Koala factcheck: have the Australian bushfires put survival of the species at stake?

Claims that koalas are 'functionally extinct' after the bushfires are overstated. But there are very real threats to their future Hundreds of koalas have been killed and millions of hectares of their habitat destroyed in the bushfires that have swept across parts of Australia this month.A recent headline in Forbes alleged the fires had rendered koalas "functionally extinct", a claim that was repeated widely in Australia and overseas, including by the Daily Mail and news.com.au. Continue reading...