Species desperately imperiled by bushfires, new plea for New Zealand to house Koalas

Thousands of people have signed a petition for koalas to be introduced to New Zealand to escape Australia's devastating bush fires, but proposal has been given thumbs down by officials.

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A group calling itself Koala Relocation Society said koalas were "functionally extinct in Australia" but could thrive in New Zealand which has nearly 30,000 hectares planted in eucalypts.

re have been estimates of up to a billion koalas and or animals affected by fires raging across Australia and re are concerns about how survivors will cope given loss of vegetation.

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As of midday Monday, online petition h 7,500 signatures, but a spokesman for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Television New Zealand that government's focus was on helping to get fires under control so koalas "can stay in ir natural habitat".

Wellington Zoo animal science manr Simon Eyre believed any assistance should be provided directly to Australian authorities dealing with fallout from fires.

"For us, it would be assisting in Australia and it wouldn't only be koalas, it would be or species affected by fires as well," he said.

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