‘Ecological disaster’ in the midst for Kangaroo Island’s koala population ahead of blue gum harvest plans
An ecological disaster is brewing on Kangaroo Island with koalas set to decimate native vegetation before starving once a timber company begins harvesting the island’s plantations, environmentalists say.
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Koalas will starve and “decimate” the native vegetation on Kangaroo Island once a timber company begins harvesting the region’s bluegum plantations, environmentalists say.
Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers hopes to soon win State Government approval for is new Smith Bay seaport, paving the way for it to export timber from the island.
But groups say since blue gums were planted on the island about 20 years ago, the koala population has exploded.
They are worried once the trees are felled, the animals will move out to the surrounding native gums, stripping trees of their leaves and impacting on other animals such as insects and birds.
In a submission to the State Government on the seaport project, the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Network said the issue was “an ecological disaster in the making”.
“Not only is there potential for thousands of koalas to starve to death but there will be an overall effect from over-browsing by koalas on other native species who depend on this habitat to live and reproduce,” the group said.
Its president, Kate Welz, said the results would also present ethical problems for her organisation, which helps rescue injured, sick and orphaned animals.
“It becomes an ethical question from our point of view, about whether we want to be raising animals with no place to go,” Ms Welz said.
“We’re very focused on helping get them back into the wild — not keeping them in captivity.”
Ms Welz estimated there were about 60,000 koalas living in the blue gum plantations, but the Environment Department put the figure at closer to 24,000 — about half of the island's total population.
Conservation Council SA chief executive Craig Wilkins labelled the issue a “ticking time bomb”.
He said Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers and the state’s Environment Department must work together on a plan to deal with the future of the island’s koala population.
“Culling has serious reputational issues but leaving an overstressed population of koalas decimating the environment is just as distressing for tourists and the animals themselves,” Mr Wilkins said.
Mr Wilkins said there was “no easy, painless solution” to returning the island’s koala population to a sustainable level.
An Environment Department spokeswoman said the Government would work with the company to ensure the trees were harvested according to rules protecting the welfare of koalas and other fauna.
She said more than 13,000 Kangaroo Island koalas had either been sterilised or had contraceptives implanted, including 423 last financial year.
Kangaroo Island Plantation Timber community engagement director Shauna Black said the koalas would not starve because the company planned to harvest less than 10 per cent of the blue gums each year.
The business was working on plans to reduce harvesting’s impact on the animals, which would draw on information from forestry in other regions.
Ms Black said that may include measures such as relocating koalas or leaving a number of trees around areas where the marsupials were spotted.
“For us, the most important thing about koalas is dealing with them in a humane way,” she said.
“Every now and then people talk about culling koalas, but we don’t — they’re a protected species.”
michelle.etheridge@news.com.au