Paula Rowlands says roadkill will be made worse by Gympie’s growth

Warning: Distressing content. Wildlife advocates are warning native roadkill will only get worse as the Gympie region continues to grow, with one resident left disgusted by a suburban driver’s lack of humanity.

When a Curra woman heard a ‘loud bang’ on her suburban street on Sunday afternoon and discovered a dead kangaroo on the road with no driver to be seen, she was furious.

Razz Liehm said her nine-year-old son had to witness the sad sight.

Her partner pulled the kangaroo off the road and had to put it out of its misery as it was past the point of revival.

“Our neighbour told us the car was flying up our road and they didn't even slow down,” Ms Liehm said.

“I was devastated and my other half and son were even upset, as they were left to deal with the poor kangaroo.”

The kangaroo killed by a driver in a Curra suburban street.

“It just crushes me that those callus people can do this and not care (enough to check for a joey or call a carer) - the animals deserve the right to be here as much as us,” she said.

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ANARRA wildlife carer and advocate Paula Rowlands told The Gympie Times these incidents happened too often and the recent housing boom meant more roads were being constructed and land clearing was at an all time high.

“(Gympie’s growth) is going to kill it all, this council doesn’t care about the wildlife, they reckon it should live out of town well nobody’s told the wildlife where out of town is,” Mrs Rowlands said.

“They pulled down our koala protection orders and did everything they could to go against wildlife just for money.”

Paula Rowlands from ANARRA Wildlife Rescue says the property boom will be deadly for the region’s wildlife.

Mrs Rowlands said they had tried putting signs up in the roadkill hotspots around the region but they were often taken down so drivers needed to be responsible for their own actions.

“If people can get the number plates of the cars that kill wildlife and report it to police, it’s actually an offence - you are supposed to stop and help the animals,” she said.

“People have just got to slow down, especially at dusk and dawn.

“Do they want there to be no wildlife when their children grow up?”

Karl the juvenile joey Koala being nursed by Paula Rowlands of Glastonbury. Photo: Greg Miller / Gympie Times

Mrs Rowlands said even if you think the animal is already dead, it may have a joey in its pouch that could be saved.

“It makes me feel sick and it makes me feel there is no future because people that feel like that for wildlife aren’t fellow human beings as far as I’m concerned,” she said.

“We need to teach kids that animals matter, we’re too far away from nature.”