A study has found that nearly three-quarters of the Northern New South Wales koala population perished in last summer’s bushfires. The study, commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature Australia, reported an overall 71 per cent fall in the koala population across fire grounds from Port Macquarie to Ballina. WWF Australia chief, Dermot O'Gorman has called for national environmental laws to be strengthened, in order to protect koalas and all threatened species.