Hundreds of koalas gunned down from a helicopter were not checked for joeys after they were killed. That is according to the Sydney Morning Herald, which reports that more than 1000 koalas were shot in the bushfire-impacted Budj Bim National Park, as part of a Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate operation to reduce suffering.
It comes as DEECA confirmed that almost 90 per cent of the koalas were not examined on the ground before they were shot, and authorities could not access carcasses after aerial shootings to check for young koalas. For their measure the department – which took over from Vic Forests after the Allan government closed down native forestry in the state last year – said its aerial shooting program, concluded almost two months after fires swept through the Park, was conducted as a “humane action [taken] to prevent further suffering” of koalas in the National Park.
Budj Bim National Park is surrounded by extensive commercial bluegum plantations, which the Victorian government estimates are home to about 42,500 koalas. Bluegums have among the highest nutrient loads of eucalypt species, allowing koalas to exist in higher densities than natural, mixed-species forests.
Last month, Wood Central reported that decades of mismanagement by the Victorian government across several government departments have led to an overpopulation of koalas inside the Park. And with a lack of food supply has also led to koalas overpopulating surrounding plantations.
According to Todd Gelletly, who operates a hardwood business on the NSW and Victorian border, the NSW government must learn from Victoria’s mistakes and ensure that national parks are properly and actively managed. Otherwise, koalas risk becoming collateral damage in the face of climate-induced mega-fires.
“This is a lesson for any agency operating a forest, but even more concerning is that state governments are contemplating taking over eucalypt plantations on private property or private native forestry to cover for their lack of active management of these forests,” according to Gelletly, a director of Timber NSW.
For Mr Gelletly, this is a major cause for concern ahead of the Chris Minns government’s decision to establish a new park, between 36,000 hectares and 176,000 hectares, in addition to the existing 136,000 hectares of protected forest in NSW’s mid-north coast.
“There are both plantations and private native forests on the perimeters of the yet-to-be-proclaimed Great Koala National Park in northern NSW, which could face a similar fate if wildfires took hold in the national park,” he said. “Production forestry, plantations and private native forestry should not be the victim of poor forestry management in national parks, nor should the koala and other precious fauna and flora that create such wonderful biodiversity.”
- To learn more about Koala populations, click here for Wood Central’s exclusive story on steps taken by CSIRO to accurately measure Koala populations in Australian forests.
