_may_2019.pdf">announced on May 10</a> that they believe no more than 80,000 koalas are left on the continent.</p><p>That's not zero, of course, but "functionally extinct" means that a species' population has declined so much that it no longer plays a significant role in the ecosystem (like as predators of other creatures, for example). That's now true of koalas.</p><p>Deforestation, warmer weather, and droughts have all hampered the critters' ability to survive and thrive.</p><p>Koalas' severe decline is part of a larger trend: <span>A growing body of evidence suggests the planet is in the midst of </span><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/signs-of-6th-mass-extinction-2019-3">a sixth mass extinction</a><span>. </span>A recent report from the United Nations found that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/1-million-species-could-go-extinct-un-report-2019-5">up to 1 million species could disappear, many within decades, thanks to human activity</a>.</p><p><span>About 80% of koalas' natural habitat has disappeared, and the animals are also threatened by dogs and cars, which kill 4,000 of the marsupials every year, <a href="https://www.savethekoala.com/about-koalas/interesting-facts">according to the AKF</a>.</span></p><h2>What happened to Australia's koalas</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Tim Wimborne/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">A zoo keeper offers eucalyptus leaves to a baby koala named Boonda at Wildlife World in Sydney, June 28, 2011.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Pinpointing exactly how many koalas are left in Australia is a challenge for scientists because of the continent's size and the koala's nomadic nature. But the scientific evidence points to one conclusion: koala numbers are decreasing rapidly. </p><p><a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/pdf/WR11064">A 2011 study</a> reported that koala populations in inland regions of Queensland and New South Wales declined by up to 80% from 1995 to 2009 due to heatwaves and drought caused by climate change. Five years later, another study estimated that koala populations across Australia had declined, on average, 24% over the past three generations, and would continue to shrink over the next three. In Queensland, that study calculated, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ddi.12400">the percentage of koala population loss</a> was 53%. </p><p><em><strong>Read More:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/signs-of-6th-mass-extinction-2019-3" data-analytics-position="6">17 signs we're in the middle of a 6th mass extinction</a></em></p><p>The cause of most of this decline stems directly from human activities. <span><a href="https://theconversation.com/a-report-claims-koalas-are-functionally-extinct-but-what-does-that-mean-116665">The Conversation reported</a> that koalas' primary threat is habitat loss, since the creatures' eucalyptus tree forests are</span><span> being destroyed by pollution, farming, urban development, and deforestation. </span></p><p><span>Climate change caused by rising carbon emissions is also playing a role in these creatures' extinction. <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=9&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjBurDr66DiAhUI2VkKHZYoBhUQFjAIegQIARAC&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wwf.org.au%2FArticleDocuments%2F351%2Fpub-Koala-extinction-risk-NSW-28sept18.pdf.aspx&amp;usg=AOvVaw3bjcfkSjFEJLAR_2CmjGf8">According to the World Wildlife Fund</a>, climate change has led to more heat waves, droughts, and forest fires that kill off koalas' preferred habitats.</span></p><p><span>And as the creatures' habitats continue to shrink, koalas' chances of recovering from extinction decrease. </span></p><p><span>What's more, koalas' eucalyptus diet ensures that the leaves at the top of the forest canopy get pruned, <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-report-claims-koalas-are-functionally-extinct-but-what-does-that-mean-116665">The Conversation reported</a>. Without that leaf consumption, far less light would filter down to the forest floor, and that would have consequences for the flora and fauna close to the ground. The flammable eucalyptus canopy would also get thicker, <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/how-eucalyptus-trees-stoke-wildfires/">raising the risk of more frequent and intense forest fires</a>.</span></p><h2>Can koalas be saved?</h2><p>If a species' population falls below a certain threshold, it can reach a point at which the existing animals can't reproduce enough to create a subsequent generation. In certain cases, inbreeding occurs, which can threaten the health and viability of future generations.</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/a-report-claims-koalas-are-functionally-extinct-but-what-does-that-mean-116665">According to The Conversation</a>, some koala populations in Australia's urban areas are already suffering from excessive inbreeding.</p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Kate Wilson/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">A koala drinks from a bird bath at a rural property in Gunnedah, Australia.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p>The AKF has called for the Australian prime minister to "take the reins" by enacting the Koala Protection Act,<span> which prohibits selling, killing, or possessing the species and would also protect eucalyptus trees.</span></p><p><span>Koalas already have some protections - they're classified as vulnerable <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/16892/21960344">by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature</a> - but roughly 80% of the remaining koala habitat in Australia is on privately owned land. That means the land could be open for further development. </span></p><p>"I know the Australian public are concerned for the safety of koalas and are tired of seeing dead koalas on our roads. It is time for the government to respect the koala and protect its habitat," Deborah Tabart, head of the Australian Koala Foundation, <a href="https://www.savethekoala.com/sites/savethekoala.com/files/uploads/AKF_press_release_10_may_2019.pdf">said in a press release</a>.</p><p>In 2011, the Australian senate completed an inquiry into the status, health, and sustainability of Australia's koala population. Although the conclusion was that koalas were in trouble, almost no legislation has been passed to save koala habitats since then.</p><p><a href="https://www.savethekoala.com/sites/savethekoala.com/files/uploads/AKF_press_release_10_may_2019.pdf">The AKF's press release noted</a> that "no one has written anything to protect the Koala in the last six years of [Australian] government."</p><p>"Our tourist icon is ready to leave, and no, zoos are not the answer," Tabart added. "Saving their habitat is."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-extreme-animal-newborns-babies-2018-8">The 5 most extreme newborns in the animal kingdom</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Only 80,000 koalas remain in the world, rendering them 'functionally extinct' - another victim of the 6th mass extinction

