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The Queensland Government is being urged to expand the controversial practice of koala translocation, despite previous programs having a high mortality rate.
Key points:
- The East Coomera translocation project had a 42 per cent mortality rate
- Gold Coast City Council says the program "a success" as the mortality rate "very similar" to koalas not moved
- The council said the impact of wild dogs was "higher than anticipated"
Under present Queensland law, koala translocation, which involves relocating the animal to similar bushland, is only permitted if it is part of a scientific research program.
The chair of the state's Koala Advisory Council, Mark Townend, has told 7.30 it should be made easier to move koalas, whose habitat is under threat, to similar bushland.
"At the moment you can only put a koala back within 5 kilometres of where it came from," he said.
"Why would you put them back in danger? We need to review that policy.
"You've got all these admissions to wildlife hospitals of koalas because they're not mixing right with people, dogs or cars," he said.
"So we need to try and review that policy."
The comments have shocked leading koala researcher Professor Frank Carrick, who is worried a change in policy will encourage further destruction of koala habitats.
He said translocation was highly risky and past programs had failed.
"It's a zero-sum game. If you have x amount of habitat, you remove half of it, by and large the population in that region will decline by at least half, probably more," he said.
"Shifting them around is the old classic, shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic."
Currumbin Wildlife Hospital veterinarian Dr Michael Pyne said translocation was a useful tool, but only as a last resort.
"Movement of koalas from one area to another in many cases is a necessary evil," he said.
"When you've got young koalas that are dispersing and moving through urban areas, there's no choice but to try to find a better spot for them."
Policy review announced
The Queensland Government has announced a review of the translocation policy after it was revealed in State Parliament last August that the mortality rate for the project at East Coomera was 42 per cent.
7.30 can now reveal more details about the project, which relocated 180 koalas between 2009 and 2014.
Documents obtained under Right to Information laws show the death rate was blamed on "unforeseen wild dog attacks".
A scientific permit report from the council to Queensland's Environment Department in 2014 admitted "the impacts of wild dog predation were higher than anticipated in the early stage of the project".
But despite the high death rate, the council argued the project was a success, as the mortality rate was "very similar" to the rate for koalas that were not moved.
Under the heading "relocation success", the report said "at six months after relocation, approximately 80 per cent of koalas had survived and generally appeared to have coped with the initial stress".
"At the 12-month mark, approximately 70 per cent of koalas in the relocation group had survived and had essentially become residents at the recipient sites," it said.
The 2014 report also promised to submit "a series of research papers" that were "planned for preparation to scientific journals over the next two to three years".
A Gold Coast council spokesman told 7.30 that the papers had yet to be submitted.
But the council's 2014 report was already claiming significant scientific findings.
"Koala relocation is a complex undertaking, but can be achieved with success in many cases where the koala is healthy, in good body condition, is at least 4 to 5 kilograms in weight … and aged from two to around seven years," the report said.
Critics say program 'a failure'
Australians for Animals, which obtained the Right to Information documents, said the council was drawing a long bow.
"It's really important to understand that these Coomera koalas were nationally significant," Australians for Animals coordinator Sue Arnold said.
"They're the heartland of koalas in south-east Queensland and the translocations were a failure."
Koala researcher Frank Carrick also remained sceptical about the council's claim of translocation success.
"If that's their idea of success, I'd hate to see what failure looks like," he said.
"If you accept at face value what we've been told, and it's on the basis of, 'trust us, we're politicians', then it's a pretty dismal outcome.
"But we can't judge, because we don't have the actual data."
Questions remain about East Coomera program
The Right to Information documents show the sites where the 180 East Coomera koalas were resettled had not be surveyed since late 2014.
However, the Gold Coast Council has confirmed to 7.30 that it commissioned further surveys of the translocation sites in the Lower Beechmont and Wongawallan conservation areas in November and December last year.
"The report detailing the results of these surveys is currently being prepared and is expected to be presented to council in mid-2019," a council spokesman said.
Queensland Environment Minister Leanne Enoch said she would wait to hear the final report from the Koala Advisory Council before making a decision.
"That's why we've got a koala expert group — a council — an advisory council to provide all of that input to government to make sure we have the right policy that gives us the best practice is this area," she said.
Watch the story tonight on 7.30.
Topics: animals, human-interest, environmental-impact, environmental-management, environmental-policy, environment, coomera-4209, qld, australia