MELBOURNE, Australia – An Australian landowner and two businesses have been hit with hundreds of animal cruelty charges after a land clearing operation killed 70 koalas last year, an episode one lawmaker described as a ‘massacre’.
Authorities found dozens of dead, injured or starving koalas on private property in Cape Bridgewater in southwestern Victoria in February last year after the landowner and a forest and earthmoving company cleared their habitat, the state regulator said in a statement on Wednesday. .
The operation wreaked havoc on more than 200 koalas and caused “unreasonable pain or suffering to dozens,” the regulator said.
Animal activists said trees had been bulldozed with the koalas still inside.
“Some died instantly, their bodies were found trapped under heavy branches or scattered among piles of felled trees,” said the conservation group Animals Australia, which dispatched veterinarians to the scene. “Some suffered traumatic injuries and broken bones. Some were orphaned, and others were found huddled in the few remaining trees on the property.”
Authorities found 21 dead koalas at the site, and another 49 that were found starving, dehydrated or with fractures had to be euthanized. Seventy more koalas were treated for injuries and 120 others were released back into the wild.
The deaths sparked national outrage when they were first reported by a resident on social media, and the Victoria State government vowed those responsible would be punished.
The property owner and company were charged with more than 250 animal cruelty felonies, including 36 charges of aggravated assault for causing fatal injuries. Another contracting company was charged with cruelty. Authorities have not identified the landowner or the companies.
The case will go to court in February. The maximum penalty for one charge of aggravated animal cruelty resulting in death is $157,000 for a company and $65,500 or two years in prison for an individual.
Andy Meddick, a lawmaker in the state of Victoria who is a member of the Animal Justice Party, said he was “relieved” that “hundreds of charges had been filed for the koala massacre in Cape Bridgewater”. He added: “I visited the site myself and saw the aftermath, and it was one of the worst things I’ve experienced.”
Koalas are a protected species in Australia and the marsupials are considered vulnerable in the states of New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. Their numbers were hit hard by the catastrophic fires in 2019 that burned millions of acres across the country. Many were rescued from the wild, scorched and dehydrated.
As koalas have evolved to adapt to wildfires, the animals face new threats from climate change and human development, which have disrupted local populations, affecting their ability to survive fires. In some regions, scientists say, koala numbers have fallen by as much as 80 percent, although it’s difficult to know how many remain in Australia.
They are also prone to chlamydia, which can lead to infertility and death. Some studies of koala populations in Queensland have suggested that at least half of wild koalas are infected with the disease.
This shared sensitivity with humans has led some scientists to argue that studying and rescuing koalas may hold the key to developing a chlamydia vaccine for humans.
Last year, the Australian government began an effort to count the population of the native marsupials and record where they live — a daunting operation given that koalas are not easy to spot in the wild. If the marsupials sit high in the trees, staying still and hidden by the canopy, they are easy to miss with the naked eye. So the government deployed heat-seeking drones, acoustic surveys and sniffer dogs.