A bushfire was apparently sparked by a lightening strike on Saturday about 250 miles north of Sydney. The fire has demolished about 4,942 acres so far. More than 70 fires continue to burn across the state of New South Wales, which has been battling a harsh drought.

Wildlife conservationists in northern New South Wales state are seriously worried for a “very rare” population of hundreds of koalas living in the fire zone.

Sue Ashton, president of the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, told Agence France-Presse, “The special importance of those koalas is that they are very genetically diverse.” Ashton anticipates hundreds of kolas in their known breeding area “have perished in the fire.” She said, “It’s a national tragedy because this koala population is so unique.”

New South Wales Rural Fire Service said in their latest update, “The fire will continue to burn throughout the night, however there are significant resources in the area protecting properties.”

Agence France-Presse reports that Ashton said volunteers would join firefighters in the area either Thursday or Friday to assess the scale of loss and begin a rescue operation for the surviving koalas. She added, “What happens to a koala in a fire is that they climb up to the top of the tree and they curl up into a little ball. If the fire goes through quickly and just singes their fur, they are fine the fur will grow back.” Sadly, Ashton said if flames intensify and proceeds to burn up the tree “they’ll perish.”

“So we won’t really know until we get in there and start to look.”