A VETERINARY report and an autopsy report, written by Port Macquarie Koala Hospital and released through a freedom of information request, have raised concerns for the Friends of Pine Creek (FOPC) about the koala that was euthanised after being found in an active logging compartment.
According to FOPC, Ben, as the koala was named by the hospital, suffered major injuries.
These included abdominal bleeding, fractured ribs, lung contusions, brain trauma and soft tissue injuries including a large jaw wound.
He was also assessed as having ocular chlamydia in one eye.
Ben was not seen by a vet until the day after he was admitted, and, it appears, probably suffered unnecessarily.
FOPC said this could have been prevented by taking him to one of the many vets or wildlife carers in the Coffs Harbour area who have koala experience.
“Why Forestry took Ben all the way to Port Macquarie, instead of being seen locally, has not been clearly answered,” said a spokesperson for FOPC.
The spokesperson said FOPC was still very concerned that the statement from Forestry Corporation NSW (FCNSW) differed greatly from an alleged eyewitness report that the koala was seen falling from a tree as a result of clearfell harvesting operations.
“Staff working in the field made the best decision with the information available at the time,” said a spokesperson for FCNSW.
“The koala was found moving freely, with no visible external injuries apart from a chlamydia-affected eye, and was captured after having climbed a tree.
“The animal was taken to the specialist hospital for professional veterinary assessment.”
However, FOPC said the injuries sustained by Ben were far in excess of what one would expect from a koala ‘found on a pile of logs’, as per the original FCNSW statement, and the halting of logging operations for two weeks seemed a disproportionate response for a koala found with chlamydia.
“Even though Forestry has attempted to downplay the situation, the evidence is clear that logging in known critical koala habitat is lethal for koalas,” said the FOPC spokesperson.
By Andrew VIVIAN
You can help your local paper.
Make a small once-off, or (if you can) a regular donation.
We are an independent family owned business and our newspapers are free to collect and our news stories are free online.
Help support us into the future.
