Mammals of Australia

Dingoes might look like regular mutts, but in fact, they're genetically in between wolves and dogs, according to a new study published on April 22 in Science Advances.

The species, revered in Aboriginal culture but the bane of modern ranchers,- has been Australia's top predator since the extinction of Tasmanian tigers last century.

Australia officially listed koalas across a swathe of its eastern coast as "endangered" on Feb. 11, with the marsupials fighting to survive the impact of bushfires, land-clearing, drought and disease.

Conservationists said koala populations had crashed in much of eastern Australia over the past two decades, warning that they were now sliding towards extinction.

In Australia, the number of kangaroos living there is twice that of humans

A newly opened 600-square-meter bookstore in Istanbul's Şişli district offers 30,000 books to its customers with a promise to spend all of its profits to animal shelters and cover the medical needs of stray animals.

The Australian government committed A$50 million to an emergency wildlife recovery program on Jan. 13, calling the bushfires crisis engulfing the country "an ecological disaster" that threatens several species, including koalas and rock wallabies.   

More than 500,000 animals have been killed in wildfires in Australia, NOVA reports.

The accounts are from environmentalists at the University of Sydney, published by Evening Standard.

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.

Two koalas were rescued from a fire-ravaged area of Australia's east coast on Nov. 2 but the fate of hundreds more remains uncertain with blazes still raging in their bush habitat.    

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.

Australia unveiled on May 7 a US$34 million plan to help bring its koala population back from the brink, following a rapid decline in the furry marsupial's fortunes.