The Wider Image: From disease to bushfires, Australia's iconic koalas face bleak future
Dr. Kellie Leigh, the executive director of the not-for-profit conservation organisation Science for Wildlife, conducts a health assessment on a koala named Pele as part of The Blue Mountains Koala Project, a population monitoring program spearheaded to plan for koala recovery in the region, in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, near Jenolan, Australia, September 15, 2020. Science for Wildlife uses advanced methods to track koala movements and monitor populations in bushfire affected areas. "At some of our sites, the forests are really tall, the canopies really thick, so you can't necessarily find koalas just by looking up," Leigh said. REUTERS/Loren Elliott SEARCH "KOALAS ELLIOTT" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES