"Confirmation that 600-700 Koalas in Victoria, perhaps more, are being shot from helicopters and by the state’s environment department is no longer a surprise". Peter Hylands

What is remarkable is just how Victoria has come to this place? A place in which wildlife that could be rescued, is on the endangered list in the main states and territory where it exists, can be shot from helicopters, all at tax payers’ expense, some of the animals uninjured but without food, shot mothers and joeys tumbling to the ground and to a slow death. We are of course talking about Koalas. All in the name of humanness. Are these the standards that Australia is now to accept?

We should note that something in the order of 100 Australian species are on the Victorian Government’s kill list, bird and mammal species are in the front line of the killing. In 2025 we estimate the target via a number of mechanisms, ATCWs (mitigation), recreation, commercial exploitation, secretive but substantive killing, such as Koalas, will total about 1.2 million Australian animals in 2025. That is just in one small Australian state and in one short year.

To clarify a basic question here, it is not possible to assess the health and condition of a Koala, particularly so, a Koala with a joey, and do so from a helicopter.

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Quo Vadis?

“We need to understand, given the terrible and cruel conduct in Victoria and the declining standards in governance matters relating to the protection of wildlife and biodiversity, codes of silence, complicity, secrecy and the endless denials and misinformation and the misuse of public finances these entail, that these standards of conduct are not acceptable in what is supposed to be a democratic society. I feel a Claudian moment coming on, we all have a lot to learn from the rise and fall of ancient Rome”. Peter Hylands

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Q and A

While we will investigate what happened in Budj Bim and surrounds in forensic detail, despite Victoria’s codes of silence, a number of questions arise.

• It appears that none of the Koalas were rescued, nor were attempts made to do so, excuses regarding terrain, which varies in difficulty, do not explain why this has occurred?
• In relation to the Koala joeys caught up in the killing, were these subsequently euthanised on the ground or left to die a slow and lingering death? Yes, there has been a program of fertility control but not enough so to allow the pretence that there were only a few joeys involved in the killing.
• How many joeys were killed as part of this event?
• After spending significant amounts on its development, The Koala Hospital, now Koala Ward (in significant part funded by the RSPCA in Victoria from public wildlife rescue donations from 2019-20 wildfires), at the Victorian Government’s Werribee Open Range Zoo, built for the purpose of assisting wildfire injured wildfire, particularly from Western Victoria, why did no Koalas from the Budj Bim fires make it to this expensive facility?
• What were the RSPCA’s and Zoos Victoria’s role in the killing?

The Koala Hospital as described by the zoos own PR.

“Australia's devastating summer bushfires ravaged native species such as Koalas. The $1.84 million Koala Hospital will be built at Werribee Open Range Zoo, with a staggering $1.3 million coming from generous donations made to RSPCA Victoria during last summer’s devastating bushfires. The remaining costs will be funded through Zoos Victoria. Bushfire donations will pay for the new $1.84 million (or as reported elsewhere $2.55 million) Koala Hospital after thousands of the animals were killed in last summer's blazes. The facility will be based at Werribee Open Range Zoo in Melbourne's outer west”.

• The Victorian Government claim that this is the first occasion that aerial shooting of Koalas has occurred at Budj Bim or in Victoria? This statement needs proper investigation as to its accuracy.
• It is likely that this aerial Koala shooting event is in part opportunistic and a clumsy attempt at population control of the Koala population in the region. To what extent this has occurred needs detailed investigation.
• The claim is the killing has been conducted because of animal welfare reasons, what were the events leading up to the mass shooting and how could they have been handled differently to mitigate what occurred at Budj Bim?
• Will the RSPCA, as the states leading animal welfare organisation, conduct an investigation into the aspects of extreme cruelty involved here, both to adult Koalas and to their joeys?

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What it should look like

Framlingham fires, Western Victoria, 2007

In January 2007, 1,500 hectares of the Framlingham Forest were devasted by a bushfire. The forest, an island in an ocean of farmland was in large part destroyed, but some of the forest canopy survived.  After initially trying to block wildlife rescuers from entering the forest and claiming only 6 Koalas needed to be assessed, the Victoria’s environment department (then named the Department of Sustainability and Environment), swayed by media attention at the time, allowed rescues to commence. Of the 400 Koalas assessed by the wildlife rescue teams in the hours and days that followed, 250 of those Koalas were given to wildlife carers and after recovery were relocated.

Reports at the time suggest this was one of two fires in the region which were deliberately lit, endangering local residents.

The ABC reported at the time:

“A few Koalas and a Kangaroo have been found dead. The Department of Sustainability and Environment's Stan Williams says it is not known how much of the large Koala population in the forest will have survived. Well there was a substantial population down here, but some of them will be okay because the fire intensity has varied in some areas, it was very hot and in other [areas] it hasn't got into the top of the trees," Mr Williams said”.

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