Koalas Not Functionally Extinct From Fires – 1000 Killed Out Of 300,000, Reduced Numbers In New South Wales For 1 Or 2 Decades – Science20.com

A Koala population in New South Wales has been severely impacted by fires with loss of perhaps 70%, at least 350 of them killed, and it could be more, leading to headlines of “1000 koalas killed”. However there is no way even this population is functionally extinct (i.e. can’t produce a new generation). It will recover again, not immediately but in a couple of decades. A koala population can triple in population in 12 years. It depends on eucalyptus leaves and those trees have died, but the eucalyptus grows quickly too.