Researchers backed by the San Diego Zoo are scrambling to save koalas threatened by the rampaging brush fires in Australia.
Officials said a team working in the Blue Mountains — home to the most genetically diverse population of koalas in the world — was able to find and capture a dozen of the marsupials as the flames approached last month and moved them to a zoo in Sydney for safekeeping.
Science for Wildlife, a Sydney-based nonprofit, has been studying the koalas in the Blue Mountains since 2014. Kellie Leigh, the executive director, has also been a researcher with San Diego Zoo Global since 2010. Her group sees the region as a potential refuge for koalas, which have seen their numbers drop from about 3 million to fewer than 300,000 across Australia. Before the fires, they were considered vulnerable to extinction, one step below endangered.
Known for their tall trees and rugged terrain, the Blue Mountains make spotting koalas in the wild difficult. Researchers have tracked them with radio tags, which proved useful as the flames approached. Volunteers with Science for Wildlife located a dozen koalas during a mid-December rescue effort, and climbers went into the trees to capture them. They have been taken to the Taronga Zoo until the fire threat passes.Leigh said more search-and-rescue efforts are planned.
The zoo’s ties to Australia go back almost a century. Businessman John D. Spreckels funded an animal-collecting trip there in 1925. Tom Faulkner, the zoo’s director, loaded a ship with 200 animals from North and Central America to trade for specimens from zoos in Sydney and Melbourne.
Deutschland Neuesten Nachrichten, Deutschland Schlagzeilen
Similar News:Sie können auch ähnliche Nachrichten wie diese lesen, die wir aus anderen Nachrichtenquellen gesammelt haben.
San Diego police facial recognition didn't lead to a single arrest in 7 years - Business InsiderThe program has now been shuttered thanks to a new California law banning the use of facial recognition by government agencies.
Weiterlesen »
San Francisco just swore in the first Asian-American sheriff in California historySan Francisco just appointed a new sheriff -- the first Asian-American sheriff in California history.
Weiterlesen »
Australians leave homes as heat, winds escalate fire dangerCommunities across Australia’s fire-ravaged southeast brace for a long day of mounting danger as thousands abandon their homes for evacuation centers and military helicopters drop emergency supplies to towns at risk of being isolated by blazes.
Weiterlesen »
Koala Mittens and Baby Bottles: Saving Australia's Animals After FiresWATERHOLES, Australia -- The convoy of vehicles fleeing a raging inferno in the forest of southeastern Australia ferried a copious cargo: 11 koalas, 15 kangaroos, five chickens, two possums, two dogs and a lorikeet.Susan Pulis, who runs a wildlife shelter, had rallied her friends to pack the animals
Weiterlesen »
Brave as lions: Zoo heroics save animals from Australia's raging firesWhen everyone else in the Australian town of Mogo fled the flames that tore thro...
Weiterlesen »
Kylie Jenner Donates $1 Million to Australia Fire Relief After Getting BacklashJenner had posted a controversial photo of her mink slippers.
Weiterlesen »