00:00:04Australia because they’re like a fairy
00:00:06and candy they’re looking like toys I’d
00:00:10be really hard put to find another
00:00:11mammal that is so recognizable
00:00:13internationally and so beloved but love
00:00:16alone the experts say is not enough to
00:00:19ensure the koalas future I can tell you
00:00:23that I believe the koalas feature in
00:00:25this country is bleak very bleep the
00:00:29eucalyptus forests that have been home
00:00:31to koalas are being increasingly claimed
00:00:34and cleared for housing farms and roads
00:00:37and according to Deborah tavern the
00:00:41executive director of the Australian
00:00:43koala Foundation each tree loss just
00:00:46adds pressure to these animals
00:00:48precarious state well this is exactly
00:00:52the sort of habitat that used to be all
00:00:54over Australia this is prime koala
00:00:56habitat and in the last 200 years since
00:00:59we’ve been here we’ve cleared about 80%
00:01:01of this so the foundation is pushing for
00:01:04a national koala act a law to protect
00:01:07the remaining forests including
00:01:09incentives for private landowners to
00:01:11help to have a visionary piece of
00:01:14legislation that says look this is the
00:01:16way it is we’re not telling you that you
00:01:19can’t do everything but if you want
00:01:21something through future generations
00:01:23you’re going to have to make some
00:01:24concessions because you can’t keep doing
00:01:26it the way it is according to a 1996
00:01:29study done for the foundation the koalas
00:01:32are a big revenue earner contributing
00:01:34around three quarters of a billion US
00:01:36dollars every year to the Australian
00:01:38economy the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in
00:01:42Brisbane combines conservation and
00:01:44tourism to the delight of visitors okay
00:01:47welcome so I’m fine and I come through
00:01:48and hope my cool
00:01:50the Foundation says the Koala has been
00:01:52decimated over the past two centuries
00:01:55estimating the population has declined
00:01:57from about ten million to possibly fewer
00:02:00than 100,000 which is why the foundation
00:02:04is so determined to make the national
00:02:06koala act a reality
00:02:08[Music]
”