Calls are growing for a government department to release a $850,000 report on the health, abundance, and distribution of koalas in one of Australia’s most populous states. They believe it could provide a roadmap for preventing the species’ demise.
It comes as experts raise concerns that the iconic animal may not only be in trouble across NSW, Queensland and the ACT, where they’re listed as endangered, but also in Victoria, where they’re considered abundant.
High-profile Deakin University wildlife ecologist Dr Desley Whisson has received funding from Victoria’s environment department (DEECA) to research koalas, and believes it is doing important work. But she’s decided to speak out about concerns regarding “problems” with how the agency is managing the species.
“I really fear that without effective management, we could end up losing our koalas. It doesn’t take much for a big fire to wipe out big populations, and I’m concerned about the health of koalas where they occur at low densities,” she said.
Her unease about population declines in Victoria is shared by the major conservation group, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which has described the situation as an “emergency”.
“People assume there are more of them here, so we’re not going to lose them. But koalas that are more abundant are facing starvation, lack of habitat, disease, and inbreeding. So it’s kind of like Victoria’s shameful secret,” IFAW Oceania’s head of programs, Josey Sharrad, said.
The government has been urged to release a report that estimates the abundance, genetic diversity and health of koalas in Victoria. Source: Getty
Call to release $850k koala population report
Dr Whisson explained the health of a koala population is more complex than simply having high numbers.
She, along with several other experts were commissioned by DEECA to complete a $850,000 report addressing these wider issues titled, The Status of Victoria’s Koala Population: Surveys to Estimate Abundance, Genetic Diversity and Koala Health.
DEECA has refused to answer any questions from Yahoo News about its findings or when the report will be released.
The department has sat on the study since June, and its authors have been unable to discuss any of its content, which Dr Whisson describes as “extremely frustrating”.
“If it remains buried, well, what was the point in spending all that money and all that time doing it?” she said.
Call for more transparency from DEECA about koalas
Accusations about a lack of transparency have long plagued DEECA.
In 2015, when it was known as DEWLP, it was accused of secretly culling koalas in the Otways.
Ten years on, following a bushfire in March it shot 1,061 koalas, some from helicopters, at Budj Bim National Park, in the southwest.
Details of the plan were not made public until they were reported on by Yahoo News.
Koalas were shot due to burns, as well as concerns about a lack of food. Dr Whisson supported the shooting of those animals based on evidence from people on the ground, but she became a critic of how the government handled communication about the decision.
“Even when it all blew up, no one came out and answered questions. They could have provided so much more, including photo evidence, but all they did was shut down,” she said.
When Evan Quartermain visited French Island this week he didn’t see any signs of starvation, but many trees were denuded of leaves. Source: Humane World for Animals
Liberal Party MP Nick McGowan has been an outspoken critic of the Budj Bim response, which he dubbed “beyond reckless” and a “tragedy”.
“But the biggest problem right now in Victoria is a lack of transparency,” he told Yahoo, and this, he argues, makes it difficult for informed decisions to be made.
Few details released of new starvation event
Amid reports of a new koala starvation “crisis” unfolding on French Island, off the Mornington Peninsula, there has been minimal information about its severity released by government.
DEECA has referred all queries from Yahoo to Parks Victoria, which has not provided an update for close to two weeks, when it said the population had “grown to an unsustainable level” and it was “actively looking at options”.
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The Budj Bim National Park remained closed as an aerial response was carried out. Source: Supplied
When Yahoo News contacted the office of Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos this week, it released a statement from a government spokesperson saying, “We’re working closely with animal welfare groups and experts to ensure the long-term health and sustainability of koala populations and habitat on French Island.”
While translocation has been suggested as an option, sources within government who were not authorised to give an official response indicated to Yahoo that euthanasia is also being considered.
How bad is the situation on French Island?
Investigators from the non-profit Humane World for Animals visited French Island this week and witnessed some instances of trees stripped of leaves on roadsides with multiple koalas in them.
Its director of programs, Evan Quartermain, told Yahoo his team saw some “distressing things” around the main town area.
But it was impossible to gauge the seriousness of the situation because large parts of the island can only be accessed on foot.
Where there were available feed trees, he said, they were getting “hit hard” by overbrowsing by koalas.
“But then again, we didn’t see koalas on the ground or particularly emaciated. There was cause for concern, but perhaps not panic,” he said.
Government sources estimate 10,000 to 12,000 koalas live on French Island, and they are potentially being impacted by drought and overpopulation.
If a crisis is occurring, Dr Whisson argues state authorities should have anticipated it and prevented it from escalating to this point. “There’s no forward thinking, it’s all reactive management,” she said.
“It should have been easy. It’s an island, it’s not like like got animals moving in from outside. They should have planned how many to translocate off the island every year, and how many needed fertility control.”
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