Blazing bushfires have been raging beyond control in Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland since September this year.

As of Nov. 21, more than 50 fires were burning in NSW, according to the Australian Daily Mail.

There were also an estimated 70 fires burning across Queensland with no end in sight.

Although these fires are common in the drier months in Australia, the extent of vegetation fires seen this year has reportedly been unprecedented.

Much of this vegetation is home to a variety of wildlife, like Australia’s iconic koalas, with many having trouble escaping from the devastation.

Koalas in Australia functionally extinct?

According to Deborah Tabart, the chairman of the Australian Koala Foundation, some 350 koalas may have been killed in the Port Macquarie bushfires alone.

Places such as Crows Nest and Lake Toowoomba have also had significant fires, although no death toll has been confirmed.

Tabart believes that many koalas may have died there as well.

In total, more than 1,000 koalas are estimated to have been killed as a result of the recent bushfires, SF Gates reports.

As there were no more than 80,000 koalas in Australia in May this year, these bushfires have had a huge impact on their population — so much so that koalas are now claimed to be "functionally extinct", BBC reported.

That was the first time Tabart made such a bold claim before the organisation said it again in October 2019.

Functional extinction happens when the population of a species declines to a certain point that they can no longer play a significant role in the larger ecosystem.

Even if some koalas survive these bushfires and reproduce, their limited numbers make chances of long-term sustainability highly unlikely.

However, there are scientists who are doubtful about Tabart's claim as it is difficult to have an accurate estimation of the true population size of koalas in Australia.

Noah Greenwald, the endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said to the New York Times that it's "too premature" to say that the koalas are functionally extinct and such claims could damage the trust that the public have in the scientific and conservation community.

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Bushfires destroy koala habitats and harm koala survival

In addition, these bushfires have destroyed about 80 per cent of koalas' natural habitats, including eucalyptus trees — their main source of food, Forbes reports.

While eucalyptus plants can grow back after a fire, doing so takes months, an unviable timeline for the wild koalas remaining who still need food in the meantime.

According to Daily Mail Australia, there may also not be much rain in the areas concerned in the coming 25 years, so these koala habitats will have a hard time recovering.

Tabart has reportedly urged the Prime Minister of Australia to enact the 2016 Koala Protection Act, which has to date not yet been passed. This new law will boost efforts to protect the habitats and trees vital to koalas, and also protect them from hunting.

Donations used to treat koalas and build "Koala Ark"

In the wake of the bushfires, the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital has set up a Go Fund Me page for donations to help treat injured koalas.

Having raised more than AUD$1.43 million (S$1.32 million) from over 30,000 donors, a sum that is more than quadruple their initial AUD$25,000 (S$23,158) target, the hospital plans to build, install and ship out automatic drinking stations for koalas in areas affected by the fires across the New South Wales area.

Apart from this, it is also purchasing a water-carrying vehicle with firefighting capabilities to replenish the drinking stations for the koalas.

It is also building a "Koala Ark" for burned koalas to live and breed in a healthy habitat during rehabilitation, and establishing a wild koala breeding programme.

To date, 31 koalas have been brought to and are being treated by the hospital from several fire grounds.

Editor’s note on November 26, 12:30pm: This article has been updated.

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Top image via Port Macquarie Koala Hospital