The koala cull

[donnashuggy]

Why was it kept a secret?

[debra9275]

no idea why they kept it quiet, it seems pretty sneaky, I guess they did it that way so that there was no public outcry.  We went to the Otway National Park towards the end of last year and there are a lot of trees with no foliage but I thought it was due to the large bushfire that went through there a few years ago. It is bushland and there are still a lot of trees with foliage as well as the bare ones. The koalas we saw looked healthy and the tourists just adore them

On the news they said that only the strongest will survive.... i hope they are being very careful with their culling then, we could end up with none. I also hope they are replanting trees , though we didn't see much evidence of that.   There seem to be less and less areas available to our native animals. I would like to see more national parks so that these creatures aren't so condendesed in so few areas

[cherry*135]

[the*scarlet*pimpernel]

I belive those koalas were introduced to that area. I don't know where they were relocated from.

We are facing the same problem here. Shenhua says they will relocate the Breeza koalas to Tambar Springs. There is already a koala population there. What will introducing more (and we are talking hundreds)  do to the ecosystem at Tambar. I foresee the same thing happening to these koalas. So sad, it's the biggest joy I get from living here, having koalas visit my yard. It makes living with those dang noisy smelly coal trains worthwhile. And Shenhua is going to take that away from us.

*sigh*

but enough about me.

We need to learn from this. Why wasn't that population monitored and maybe moved before they ate themselves out of house and home.

[debra9275]

[debra9275]

those pics were taken there, you can see that in some parts the trees have foliage and in other parts they don't. the pics were all taken along the same road

[lionrose.7]

They should send the Koala's to QLD, they are dying up there because all their trees are being cleared

[vicr3000]

Why do you say it was kept secret ? Any permits to cull on private property are not required to be publicised.

Everybody down that way knows of the problem and it was getting worse, even after the previous culls.

All those that were culled would have died of starvation anyway and taking out 600 now

ensures that 600 - 1200 others survive. Leave those 600 a bit longer, you end up with an

even lower number surviving so you save more by taking those out that wont survive.

Might be worth reading the article in the Age, it answers a few questions.

[debra9275]

why do I say it was kept secret??

because it was  

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/news/geelong/hundreds-of-koalas-killed-in-secret-cape-otway-cull...

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/hundreds-of-starving-cape-otway-koalas-killed-in-secret-culls-2015...

The secret cull was conducted under the previous Liberal government near the Great Ocean Road to address overpopulation issues.

[curmu-curmu]

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@donnashuggy wrote:

Why was it kept a secret?

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Well, of course it would be kept secret!

Can you just imagine the outrage from all the tree-hugging greenies if they knew about a cull of their precious Aussie icon?

As is their natural action, they'd completely ignore the fact that they were dying of starvation, which would lead to increased susceptibility to disease, which in turn could spread to other, healthier koalas, thereby endangering the entire population, rather than just a few, and instead,demand a less permanaent solution be found - and damn the consequences!

Either that, or the tree-huggers would insist on relocation - increasing the possibility of transferring potential disease to other areas, or once again, causing starvation in other areas.

Nobody likes to see animals put down - but there comes a time when culling is the best and possibly only, option, and I'd seriously doubt that other avenues were not explored prior to the cull...