Activists mount pressure on council candidates to save Sydney’s koalas
With the number of koala deaths continuing to rise, wildlife activists are demanding candidates commit to better protection of the endangered species ahead of council elections.
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Koalas are facing a particularly dire future in southwest Sydney, with 80 killed on the region’s roads in the past two years as the beloved native animal stares down the barrel of extinction by 2050.
Appin Rd in Campbelltown is the biggest hotspot for fatalities, with vehicle strikes killing 36 koalas in less than two years, according to tracking by rescue groups and experts from WIRES, Sydney Wildlife and the NSW Koala Strategy.
In response, experts and activists are calling on council hopefuls to commit to better protection of the endangered species against the pressures of development ahead of Saturday’s local government elections.
The key threats decimating koala populations are loss of habitat, disease and vehicle strikes.
Sydney Basin Koala Network project manager Stephanie Carrick warned koalas were dying due to being “forced onto the roads (by) poor development decisions”.
She highlighted places like Gilead, Appin and Wilton, and the area between Airds, Bradbury and St Helens Park, saying active koala corridors were being destroyed to make way for developments.
“This is crucial for koalas … to find new mates and then for their joeys ... If these corridors are fragmented, these koalas cannot thrive,” Ms Carrick said.
Ms Carrick said local councils had a crucial part to play in preventing koala extinction, and encouraged voters to push candidates to commit to the organisation’s seven-point policy guideline “before it’s too late”.
The guideline includes identifying hotspots for vehicle strikes, ensuring safe road crossing for koalas, advocating to the state government and implementing a “comprehensive koala plan of management”.
Experienced wildlife rescuer Ricardo Lonza has spent years saving hundreds of injured animals in Sydney’s southwest alongside WIRES and other rescue groups.
Mr Lonza emphasised the need for better planning and protection of wildlife near new developments such as along Appin Rd, having witnessed first-hand the increased number of koalas, including joeys, killed or orphaned.
“A resident notified us about a koala being hit, but its injuries were too severe to be saved,” he said.
“A member of the public saw it get hit by the car in front. (It) flew from the first car onto the car behind and slingshotted off that into the bushland on the side of the road in Appin Rd.”
Greens candidate Jayden Rivera is running for Campbelltown City Council, and has been an outspoken advocate for greater wildlife protection measures.
Mr Rivera was critical of the council’s “devastating” approval of a large housing development on Appin Rd, saying it would have “irrevocable impacts” on a major koala corridor.
He said these types of developments prioritised “the interests of large multinational developers” and were “almost never sold or rented at an affordable rate”.
He also criticised a project on Kellerman Dr, near St Helens Park, which cuts off another koala corridor, with joeys sighted this week.
“We can build affordable, accessible public housing and tackle the housing crisis without destroying the environmentally sensitive spaces that make Campbelltown special,” he said.
“Campbelltown has the healthiest koala colony in NSW, if not the country,” Mr Rivera said.
“This is one of the only chlamydia-free koala colonies and one of the only colonies that are actively expanding.”
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