Australia's koalas face extinction, foundation says
| Koalas, an iconic symbol of Australia, face extinction as rapid urbanization along the eastern seaboard destroys their fragile habitat, environmental activists have warned. The Australian Koala Foundation has written to the government urging it to declare the koala a vulnerable species after a survey of 1,000 koala habitats found 30 percent no longer had a koala in them and 60 percent had suffered widespread destruction. "I truly believe that in my lifetime the koala will become extinct unless we do something," Deborah Tabarat, executive director of the foundation, told reporters. Koalas are protected by law but the eucalyptus trees they call home and which provide their only source of food are not. There are about 100,000 koalas in Australia, down from an estimated 7 million to 10 million at the time of white settlement in 1788. In the 1920s 3 million koalas were shot for their fur. Tabarat said the major problem facing koalas was that the majority of Australia's 20 million people and the majority of the koala population both call Australia's eastern states home. She said that with 80 percent of Australia's east coast temperate forests destroyed and continued rapid urbanization, koalas along the eastern seaboard could be extinct in 15 years. "This animal is in serious trouble," said Tabarat. "In 15 years you will not see a koala west of the divide," she said, referring to the Great Australian Divide, mountains that divide east coast Australia from its rural outback. Wild koalas only exist in four of Australia's six states: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The marsupial has no natural predator but has been in decline for decades due to urban sprawl and from car accidents and dog attacks. More than 4,000 koalas are killed each year by dogs and cars, said the foundation on its Web site. The most robust koala population on the Australian mainland exists in southeast Queensland and numbers about 10,000, but it too faces extinction in 15 years, said Tabarat. Southeast Queensland is experiencing the most rapid population growth of any part of Australia. Over the past eight years 16,000 koalas in the area arrived dead or fatally injured in hospitals after accidents with cars or dog attacks and another 10,000 injured koalas probably died in the bush, said Tabarat.
| 环保主义者提出警告，东海岸的迅速城市化破坏了树袋熊脆弱的栖息环境，树袋熊——澳大利亚的象征——濒临灭绝。 在对1000处树袋熊栖息地进行调查后，澳大利亚树袋熊保护基金会写信给政府，迫切要求政府宣布将树袋熊列为濒危物种。该调查发现，有30%的栖息地中已经找不到一只树袋熊了，还有60%也已遭到大规模破坏。 基金会执行理事黛博拉·塔巴拉特告诉记者说：“我确信，如果我们再不采取措施的话，在我的有生之年，树袋熊将会灭绝。” 树袋熊是受法律保护的，但是桉树作为它们的家园，同时也是它们唯一的食物来源，却没有受到法律的保护。 澳大利亚现在约有十万只树袋熊，比起1788年白种人殖民地时期大大下降，当时估计有七百万到一千万。二十世纪二十年代，三百万只树袋熊因毛皮被射杀。 塔拉巴特说，目前树袋熊面临的主要问题是，澳大利亚两千万人口中的大部分和大多数的树袋熊都在澳大利亚东部地区安家落户。 她说，随着东海岸80%的温带森林遭到破坏，再加上持续而迅猛的城市化进程，生活在东部沿海的树袋熊可能会在今后15年内灭绝。 塔拉巴特说：“这种动物处境非常危险。” 她说：“15年后，在大分水岭以西，人们将再也见不到树袋熊。”大分水岭是指将澳大利亚东海岸和内地乡村分开的山脉。 野生树袋熊仅存于澳大利亚六个州中的四个，它们是昆士兰、新南威尔士、维多利亚和南澳大利亚。 这种有袋动物并没有自然天敌，但其数量在过去几十年间逐渐减少，主要原因是城市的扩张、车祸和狗的袭击。 树袋熊保护基金会在其网站上公布，每年死在车轮之下和被狗咬死的树袋熊超过4000只。 澳洲大陆上树袋熊种群最兴旺的地区是昆士兰州东南部，有大约一万只，但塔拉巴特说，这里的树袋熊也将在十五年内濒临灭绝。 她指出，昆士兰东南部现在是澳大利亚各地中人口增长最快的地区。在过去八年间，这里有一万六千只树袋熊在遇到车祸和被狗袭击后，送达医院时已经死亡或受致命伤，另外可能还有一万只树袋熊受伤后死在丛林之中。 urbanization: 城市化 |