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Australian Reptile Park welcomed its first baby <keyword id="477576" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="koala">koala</keyword> after the Australian bushfires.</li><li>Named Ash, the baby koala signifies hope for the country.</li><li>According to one report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, koalas face the threat of extinction, so wildlife parks are working to jump-start a new generation. </li></ul><p>A <keyword id="1083" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Joey">joey</keyword>, or baby koala, peered out of her mother's pouch for the first time this month. </p><p>The baby, named Ash, is unaware of her significance. She's the first baby koala to be born at the <a href="https://reptilepark.com.au/">Australian Reptile Park</a> after the <a href="https://www.insider.com/when-how-australia-bushfires-started-in-2019-2020-1">bushfires devastated</a> the country and its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/australian-koala-hospital-photos-show-wildfire-devastation-2019-12">koala populations</a>. </p><h2>Staff at the wildlife park in New South Wales, <keyword id="6355478" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="australia">Australia</keyword>, said the baby signifies hope for a new generation of koalas</h2><p>"Ash represents the start of what we're hoping to be another successful breeding season," zookeeper Dan Rumsey said in a statement. </p><p>The park had seven baby koalas last year, and it's hoping to strengthen that number this year as the species faces the <a href="https://www.ifaw.org/press-releases/emergency-uplisting-koalas-new-south-wales">threat of extinction</a>. </p><p>Ash show signs that she's a healthy koala joey, the zoo said. Ash was born in January but was spending time in her mother's pouch to grow and strengthen. This was the first time the zookeeper felt safe to check in on the joey, he told <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/australian-reptile-park-welcomes-first-koala-born-after-bushfire-season-wipes-out-thousands/news-story/201ff58d5657794fd149ef3bcda19f50">News.Com.Au</a>, an Australian news site.</p><h2>While this is the first time zookeepers have seen the baby, Ash is already about five months old</h2><p><div type="image" title="0V2A8514" height="800" width="1067" msid="76075993" hostid="261"></div></p><p>"Ash is estimated to be 5 months old and is right on track to be emerging from the pouch for the first time. Her mother Rosie has shown exemplary parenting skills and we know that Ash is in good paws," Rumsey said.</p><p>Ash is peeking out just in time to welcome back visitors to the park, which will reopen on Monday.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/ways-people-around-the-world-have-spread-joy-2020-5">14 ways people around the world have spread joy to brighten up your week</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/bbc-sports-broadcaster-dogs-pets-performance-review-2020-5">A BBC sports broadcaster held a Zoom meeting with his 2 dogs to deliver their annual performance reviews</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/bath-time-bears-oregon-zoo-video-2020-5">The Oregon Zoo shared an adorable video of a black bear splashing around in a giant bathtub</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/sea-turtles-coronavirus-lockdowns-florida-thailand-poaching-2020-4">Beaches around the world may be empty, but conservationists question if sea turtles are truly thriving during lockdowns</a></li></ul>Read the original article on <a href="https://www.insider.com/australian-wildlife-park-baby-koala-bushfires-2020-5">Insider</a>

An Australian wildlife park welcomes its first baby koala after the devastating bushfires

