THE KOALAS OF KANGAROO

It's been almost a year since I walked down Church Road on Kangaroo Island, where the smell of death could not be escaped.

- MARK EDWARD HARRIS

As an American, the carnage before my eyes was reminiscent of Timothy H. O'Sullivan's Harvest of Death photograph of the battlefield at Gettysburg. For the Australians on Kangaroo Island, perhaps Gallipoli would come to mind. But the enemy was not an opposing army, and the bodies were not those of soldiers but countless animals unable to escape the onslaught of the bushfires that consumed half their island.

While the country as a whole lost an estimated one billion animals in the bushfires, the impact on the fauna of Kangaroo Island was particularly devastating. For those that did survive the flames and smoke, starvation due to habitat loss has led to countless more deaths.

The koalas were particularly hard hit. At the time lighting ignited the fires on December 20, 2019, the koala population was estimated at approximately 50,000. Their numbers might be down to only 5,000 to 10,000.

Ninety percent of the koala's habitat was in the fire zone on Kangaroo Island's western side. This area includes Flinders Chase National Park and Ravine Des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area.