Koala is confused after it's home is cut down

Clear-cutting an entire area can be devastating to animals that depend upon a certain type of tree to survive. Koalas eat mainly the leaves of the eucalyptus tree and can starve to death without it.

Despite the growing movement to protect native species, the poverty brought about by the drought of 1926–28 led to the killing of another 600,000 koalas during a one-month open season in August 1927. Koala skins were widely traded early in the twentieth century. One of the biggest anthropogenic threats to the koala is habitat destruction and fragmentation. In coastal areas, the main cause of this is urbanization, while in rural areas habitat is cleared for agriculture. Native forest trees are also taken down to be made into wood products. Since the European arrival, localized deforestation of eucalyptus in Australia ranges from 33 to 93%. In addition, Acacia habitats, which can also support koala populations, declined by 80% overall. In 2000, Australia ranked fifth in the world by deforestation rates, having cleared 564,800 hectares (1,396,000 acres).