Koala carnage continues at notorious killing zone

DEATH of koala in Bangalow follows the loss of five others last year in the same place.

TRAGEDY: The deceased male koala was found on Tuesday on Granuaille Road in Bangalow. Picture: Contributed

ANOTHER koala has been tragically killed this week at a known crossing hotspot in Bangalow.

President of Bangalow Koalas Linda Sparrow said a deceased male koala was found on Tuesday on Granuaille Road near the entry to Hinterland Way heading north.

"To say I am heart broken is an understatement," Ms Sparrow said.

"This is right in the middle of the koala kill hot spot where last year we lost 5 koalas in this section of road.

"Monday week ago at 6.30am I got a call to go check on a koala seen wandering right in this section of the road but after an exhaustive search there was no sign of the koala.

"I walked this very section (searching), so to find it's body on Tuesday was soul destroying. It must have died either that day or sometime just after."

In previous weeks Ms Sparrow was involved in the successful rescue of a juvenile female found wandering on the Bangalow exit ramp.

After an extensive rescue operation involving road closures, three volunteer rescuers, a cherry picker and the cooperation of the Byron Police the koala was rescued and released safely two weeks later.

Ms Sparrow has also raised ongoing concerns regarding increased traffic around a proposed development at 18 Pioneers Way in Bangalow.

"We cannot allow this huge development to put more stress on our already vulnerable koalas," Ms Sparrow said.

"A development of this size does not belong on the edge of our village and will forever destroy not just the character of Bangalow but potentially our precious Koala population.

Byron Shire mayor Simon Richardson would not be drawn on the proposed Bangalow development saying only that it would go through proper council processes.

He said council was looking at ways to provide better crossings for wildlife and better driver notification at known wildlife crossings.

"There is no cheap or easy fix for this but we definitely need to go above and beyond to protect our wildlife," Cr Richardson said.

"I have requested staff to consider more formerly how we can mitigate harm to wildlife by using traffic calming methods to slow traffic or providing crossings for wildlife at known hotspots such as Bangalow and Broken Head."