The Australian government on Monday said it could declare <keyword id="69357" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="koalas">Koalas</keyword> as an "endangered" species after their population suffered "extraordinary hit" in the bushfire crisis, which destroyed 30 per cent of their habitat across the country. <br /><br />Since September last year, the raging Australian bushfires, one of the worst in its history, has killed at least 26 people, burned over 10 million hectares of land, destroyed over 2,000 homes and pushed many species towards extinction. <br /><br />Over 1.25 billion animals are believed to be dead in the wake of bushfires and experts believe that hundreds of billions of insects may have been wiped out, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported. <br /><br />The government has established a 50-million Australian dollar emergency fund to address the devastating loss of wildlife. <br /><br />Announcing the funding commitment, Environment Minister Sussan Ley said Australia's <keyword id="477576" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="koala">koala</keyword> population has taken an "extraordinary hit" in the ongoing bushfires and could be listed as "endangered". <br /><br />The Threatened Species Scientific Committee will need to assess whether koalas have moved from a 'vulnerable' listing to being 'endangered' in some parts of the country, she said. <br /><br />Koala populations across the country are not all impacted by the fires. Koalas are listed as vulnerable in northern New South Wales (NSW) and south-east <keyword id="88075" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Queensland">Queensland</keyword>, and the fires have likely put them under more pressure there, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. <br /><br />The bushfires this summer season has destroyed over 10 million hectares of land across the country, while over 8.4 million hectares have been destroyed in NSW alone. <br /><br />With 30 per cent of their habitat already been destroyed in the devastating bushfires, koalas -- the herbivorous marsupial animal native to Australia -- have become a big focus for the Australian government. <br /><br />"We know that our native flora and fauna have been very badly damaged. It will be some time before we know what that means for their numbers (and) koalas will be a big area of focus for us," Environment Minister Ley said. <br /><br />"It may be necessary...to see whether in certain parts of the country, koalas move from where they are, which is often vulnerable, up to endangered," she said. NC SCY

Australia may list Koalas as 'endangered' after population suffers 'extraordinary hit' in bushfire

