Oh there is no question of extinction. Koalas, or Tree Rabbits, as I've taken to terming them lately, still have large areas of habitat remaining and there is no real likelihood that they will lose the bulk of it. We are only talking about the east coast, where most of the people live.
There are many other species, however, which are not in the same lucky situation. The natural range of the Koala is vast, and they are a common animal. Many others have a more restricted, specialised habital and much smaller natural range. This is where the real problems lie. Just to mention a few obvious ones off the top of my head (and sticking to mamals, ignoring birds, reptiles, and plants for the moment):
* All bandicoot species except one or two in the north (where foxes are rare).
* The Bilby. (The Lesser Bilby is already gone.)
* About half a dozen species of those astonishingly beautiful hopping mice.
* Several macropod species (the group that includes the kangaroos and wallabies)
* Worst case of all is the carnivores: there are about 50 native carnivores. The only really well-known one is the Thylacine (which is extinct already, of course), the others range down through easy stages to about half the size of a mouse. Some of them are doing OK, the majority are in trouble.
* The marsupial moles of the vast western deserts. Very little is known about them and sightings are rare events indeed - typically years apart.
* Finally, the closest relatives of the Koala, the wombats. The Common Wombat is OK, much reduced in range asnd extinct in large areas, but doing OK in the east of Victoria. The Southern Hairy-nose Wombat is struggling and seriously threatened by global climate change; while the Northern Hairy-nose Wombat is down to one single colony in Queensland. It's the rarest and most endangered large mammal in the world.
But stupid Koalas get the headlines.
Sigh.
