Koalas May Be Eating Themselves to Death
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Thousands of koalas are reportedly eating their food supply too quickly on Australia’s Kangaroo Island, but authorities have refused to heed conservationists’ pleas to reduce the population, fearing a backlash from tourists and animal rights activists.
The island’s estimated 30,000 koalas have stripped many of the eucalyptus trees, their sole food source, and they could eventually starve.
Matt Turner of the Nature Conservation Society said state authorities need to thin the koala population to preserve the ecosystem.
Authorities tried sterilizing or moving the animals, but their numbers still rose.
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