Nearly 700 koalas have been killed from helicopters in a national park in Victoria in a wildlife cull.
Australian authorities are under fire following the culling of hundreds of koalas in the state of Victoria.
Around 700 koalas have been shot by snipers from helicopters flying over Victoria’s Budj Bim National Park, in an act of euthanasia following a devastating bushfire that scorched over 2,000 hectares of habitat.
The fire left many koalas injured, dehydrated, and without food, prompting authorities to initiate the cull in early April as a means to prevent further suffering.
Animal welfare organizations have voiced alarm over the wellbeing of orphaned joeys left behind, media reported on Tuesday.
However, the approach – deploying snipers to shoot the animals from helicopters – has sparked swift and widespread backlash.
Activists have raised concerns that decisions were being made by veterinarians and shooters from distances of up to 30 meters, increasing the risk of mistakenly killing healthy koalas—including mothers still caring for their joeys.
”The use of aerial shooting should be treated as a last resort,” Friends of the Earth Melbourne said in a statement, urging authorities to pause the cull and allow independent observers access to the site.
”This is the first time that koalas have been killed by shooting from a helicopter in Australia,” the organization said. “Aerial culling of koalas is an Australian first and sets a nasty ethical precedent.”
The animal protection organization Koala Alliance echoed concerns about vulnerable young joeys potentially being left behind to starve or succumb to exposure.
”If koalas were shot out of trees, this means many joeys would be left to suffer and die. It’s despicable. It’s cruel,” the group said in a statement on Facebook.
The regional government has defended its decision to conduct an aerial cull of koalas in Budj Bim National Park, citing expert assessments and veterinary advice.
However, calls for an independent review of the culling process have been growing, with activists urging for more humane and precise methods of wildlife management.
Image credit: Paris Bilal
Victoria has a repulsive track record on human rights, little wonder animals are treated little better…….
Yes, any excuse to kill God’s work is the Modis operandi of these cult psychopaths.
They didn’t get Dan Andrews
Lets hope there is hope
I was surprised to see Baboon are culled in Africa
Which are becoming an aggressive problem
Giraffe too which are doing damage to the flora
New Zealand and Australia are backwards when it comes to animal cruelty, many times they play the native species card while taking to great delight and finding the most macabre ways of killing those that are not. Human invasion and infrastructure etc. is the primary reason for any native wildlife decline.
How about dropping food and water…
How do these shooters sleep at night