By Bianca Hall
Police are searching for multiple offenders after at least 10 wombats were killed in a “disgusting”, deliberate attack in Venus Bay on Tuesday night.
A spokeswoman for Victoria Police said about 10 wombats had been found dead on roads in the town, mostly in the First Estate, on Wednesday morning. Police are searching for the drivers of three 4WDs, who were seen in the area between 10pm and 11pm.
Police are searching for multiple offenders after 10 wombats were discovered killed in Venus Bay.Credit: The Australian Reptile Park
Wildlife carers have also received reports of three wombats struck down the same night in Walkerville, as well as a koala and several kangaroos that appeared to have been deliberately struck.
Local Mark Radley checked the wombats for joeys on Wednesday, and said all the joeys had either fled or had been taken.
“There was one rare white mother who was still lactating in death, and she had a very large pouch, meaning she had a quite well-developed joey, which has disappeared,” he said.
“I worry that the joeys were taken by these [people].”
Common wombats, or bare-nosed wombats, are protected in Victoria. They actively forage for vegetation at night. They take two years from birth to live independently of their mothers.
“It’s just a feeling of utter devastation,” Radley said.
“People here are very, very fond of the wombats. Pretty much every second house has got a big water dish out for them. A lot of people are really proud of the fact that wombats live under their house, even if they do damage to the stumps. It’s a very wildlife-sympathetic and friendly area.”
Anyone caught destroying protected wildlife faces 50 penalty units or six months’ prison – or both – for every head of wildlife.
South Gippsland Shire Council deputy mayor Sarah Gilligan, who lives in Venus Bay, said she drove home from the council offices on Wednesday, seeing more and more dead wombats on the side of the road.
Disturbingly, two healthy looking males had been killed before being positioned side-by-side facing the road with their paws out, while tyre track marks indicated some had been chased down.
“I just hope they get found by the police before anybody else works out who they are,” Gilligan said.
“There’s a really traumatised, angry community here. It’s such an attack on our way of life down here. And it’s just ugly. It’s really ugly.”
The council hired a truck to remove the remains on Thursday.
Alyson Skinner, general manager of the Venus Bay Community Centre, said locals were extremely upset and distressed, with many volunteering to care for wildlife and to maintain wildlife habitats.
“It seems to have been a deliberate and targeted slaughter,” she said.
- Anyone with dashcam or CCTV footage has been urged to contact Inverloch Police on 03 5674 1202. If you find injured wildlife, you can report it to Wildlife Victoria on 03 8400 7300.