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Elsa the <keyword id="477576" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="koala">koala</keyword> and Hope the wombat have become best friends while the Australian Reptile Park was shut due to <keyword id="91743" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="lockdown">lockdown</keyword> restrictions. </li><li>Keepers at the park would put Hope in the koala enclosure while they cleaned her area. She met Elsa and they instantly bonded.</li><li>The marsupial mates now hang out every day, and always greet each other with a kiss.  </li><li>A video of the pair snuggling and nuzzling was shared on the park's Facebook page, where it has received more than 235,000 views. </li></ul><p>Lockdowns around the world have kept many loved ones apart, but at one Australian <keyword id="9066" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Zoo">zoo</keyword>, it's helped forge <a href="https://www.insider.com/animals-meeting-each-other-at-zoos-and-aquariums-2020-4">a beautiful new friendship</a>. </p><p>Elsa the koala and Hope the wombat became inseparable while the <a href="https://reptilepark.com.au/">Australian Reptile Park</a> was shut for months due to the pandemic. </p><p>Hope and Elsa are so close that keepers at the park — which is located in Somersby, New South Wales — now call them "lockdown BFFS" and let the adorable friends <a href="https://www.insider.com/orangutans-and-otters-are-best-friends-at-belgium-zoo-2020-4">hang out together every day</a>. </p><p><div type="image" title="hope and elsa" height="1333" width="2000" msid="76396057" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Hope and Elsa were instantly intrigued by each other when they first met. </p><p>Keepers at the park would put Hope in the koala enclosure while they cleaned and added fresh leaves to her area. She soon met Elsa, and the pair became fast friends. </p><p>"Elsa and Hope were seen interacting frequently," a spokesperson for the park told Insider. "Keepers would watch on in awe as the pair bonded and greeted each other with a daily Eskimo nose kiss! It didn't take long for them to become the best of friends!" </p><p><div type="image" title="elsa and hope" height="1284" width="2546" msid="76396058" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The wombat is a close relative to the koala so "it's not all that surprising that the two have become close friends," Australian Reptile Park director Liz Gabriel told Insider. </p><p>And that's not all Hope and Elsa have in common. </p><p>"Hope and Elsa both had a rough start to life," Gabriel said. "But they are both <a href="https://www.insider.com/beluga-whale-gave-birth-to-calf-aquarium-photos-2020-5">growing into happy and healthy animals</a>." </p><p><div type="image" title="hope and elsa" height="1286" width="2546" msid="76396059" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The marsupial mates both had to be hand-raised by keepers at the park to ensure that they were going to survive. </p><p>Elsa stole <keyword id="6355478" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="australia">Australia</keyword>'s heart back in October when the park released a video of <a href="https://www.insider.com/australian-wildlife-park-baby-koala-bushfires-2020-5">the newborn koala</a>, revealing that she had to be cared for around the clock.</p><p>Elsa's mother had mastitis — an infection of the breast tissue — and couldn't feed her. </p><p>So park curator Haley Shute took Elsa home, feeding her seven bottles of formula a day for months before she became independent enough to eat eucalyptus leaves.</p><p>"Koala joeys require 24 hours of care and supervision," Shute told <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/116260071/elsa-will-warm-your-cold-dead-heart">Stuff.co.nz</a> in October. "I can't tell you the last time I've had a proper night's sleep." </p><p><div type="image" title="hope and elsa" height="1332" width="1776" msid="76396060" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Now Elsa is better than ever and sharing the spotlight with her new friend. An adorable video of the pair snuggling and nuzzling was recently shared on the park's Facebook page, where it has received more than 235,000 views at the time of writing. </p><p>And Shute is ecstatic that Elsa and Hope have become best mates. </p><p>"Elsa is just a bit over one year old now, and it's been an amazing experience watching the world love her as much as I do," Shute said. "Hope is a little ray of sunshine, and we just knew the two of them would enjoy getting to know each other!" </p><p>"It's a very special <keyword id="6357794" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Friendship">friendship</keyword> these two have formed, and I can't wait to see it continue to blossom." </p><p><div type="image" title="hope and elsa" height="1334" width="1778" msid="76396061" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The public can now visit both Elsa and Hope at the Australian Reptile Park, which opened its doors again this month after being shut throughout April and May. </p><p>Shute said she hopes that Elsa and Hope's bond will help bring attention to the fact that Australia has "the worst mammal extinction rate on the planet." </p><p><div type="image" title="hope and elsa" height="1284" width="2164" msid="76396062" hostid="261"></div></p><p>"Elsa and Hope are great ambassadors for Australian wildlife, and our wildlife needs all the help it can get," she said. "Our iconic koala is sadly experiencing a large decline in numbers due, in part, to <a href="https://www.insider.com/when-how-australia-bushfires-started-in-2019-2020-1">the tragic bush fires</a> we had earlier this year. They're on the trajectory to be extinct by 2050." </p><p><a href="https://www.savethekoala.com/about-koalas/help-save-koalas">You can help Australia's koala population</a> by donating to koala hospitals and rehabilitation centers, signing up for a koala adoption program to help pay for its care, or planting a koala food tree if you reside in an area where the marsupials live.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/australian-wildlife-park-baby-koala-bushfires-2020-5">An Australian wildlife park welcomes its first baby koala after the devastating bushfires</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/animals-meeting-each-other-at-zoos-and-aquariums-2020-4">Adorable photos of animals meeting each other at zoos and aquariums to get you through the week</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/orangutans-and-otters-are-best-friends-at-belgium-zoo-2020-4">A group of orangutans and otters living together at a Belgium zoo have formed an unlikely friendship</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/penguins-visit-art-museum-for-the-day-2020-5">A museum let a group of penguins wander its empty rooms, and they couldn't take their eyes off the paintings</a></li></ul>

A koala and wombat have become the best of friends during lockdown at an Australian zoo

