‘It’s dangerous to put a number on them’. Media coverage of koalas during the 2019–2020 ‘Black Summer’ bushfires in Australia

Abstract

Context The unprecedented scale and severity of the 2019–2020 ‘Black Summer’ bushfires in Australia were an environmental disaster, and koalas became the public face of the fires’ toll on wildlife. Aims We investigated the media stories on koalas during the fires to identify what was reported, and how the numbers of koalas killed by the fires were sourced and reported. Methods We searched for media articles published in major Australian print and online news outlets, local sources, press releases and international outlets for the terms ‘koala’, ‘fire’, ‘bushfire’, ‘emergency’, ‘disaster’ and ‘burn’, published between 15 October 2019 and 31 October 2020, and recorded any numbers of koalas given in those reports. This places our methods in a qualitative realm of investigation. Key results We reviewed 371 media articles on the bushfires and koalas in New South Wales (NSW). Almost half included an estimate of the numbers of koalas killed in NSW. Almost a third stated that koalas are going extinct in NSW, however almost two thirds did not mention that koalas were already in decline from threats other than fire. Conclusions We concluded that it was dangerous to put numbers on koalas. Misinformation, half-truths, and neglecting the important role of science and scientists, can erode public trust in the media and in science. Implications The obsession with numbers has left a legacy that can drown out the more considered narrative of science and lead to distortions of policy and management, as well as distract from other critical attributes of koala conservation.