Wildlife Sanctuary Celebrates Successful Koala Breeding Season in Wake of Devastating Bushfires

The Australian Reptile Park in New South Wales has enjoyed a much-needed successful breeding season this year, welcoming a total of nine joeys in the wake of devastating wildfires that began at the end of 2019.

The births come at a “crucial time where every joey matters,” the park said.

Tim Faulkner, the park director, said, "Koalas in Australia are under serious threat. A year-long New South Wales parliamentary inquiry has found koalas are on track to become extinct in the wild in NSW well before 2050 without urgent intervention to stop the destruction of their habitat.

“The inquiry found previous estimates of 36,000 remaining marsupials in the state were most likely outdated, because they did not account for the effects of the 2019-20 bushfires,” Faulkner added. Credit: Australian Reptile Park via Storyful