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Australian government on Tuesday released a list of 113 animals it says need "emergency intervention" to keep going after devastating bushfires wrecked their habitats.</li><li>The list includes koalas and platypuses, plus some birds, mammals, reptiles, frogs, and fish.</li><li>Since September, the unprecedented <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/australia-wildfires-space-satellite-pictures-smoke-new-zealand-2020-1">fires have razed</a> over <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-50951043">27 million acres</a>, and at least <a href="https://www.insider.com/australia-bushfires-one-billion-animals-feared-dead-2020-1">1 billion animals are feared dead</a> in the blazes. They're still going.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>The Australian government on Tuesday released a list of 113 animal species that need "emergency intervention" as devastating bushfires rip through their natural habitat. </p><p>Australia's <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/bushfire-recovery/research-and-resources">Department of Agriculture, Water, and Environment</a> named 13 birds, 19 mammals, 20 reptiles, 17 frogs, five invertebrates, 22 crayfish and 17 fish that are currently under threat.</p><p>Experts estimate that most of these animals have had "at least 30% of their range burnt," with some species, including koalas, having substantially more.</p><p>Although bushfires are common in Australia during the hot spring and summer months, this year's bushfire season has been the worst on record.</p><p>Since September, the unprecedented <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/australia-wildfires-space-satellite-pictures-smoke-new-zealand-2020-1">fires have razed</a> over <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-50951043">27 million acres</a>. At least <a href="https://www.insider.com/australia-bushfires-one-billion-animals-feared-dead-2020-1">1 billion animals are estimated to have died</a>.</p><p>The government listing said: "The fires have covered an unusually large area and, in many places, they have burnt with unusually high intensity. Some species were considered threatened before the fires, and the fires have now likely increased their risk of extinction."</p><p>One of the animal species listed is the koala. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/27/australias-environment-minister-says-up-to-30-of-koalas-killed-in-nsw-mid-north-coast-fires">In December</a> Australia's environment minister said that up to 30% of koalas along the New South Wales coast had died killed in bushfires. Experts have previously declared the marsupial "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/koalas-functionally-extinct-in-australia-2019-5">functionally extinct.</a>"</p><p>The government also declared that another Australian animal, the platypus, was also under urgent threat. Scientists last month said the duck-billed mammal, was being pushed to the "<a href="https://www.insider.com/platypuses-pushed-to-brink-of-extinction-scientists-say-2020-1">brink of extinction</a>."</p><p>The provisional list does not include plants. The government wrote that it is still working out the scale of the threat to plantlife.</p><p>"The animal species included are initial priorities - many others will also need management intervention to support recovery," the department wrote. </p><p>"Fires are continuing to burn which may cause other species to become priorities for emergency intervention."</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/heartbreaking-photos-animals-australia-bushfires-2020-1">Heartbreaking photos show koalas, kangaroos, and other animals being badly burned or left without homes because of Australia's bushfires</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/platypuses-pushed-to-brink-of-extinction-scientists-say-2020-1">Scientists say Australia's rare duck-billed platypuses are being pushed to 'the brink of extinction' - and deadly bushfires are making it worse</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/how-much-australian-billionaires-have-donated-to-wildfire-disaster-relief-2020-1">Here's how much Australia's billionaires have donated to relief efforts for the wildfires that have destroyed 25 million acres of land and have killed at least 28 people</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/australia-fires-celebrities-donate-relief-efforts-2020-1">Celebrities who donated their time and money to Australia fire relief efforts</a></li></ul>

Australia's government listed 113 native animal species that need 'emergency intervention' in order to survive after its devastating bushfires

<ul><li><strong>In 2019, the average global temperature was 1.8 degrees Celsius — a limit that signifies major changes to life on Earth. <br /></strong></li><li><strong>According to the World Meteorological Organisation, extreme heat conditions are likely to drive more events like Australia bush fires that killed a billion animals. </strong><br /></li></ul>The world had suffered enough in 2019 with bushfires in Australia, Amazon forest fires to drought and floods in South Asia. But, it looks like Mother Nature is not backing down this year either. <br /><br />"Unfortunately, we expect to see much extreme weather throughout 2020 and the coming decades, fuelled by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51111176">said Petteri Taalas, head of the UN's World Meteorological Organization. </a><br /><br /><strong>Drought, heat and fire <br /></strong>Last year was also the second hottest year ever, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). This extreme heat is likely to spill over and drive more events like Australian bush fires that killed a billion animals and put koalas at the brink of extinction. <br /><br />“Australia had its hottest, driest year on record in 2019, setting the scene for the massive bush fires which were so devastating to people and property, <keyword id="6360144" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="wildlife">wildlife</keyword>, ecosystems, and the environment,” said Taalas. <br /><br />The average global temperature was 1.8 degrees Celsius in 2019 — a limit that signifies major changes to life on Earth. One of the effects is the rising temperature of oceans.<br /><br /><strong>Oceans turning acidic</strong><br />Warming <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/earth-s-oceans-are-hotter-ever-getting-warmer-faster-n1114811">oceans are likely to turn water more acidic</a>, threatening sea life. It will also make it tougher to live near the coast line affecting people from Miami beaches to Bangladesh as water levels will continue to rise. However, scientists are not yet aware of the extent of destruction caused by heat, yet. <br /><br />"It's a very complicated system, and we don't fully understand which species will have to shift their range, which ones may go extinct or which ones may prosper,” <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/earth-s-oceans-are-hotter-ever-getting-warmer-faster-n1114811">said Nick Bond,</a> a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. <br /><br />But what we know is that we have a lot to do, in very less time. <br />According to the <keyword id="6355835" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="un">UN</keyword>, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/14/world/un-biodiversity-draft-plan-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html">humans have only 10 years left </a>to save Earth from mass extinction. Earth has entered the sixth era of mass extinction already and requires urgent plan of action. <br /><br />See also: <br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/shocking-pictures-of-extreme-natural-disasters-in-2019-that-reminded-the-world-that-climate-change-is-for-real/articleshow/72486537.cms">Shocking pictures of extreme natural disasters in 2019 that reminded the world that climate change is for real</a><br />

