Australia boosts spending to protect koalas

FILE PHOTO: Wildlife officer Lindy Thomas poses with koalas and their joeys produced by artificial insemination at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Gold Coast, October 30, 2006. REUTERS/Greg White/File Photo

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia will spend an additional A$50 million ($35 million) in the next four years to protect koala habitat and slow the decline of the vulnerable species, the government said on Saturday.

The marsupials native to Australia have been decimated by bushfires, disease and vehicles, with estimates of their numbers ranging from about 330,000 to no more than 100,000 in the wild.