Port Macquarie Koala Hospital

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.   

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.