UN warns of more Australia bushfire like events in 2020

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>More than 40,000 years ago, giant kangaroos roamed western Australia.</li><li>One type of ancient kangaroo weighed 260 pounds (118 kilograms) and had powerful jaws that enabled it to bite through tough vegetation.</li><li>A new study shows that jaw was remarkably similar to those of modern giant pandas, which allow them to crunch through bamboo.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>More than 40,000 years ago, the landscape of southwestern Australia was replete with giant kangaroos.</p><p>One of these extinct kangaroos, known as a short-faced kangaroo, boasted a single-toed clawed foot (modern-day roos have three toes), weighed more than 260 pounds, and munched on plants.</p><p><em>Read More: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fossils-of-giant-sloth-found-in-sinkhole-2019-3">Divers found fossils of an ancient giant sloth hidden in a sinkhole. The creature was 20 feet long.</a></em></p><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221287.g004">According to a new study</a> published in the journal PLOS One, these creatures' large jaws allowed them to chomp through tough foods like mature leaves, stems, and branches when other food sources were scarce.</p><p>Only one animal today has similar jaw bones and muscles: giant pandas, which also eat hard-to-chew, thick vegetation like bamboo shoots. In fact, the new research indicates, the kangaroo's jaw was more similar in shape and function to that of today's giant pandas than to modern-day kangaroos.</p><p>"In general, they would have appeared quite different to modern-day kangaroos, with more thick-set bodies, long muscular arms with extended fingers, often only a single big toe on each foot, and box-shaped heads that were shaped more like a koala's," study author D. Rex Mitchell <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/prehistoric-giant-kangaroo-powerful-bite-1458750">told Newsweek</a>.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><h2>Jaws like a giant panda's</h2><p>Scientists already guessed that these giant kangaroos' jaws enabled them to consume hard-to-chew vegetation. Mitchell decided to test that theory by determining how much force the skull could resist.</p><p>So he created 3D digital models of a short-faced kangaroo skull and simulated the mechanical forces at play. Mitchell found that the giant cheekbones of this ancient animal supported large muscles that would have prevented the animal's jaw from dislocating during giant bites. The bones on the front and top of its skull formed an arch that helped keep the muscles from twisting.</p><p>According to the study, the extinct kangaroo's physiology suggests that it had adapted to take advantage of foods that were difficult to chew more than any Australian herbivore alive today. Modern-day kangaroos, by contrast, prefer grasses, flowers, ferns, and moss. </p><p><em><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></em></p><p>"The ability to consume parts of plants that other herbivores of the time could not would have offered them a competitive edge when times were tough," Mitchell said.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><p><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-01/uoa-oot011415.php">According to a 2015 study</a>, however, short-faced kangaroos left no modern kangaroo descendants. Their closest living cousins could be the banded hare-wallaby, or Lagorchestes fasciatus.</p><p>These tiny marsupials live only on isolated islands off the coast of western Australia and are vulnerable to extinction.</p>

You Searched For "koala extinction" and got 8 results

Australia's bushfires are producing so much smoke that NASA expects it to travel all the way round the world and return to Australia

Business Insider

Only 80,000 koalas remain in the world, rendering them 'functionally extinct' - another victim of the 6th mass extinction

Aylin Woodward

An Australian wildlife park welcomes its first baby koala after the devastating bushfires

Monica Humphries

Australia may list Koalas as 'endangered' after population suffers 'extraordinary hit' in bushfire

PTI

A koala and wombat have become the best of friends during lockdown at an Australian zoo

Anneta Konstantinides

Australia's government listed 113 native animal species that need 'emergency intervention' in order to survive after its devastating bushfires

Rosie Perper,Rosie Perper

UN warns of more Australia bushfire like events in 2020

Preeti Soni

More than 40,000 years ago, giant kangaroos roamed Australia. Their jaws were surprisingly similar to those of pandas, a new study found.

Aylin Woodward

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