山火事でコアラ数百頭犠牲か　豪ニューサウスウェールズ州

【シドニーＡＦＰ＝時事】オーストラリアの野生動物保護当局は30日、同国東部の沿岸地域で制御不能となっている山火事で、コアラ数百頭が焼け死んだ可能性があると明らかにした。（写真は資料写真）
　山火事は２６日、シドニーから北へ約４００キロ離れた地域で、落雷によって発生したとみられる。これまでに２０００ヘクタール以上が焼き尽くされ、現在も延焼を阻止できていない。
　ニューサウスウェールズ州北部の野生動物救助団体は、火災が発生した地域に生息する「非常に珍しい」コアラの群れ数百頭が犠牲になったのではないかと、強い懸念をあらわにした。
　ポートマッコリー・コアラ病院のスー・アシュトン院長は「この地域のコアラには、遺伝的に非常に多様性が高いという特殊な重要性がある」と述べ、「比類がないだけに、このコアラの群れを失うことは国家の悲劇だ」と付け加えた。
　長期的な森林伐採や土地開発により、木の上で生活するコアラの生息地は失われ、群れ同士のつながりが絶たれた一方で、同種のコアラが親近交配するケースが増えたため、コアラの遺伝的多様性が失われたという背景がある。
　深刻な干ばつに見舞われているニューサウスウェールズ州では、現在も７０件以上の山火事が続いている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/10/31-11:23）

Hundreds of koalas are feared to have burned to death in an out-of-control bushfire on Australia's east coast, wildlife authorities said Wednesday.
A bushfire believed to have been sparked by a lightning strike on Saturday some 400 kilometres (248 miles) north of Sydney has ravaged an area of over 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) with authorities battling to bring it under control.
Wildlife rescuers in northern New South Wales state hold grave fears for a very rare population of hundreds of koalas living in the fire zone.
The special importance of those koalas is that they are very genetically diverse, Sue Ashton, president of the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, told AFP.
Her fears are that hundreds in the known koala breeding area have perished in the fire.
It's a national tragedy because this koala population is so unique, she added.
Land clearing and development over time has meant a loss of habitat for the tree-dwelling koalas, leading to less connectivity between populations, increased inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity of the marsupial.
More than 70 fires continue to burn across the state of New South Wales, which has been battling severe drought.
Authorities say conditions are easing near Port Macquarie, where large air tankers are being used to battle the out-of-control blaze.
The fire will continue to burn throughout the night, however there are significant resources in the area protecting properties, New South Wales Rural Fire Service said in their latest update.
Ashton said wildlife volunteers would join firefighters in the area either Thursday or Friday to assess the scale of loss and begin a rescue operation for the surviving koalas.
What happens to a koala in a fire is that they climb up to the top of the tree and they curl up into a little ball. If the fire goes through quickly and just singes their fur, they are fine the fur will grow back, she said.
But if the fire intensifies and continues to burn up the tree they'll perish, she added.
So we won't really know until we get in there and start to look.