Koala Put on U.S. Endangered Species ListWASHINGTON - Koala bears, the cuddly looking marsupials found in Australian trees, have been listed as threatened under U.S. endangered species laws to better protect them from harm, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said on Tuesday.
Though koalas are not found in the wild in the United States, by listing them as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, the government hoped to raise awareness of their plight and prohibit their trade by anyone subject to American law, the agency said.In addition to the ban placed on their import, export and interstate or foreign commerce, the bears will be the subject of a cooperative effort between Washington and Australia on how best to conserve the mammals.
"Americans are captivated by koalas. However, because our familiarity comes from television, magazines and zoos, most of us have never seen wild koalas and would be surprised to learn that, just like many of our own species, their future is in jeopardy because of habitat destruction," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, the principal federal agency responsible for conservation.
Conservation programmes in Australia since the 1930s have helped to protect koalas from hunters, who once killed them for their fur. Populations range from 40,000 to 400,000 across the country, but human encroachment and ensuing changes in the koala's habitats have been blamed for recent population drops.
Nearly two-thirds of the eucalyptus forest and woodland ecosystem on which the koala depends has been lost, the Fish and Wildlife Service said. The rest is disappearing rapidly due to logging, farming and urbanization.
It is common for the U.S. government to try to protect species endangered in other countries, as some 560 foreign species are on the U.S. list.