Robert Irwin the son of the late Steve The Crocodile Hunter Irwin and his mother, Terri, are sharing the devastating plight of koalas as Australia continues to fight the bushfires that are currently destroying the nation and its wildlife.

On Monday, ecologists at the University of Sydney and World Wildlife Fund Australia estimated that over 1 billion wild animals have died due to the blaze.

And koalas circumstances are extremely dire due to their natural instincts, according to the Irwins who spoke to the Australian morning show Sunrise on Sunday.

Their instinct is to go up safetys in the top of the tree, Terri Irwin explained. And with a hot fire, the eucalyptus trees have so much oil in their leaves that they ignite and actually explode. So being able to treat and help koalas is few and far between because theyre basically incinerated, which is absolutely heart breaking.

She also believes that just setting aside habitat for koalas after the fires are extinguished wont be enough to repopulate the species.

Koalas are classed as vulnerable, and I think after this event, we need to really sit down and look at classing them as endangered and protecting our icons. Our kangaroos, our koalas, [they are] inspirational to Australians as well as our visitors from overseas.