Drivers warned after 'heartbreaking' find next to road at Aussie tourist town
Wildlife advocates say the animal is the second to be killed in Bangalow, just outside Byron Bay in the New South Wales Northern Rivers region, in recent times. The death is particularly concerning to rescuers, with the area down to just a couple hundred individuals, according to recent estimates.
Since European colonisation, koala habitat in Australia has been devastated, with approximately 29 million hectares (54 per cent) of forests and woodlands destroyed in NSW alone. Even in recent years, deforestation has continued at an alarming pace.
In 2020, 53,800 hectares of vital koala habitat were lost to logging and development, with the animals' population taking a further hit during the 2019-2020 bushfires, in which up to 19 million hectares were burnt. A WWF-Australia assessment estimated approximately 8,400 koalas died on the NSW mid-north coast alone, representing up to 30 per cent of that region's koala population.
Combined with road trauma, their numbers continue to dwindle. On Wednesday, conservationist Linda Sparrow, of Bangalow Koalas, urged drivers to take the simple step of slowing down as she shared "distressing images" of the latest fatality.
"We lost another female koala this morning on Bangalow Road, just down from Old Bangalow Road, Byron Bay," she said.
"There are roadworks up at the intersection of Old Bangalow Road with a 40km speed limit. Please stop speeding along this stretch; this is the second female koala killed along this stretch in recent times.
Linda branded the latest fatality "heartbreaking for rescuers, heartbreaking for Byron Shire koalas" who she said "are up against the odds". "It appears both times the koalas have come under the barrier along the road and hit straight away. This koala was rescued from a swimming pool near Arkawal National Park three years ago," she added.
Speaking to Yahoo News, Linda has argued the "world is watching" when it comes to koala conservation, and implored governments and the public to rise to the challenge and take action.
"I can't imagine a world where there are no koalas. We have to step up and we have to protect them, because by protecting koalas, we're actually helping all of us," she said recently.
It comes amid continual warnings that koalas are facing extinction in NSW by 2050.
Linda is currently embarking on a bold mission to repopulate the area with trees, in a bid to create a "koala corridor" — an interconnected network of habitat where koalas can roam freely and safely, far from the threat of humans. In May, she hit the incredible milestone of 450,000 trees planted.
Spanning 161 plantings across 121 properties in seven local shires, the community-driven initiative has become one of the region's most impactful conservation efforts. With just thousands of trees remaining to hit the half-a-million mark by the end of the year, Bangalow Koalas is calling on individuals, communities, and corporate sponsors to "help us cross the finish line".
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