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read moreAiming to address what it says is a “desperate situation for koalas” in Victoria, the Koala Alliance Victoria - an alliance of koala protection groups, will launch on Wild Koala Day on 3rd May.
Setting out to “speak out for Victoria’s imperilled koalas”, the Alliance formed by conservationists Janine Duffy, Jessica Robertson and Melinda Darer, has been formed because what it says is Victoria being “a hell-zone for koalas (with situation) getting worse”.
Advising that koalas are either being deliberately killed by Victoria’s Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) in one area, or they are being ignored as they slip into local extinction in another area, Duffy states “a koala living in the south-west is likely to have all her habitat cut down around her, or she might have her tree cut down while she’s still in it, and have her body bulldozed.
“A koala living in the You Yangs is likely to die from drought or a heatwave, or of starvation as her trees die due to climate change.
“A koala living in Mallacoota is lucky to have survived the 2019-2020 megafires, and is likely to face another one in her lifetime.”
Darer, of Friends of Alberton West, noted “despite being found to be the most genetically-diverse and robust of Australia’s koalas and potentially the key to securing a future for other compromised gene pools, the south Gippsland koala in the Strzeleckis receives no special protection, and is likely to have her forest cut down by VicForests and the tax payer is footing the bill - $54 million in 2021-2022- for this to happen.
“We only have 1500-2000 of these guys left and they face losing their home so it can be pulped & sent overseas!
“It’s simply madness.”
Belinda Eden of Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation, explained “on the Mornington Peninsula, a koala is likely to die from starvation as her trees are cut down due to lax planning laws.
“As a direct result, she then experiences stress-induced illness, often resulting in unnecessary suffering and death.”
The Alliance points out that despite all these threats, the Victorian Government and DEECA still claim that koalas in Victoria are ‘thriving and abundant’ based on a new modelling technique, pointing out that the figures are not based on actual counts, but are an estimate based on a computer model.
Robertson, of Ballarat Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation, added “we’d like to know how the government knows that koalas are ‘abundant’ - where is this data coming from? I know that in my area there has not been any research on koala abundance for many decades.
“It puzzles me why more do not question this claim of abundance, when everyone I speak to says the same thing, where have all the koalas gone?”
Duffy went on to advise “the government is blinded by this fantasy of koala overabundance. As a result, calls from koala carers & rescuers, researchers and citizen science groups to investigate shocking koala declines go unseen and unheard.
“We couldn’t stand it any longer: there has to be a group to investigate and rebut Victorian government misinformation about koalas.
“For example, there’s the Victorian Koala Management Strategy - 19 years late, and we’re still waiting.”
“The draft Victorian Koala Management Strategy is indefensible - it’s weak, bitter, defensive, stingy about costs, and obsessed with koala overpopulation, but still manages to fail to offer any solutions.”
“If we don’t act, koalas in Victoria will disappear without even getting onto the endangered list.”
Koala Alliance Victoria will launch on 3rd May, Wild Koala Day.
Click here to read the Alliance’s first investigation into the Victorian Koala Management Strategy.
Images: Koala road trauma near Portland, Victoria (top, credit: J. Robertson), trees left for one koala post harvesting near Portland (middle, credit: J. Robertson) and a young koala duringin the You Ynags during the 2014 heatwave (below, credit: Koala Clancy Foundation).
21st April 2023 - Feedback sought from Queenslanders on how to strengthen koala protections
3rd April 2023 - Bayside Council collaboration delivers floating haven for native wildlife
25th March 2023 - Wildlife organisations collaborate to rescue and rehabilitate Green Turtle
21st March 2023 - New documentary spotlights overtourism’s detrimental impact on environment and wildlife
3rd March 2023 - Australia’s conservation organisations celebrate World Wildlife Day
4th February 2023 - NSW Government invests in eight new koala research projects
11th January 2023 - Aussie Ark plants 2,000 native trees in just one day at Mongo Valley Wildlife Sanctuary
16th November 2022 - Toowoomba Regional Council seeks funding for koala mapping
4th November 2022 - Aussie Ark’s successful breeding of endangered Eastern Quolls likened to modern Jurassic Park
27th October 2022 - Conservation organisations deploy thermal drones to conduct koala population surveys
26th September 2022 - NSW Koala Strategy invests $1.4 million in state’s north
1st September 2022 - Parks Victoria releases draft designs for Hotham Alpine Crossing track
28th August 2022 - Koala Ward opens At Werribee Open Range Zoo
23rd August 2022 - Gunnedah Shire Council awards construction contract for Koala Sanctuary
3rd August 2022 - Significant site secured to protect koalas during Queensland’s M1 project
2nd August 2022 - Queensland Premier calls on Dreamworld owners to spend allocated funds on koala conservation
1st August 2022 - Conservation organisations delivered shocking news that no koalas found in prime habitat
27th July 2022 - Ardent Leisure allowed to use $2.7 million in koala research funding for new Dreamworld rollercoaster
12th July 2022 - Australian Koala Foundation issues warning to new Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek
16th June 2022 - WildArk and Aussie Ark to rewild a population of koalas on Mongo Valley Wildlife Sanctuary
1st June 2022 - $8.6million to restore and protect key koala habitat in Queensland’s Brigalow Belt
11th April 2022 - NSW Government releases its new Koala Strategy
21st February 2022 - New draft Victorian Koala Management Strategy released
9th February 2022 - Australian Government promises $50 million to save koalas while simultaneously clearing their habitat
30th June 2021 - Zoos Victoria trials guardian dogs in protecting endangered Eastern Barred Bandicoot
8th April 2021 - Parks Victoria advise that time is ‘running out’ to save the Alpine National Park
9th March 2021 - Local communities share $10 million funding for bushfire wildlife and habitat recovery
2nd October 2020 - Victorian Government undertakes to restore bushfire devastated forests
8th January 2008 - Government guide for humane killing of kangaroos slammed by animal conservationists
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