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. Recently a sub-adult male koala was discovered sitting atop the remnants of what was once his home in Vittoria State Forest, New South Wales, Australia. The logging operation had been approved by the forestry service to remove all the trees but the poor little koala was totally confused upon returning to his previous home.

Koalas would have been moved out of their homes in preparation for planned logging activities," said WIRES ( Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service) general manager, Leanne Taylor.It is common for koalas to roam back to their home range afterwards and become confused to find nothing there. A worker noticed a koala had been sitting stationary in broad daylight on top of wood piles for over an hour.

The story of the perplexed marsupial did however have a happy ending. It was found to have an injury on its eye, so it was transferred to a local vet to be treated. Afterwards it was relocated once again back into a different patch of forest. Forestry workers also found three other koalas at the clear-cut site and they were transferred as well.

Conservation Status of Koala Bears In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the koala under Least Concern for the following reasons: "its wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining at nearly the rate required to qualify for listing in a threatened category". Australian policy makers declined a 2009 proposal to include the koala in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.[ In 2012, the Australian Government listed koala populations in Queensland and New South Wales as Vulnerable, because of a 40% population decline in the former and a 33% decline in the latter.

Populations in Victoria and South Australia appear to be abundant; however, the Australian Koala Foundation argues that the exclusion of Victorian populations from protective measures is based on a misconception that the total koala population is 200,000, whereas they believe it is probably less than 100,000. The koala was hunted almost to extinction in the early 20th century, largely for its fur. Millions of furs were traded to Europe and the United States, and the population has not fully recovered. Extensive cullings occurred in Queensland in 1915, 1917, and again in 1919, when over one million koalas were killed with guns, poisons and nooses. The public outcry over these cullings was probably the first wide-scale environmental issue that rallied Australians.

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).

The geographical range of the koala has shrunk by more than 50% since European arrival, largely due to fragmentation of habitat in Queensland. The koala's "vulnerable" status in Queensland and New South Wales means that developers in these states must consider the impacts on this species when making building applications. In addition, koalas live in many protected areas. While urbanization can pose a threat to koala populations, the animals can survive in urban areas provided there are enough trees, though urban koalas are vulnerable to collisions with vehicles and attacks by domestic dogs. Injured koalas are often taken to wildlife hospitals and rehabilitation centers. In a 30-year retrospective study performed at a New South Wales koala rehabilitation center, it was found that trauma (usually resulting from a motor vehicle accident or dog attack) was the most frequent cause of admission, followed by symptoms of the bacterial disease chlamydiosis. Wildlife caretakers are issued with special permits but have to release the animals back into the wild when they are either well enough or, in the case of joeys, old enough. As with most native animals, the koala cannot legally be kept as a pet in Australia or anywhere else. Since 1870, koalas have been introduced to several coastal and offshore islands, including Kangaroo Island and French Island. Their numbers have grown to the thousands, and since the islands are not large enough to sustain such high koala numbers, over-browsing has become a problem. Since the 1990s, government agencies have tried to control their numbers by culling, but public and international outcry has forced the use of translocation and sterilization instead.source:Wikipedia