Demand an urgent parliamentary inquiry into the koala crisis

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Victoria’s shameful Secret. Demand an urgent parliamentary inquiry into the koala crisis

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Koalas in southwest Victoria are in crisis.

Shocking reports have emerged of the aerial euthanasia of koalas in the World Heritage-listed Budj Bim National Park. This tragic measure has sparked outrage across Australia and around the world.

But, behind the headlines lies a chronic welfare crisis that has been unfolding quietly since the 1990s. The root cause? Rampant habitat loss and the relentless expansion of the blue gum plantation industry.

With their native forests destroyed, koalas are forced to seek shelter in blue gum plantations—a dangerous and temporary refuge. When harvesting begins, koalas are often injured or killed as the trees they rely on are cut down. Those that survive are left homeless, with nowhere safe to go.

The landscape has now reached a tipping point. It simply can no longer support the koalas that depend on it.

Starving, emaciated koalas are falling from trees, being brought into care—many too far gone to be saved. And for those that survive, there is no safe habitat left to return to.

This travesty has been hidden behind closed doors for far too long. A comprehensive and transparent investigation is long overdue.

While Victorian koalas may not be listed as endangered, numbers don’t tell the whole story. What we’re witnessing is a large-scale animal welfare and environmental emergency.

Join us in calling for an urgent parliamentary inquiry into the koala crisis in southwest Victoria.

Sign the petition now—demand action before more animal lives are lost.

Animal Rescuers - No Targ

Animal Rescuers

IFAW

Dear Member of Victorian Parliament

I am writing to express my concern about the welfare of koalas in southwest Victoria.

Recent headlines around the last resort welfare intervention of aerial shooting of bushfire-impacted koalas in the World Heritage-listed Budj Bim National Park have understandably caused local, national and international outrage.

However, this is just the tip of the iceberg of what is an underlying chronic welfare crisis facing koalas in southwest Victoria. One that has been unfolding since the 1990s. The root cause is habitat loss and the blue gum plantation industry. Koala habitat has been decimated, with blue gum plantations providing the only temporary but dangerous refuge. When harvesting begins, koalas are injured or killed when the trees they call home are cut down. Those that do survive have nowhere to go.

The landscape in the region has now reached crisis point and can no longer support koalas that rely on it for food and shelter. Starving koalas are literally falling out of trees and are being brought into care severely emaciated. Many are past the point of saving. For those that survive, there is nowhere safe to release them back into.

This has gone on for too long and behind closed doors. The time has come for a comprehensive and transparent investigation.

I call on all Victorian Members of Parliament to establish an urgent parliamentary inquiry into this ecological and welfare crisis facing koalas in southwest Victoria.

The inquiry should focus on:

-The severe lack of remaining connected native koala habitat in southwest Victoria.

-The blue gum plantation industry’s impact on koalas and their habitat.

-The failure of regulatory mechanisms to manage and protect Victoria’s koala populations.

-The ongoing burden placed on volunteer wildlife rehabilitators who are rescuing and rehabilitating koalas with no funding, no local source of leaf to feed them and no safe habitat to release them back into.

-The recent mass koala deaths and injuries following the Budj Bim fire and harvesting of adjacent blue gum plantations.

-The decision-making processes that led to the aerial euthanasia of hundreds of koalas in Budj Bim.

-Future government funding and plans to ensure timely and expert response to wildlife emergencies.

The public inquiry needs to be fully transparent, allowing evidence and participation from all sectors of the community - traditional owners, private landowners, industry, wildlife rehabilitators, conservation and animal welfare NGOs, researchers, government and importantly the wider Victorian public.

With koalas on the endangered list along Australia’s east coast – Victoria’s koalas could hold the key to the future survival of the species. We have no other option to ensure they survive into the future – to do nothing is unfathomable.

Sincerely,

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Victoria’s shameful Secret. Demand an urgent parliamentary inquiry into the koala crisis

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