Sue Ashton

The fires led to the deaths of half the koalas living in a reserve in New South Wales. The fire season began earlier this year and has already destroyed two-thirds of the habitats of animals in the nature reserve, according to Reuters.

Hundreds of koalas are threatened to burn in a growing fire on Australia's east coast, wildlife advocates said.

The fire, thought to have been caused by a thunderstorm, raging Saturday about 400 kilometres north of Sydney, has devastated an area of ​​more than 4,942 acres. Authorities are still fighting to control it.