Australia’s fragile koala colonies are being ravaged by bush fires: ‘It’s a national tragedy’Heart-wrenching images out of the country’s eastern coast show those that survived clinging to rescuers, breathing through tubes and sipping from eye droppers, their fur burned in patches.With 2.5 million acres burned, conservationists are concerned the still-raging fires could deal a blow to the koala population. The Australian icon is already listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List because of forest clearing, human expansion and climate change. The fires have heightened fears about the future of the marsupial.