Outcry over orphaned joeys after Australia shoots hundreds of koalas from helicopters

Cull in Victoria has killed nearly 700 koalas so far and left many joeys without mothers

State authorities are facing a backlash over the aerial culling of hundreds of koalas in Victoria, Australia, as animal welfare groups raise concerns about the fate of their orphaned joeys.

The cull in Budj Bim National Park of around 700 koalas so far has left many joeys without mothers, animal rights groups say. Activists are now demanding an independent review of the government’s handling of the operation.

The cull began in early April after bushfires destroyed over 2,000 hectares of habitat, leaving koalas starving, dehydrated and injured.

Authorities said euthanasia was necessary to prevent suffering, but their method – using marksmen shooting the koalas from helicopters – prompted an immediate backlash.

Wildlife advocacy groups argued that assessing koala health from the air was unreliable.

They were concerned that veterinarians and shooters were making decisions from up to 30 metres away, increasing the risk of healthy koalas, including mothers with joeys, being killed in error.

“The use of aerial shooting should be treated as a last resort,” said Friends of the Earth Melbourne, demanding the cull be paused and independent observers be allowed access to the site.

“This is the first time that koalas have been killed by shooting from a helicopter in Australia,” the organisation said. “Aerial culling of koalas is an Australian first and sets a nasty ethical precedent.”

National parks in Australia routinely shoot large brumbies and deer to manage their populations. This is not common with koalas, however.

Friends of Earth Melbourne said the area where the cull was being carried out had been cordoned off as fire-affected, with roads blocked and surveillance systems put in place.

“No koala rescuers have been allowed into the area, and there’s a concern about the fate of joeys whose mothers may have been shot,” the advocacy group said.

A koala at a zoo in Sydney, Australia, on 6 April 2023 (Getty)

Animal protection group Koala Alliance echoed concerns about orphaned young joeys that could be left to starve or die of exposure.

"If koalas were shot out of trees, this means many joeys would be left to suffer and die. It’s despicable. It’s cruel," the group said in a statement on Facebook.

It said the koalas in the crosshairs likely came from a recently harvested blue gum plantation near the national park. “Budj Bim regularly cull and sterilise koalas and they would never let the population get this big.”

Wildlife campaigners are also urging the Victorian government to immediately pause the harvesting of healthy eucalyptus trees on nearby private plantations, arguing that the remaining koalas need access to food and shelter to survive.

The Victorian government has defended the operation. Premier Jacinta Allan has said the environment department carried out wildlife assessments and acted on expert veterinary advice.

“After an examination of the circumstances, this approach was deemed the way to really recognise the koalas were in a lot of distress,” she said.

However, calls for an independent review are growing louder. Advocates say third-party observers, including wildlife veterinarians and scientists, should be given access to assess both the conduct and necessity of the cull.

The controversy draws attention to the pressures facing koala populations more broadly. Koalas are listed as endangered in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, and habitat loss from logging, plantation expansion and increasingly frequent bushfires has pushed populations to the brink.