🐨 A Nation That Culls Its Icons: The Koala Crisis in Victoria
Mascots Abroad. Targets at home.
While most of us were going about our day—likely under the impression that koalas are a protected national treasure—the Victorian Department of Environment has apparently taken a quiet step in a shocking direction: authorising the culling (or more politely, “euthanising”) of native koalas.
This isn’t fiction.
It’s not satire—though it should be.
And no, it’s not clear whether the Australian public, let alone local communities, were consulted. Because why would they be?
Who needs transparency when the decision involves a species already slipping towards endangered status?
We’ve seen this script before—with the wild brumbies of the Snowy Mountains, targeted for removal under similarly vague justifications.
Now, it’s our koalas.
Let’s ask a few honest questions:
Why protect what’s iconic when you can quietly eliminate it?
Why engage in long-term solutions like habitat restoration or relocation when you can just reach for a shotgun—
which, by the by, ordinary Australians have been forced to hand in under some of the strictest gun laws in the world?Why care about the creatures that draw millions in tourism dollars and goodwill when they get in the way of land management plans or development interests?
It also makes a mockery of our national image.
We parade koalas and kangaroos as mascots at international sporting events, plaster them on souvenirs, and market them as irresistible photo ops to global tourists.
But behind the glossy brochures and Olympic pomp is a brutal reality: the same government that trades on their charm is quietly culling them when they become inconvenient.
It begs the question—what exactly are we representing on the world stage? A love for our wildlife, or a willingness to brand it when it suits us and bury it when it doesn’t?
In other words: Welcome to Australia—where national treasures are culled behind closed doors.
Koalas are not pests!
They are the very emblem of what we claim to cherish.
They suffer from habitat loss, disease, climate disruption—and now government policy. And while koalas are being 'managed' off the landscape, we’re being managed into silence.
But not today!
👉 SIGN THE PETITION
👉 Share this post with your networks
👉 Demand transparency, consultation, and humane wildlife policies
This isn’t just about wildlife.
It’s about values, integrity, and public trust. And if you care about any of those things, now’s the time to speak.
Let’s not look back and say we lost our koalas to red tape and indifference.
To accountability…
Until the government ends its hypocrisy, corporate accountability remains veiled, and the world watches as we diminish the sanctity of the very lands and fauna this government claims to honour in the name of First Peoples.
– Dianne Mead
‘Mascots Abroad. Targets at Home’ Collection
📌 Companion Reading
→ Why Lodging Complaints Matters
Burying your head in the sand won’t save the koalas—or any endangered species. It’s what ensures their quiet removal.
When outrage is silenced, ecosystems are too.
This reflection unpacks how the simple act of writing—be it a complaint, a submission, or a blog post—can hold power in systems that prefer our compliance. Lodging a complaint isn’t just a protest. It’s a record. A ripple. A resistance.
🪶 A must-read for those who think one voice can't shift the system.
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Hashtags when sharing:
#SaveTheKoalas #StopTheCull #WildlifeJustice #AustralianEnvironment #ProtectNotCull #BrumbiesAndKoalas #PreyToPredator #EthicalConservation #TourismNotTerrorism