They're cute, cuddly and a symbol of Australian culture.
But they're facing extinction.
A 2020 inquiry found koalas will no longer exist in New South Wales by 2050 unless there is urgent action.
It suggests the once-thriving marsupial has been ravaged by habitat loss, disease and climatic events in recent years.
September is save the koala month.
So as Save the Koala month approaches, leading conservation groups are calling for immediate government action to protect the species.
Dr Stuart Blanch is a Conservation Scientist with the World Wildlife Fund.
He says the situation is dire.
"The number of koalas in Queensland and New South Wales halved between the years 2000 and 2020. That's a big decline, 50% over just 20 years. That's why those koalas are now listed as endangered under federal environmental law. In South Australia and Victoria the story is a bit different. In some areas there are a lot of koalas and the numbers of building up, particularly in plantations, but also in some national parks."
The Australian Koala Foundation says there are currently less than 60,000 koalas remaining in the wild.
Dr Blanch says that's a lot less than there used to be- and there are several reasons for the dramatic decline.
"Nobody really knows how many koalas were around at the time of the British settlement and invasion. But there's one book that estimates maybe 10 million, whatever it is, it was many millions. Then between the 1860s and 1930s, at least 8 million koalas were shot. So we lost millions and millions and millions of koalas a long time ago. And then after the Second World War, koala populations started to recover a bit after the end of the fur trade. The era of major land clearing and logging started so koalas numbers did not get time to bounce back, particularly in Queensland and New South Wales."
Dr Blanch says in the last 20 years, the effects of climate change have caused a further impact on koalas across the landscape - even in national parks, which are well-protected.
Koalas are an integral part of the Australian bush – where they are perched high up in the branches of gum trees, sleeping for up to 20 hours a day.
Chair of the Australian Koala Foundation, Deborah Tabart, says that well-known koala diet is a problem- but not in the way people think.
"Everyone says they're fussy. But in fact, they have about 750 eucalyptus species to choose from. And in various parts of the country, they eat about 10 as part of their healthy diet. So part of the problems in Victoria is that the habitats have been cut down so badly that sometimes the poor things are just eating one species. Imagine us just eating potatoes for the rest of our lives. So koalas need a well rounded diet. And a lot of the really primary trees that they eat are often used for housing, fence posts, fire wood."
Koalas also have great cultural significance to First Nations communities and feature in Dreamtime stories, songs, and rock art.
Ms Tabart says the species are not only a part of Australian culture, but also the economy.
"Many years ago, the Australian Koala Foundation asked economists to look at how much the koala brings to Australian tourism. And now people believe it's about $3 billion dollars and 30,000 jobs and that was just prior to COVID. But can you imagine Australia without koalas? And can you imagine not being able to sell stuffed koalas around the world? So they're worth billions of dollars. But I think it's part of our psyche, the Australian psyche. I just don't think anyone can even contemplate the koalas not being here. And these are the things that I think that 'Save the Koala' month attract - people to think about it."
Australia's humans are battling a housing crisis...but so are the country's koalas, in the process of trying to build more homes for people.
Tearing down trees, where koalas live, to build more dwellings to fix the country's housing crisis, means the koala population will continue to decrease.
It raises the question as to whether humans and koalas can succesfully co-exist.
Jacqui Mumford is the Chief Executive of the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales.
She says it's more than possible.
"It's not a matter of environment versus housing. I think when it comes to housing development, there's sort of two parts to that story. One is where the housing goes and the other is what we use to build it. In terms of where housing goes, so much of the state has already degraded, it's not necessary to continue cutting down ecologically important areas to keep cutting down the bush to build homes when there's already so much of the landscape that's been degraded. Ending forest logging will not have any impact on timber supply for housing, and building materials."
Ms Mumford is calling for urgent government action - including an end to native forest logging immediately.
"It's hard to believe that a species as iconic as the koala is being allowed to head towards extinction, it's an international embarrassment that the government in Australia is allowing a species as iconic as the koala to head towards extinction. But that is the reality. We're continuing to cut down their homes. We're continuing to drive habitat destruction, which is what is really pushing koalas to the brink. That's the reality of the situation that we're in at the moment and I really encourage everyone to get in touch with your local members at a local and federal level and push them to do better to protect koala habitat."
