CNN.com - Call to shoot 20,000 Australian koalas - Apr 30, 2004: "A koala population explosion on an Australian island has prompted calls for 20,000 of the furry, native marsupials to be shot to stop them destroying their island habitat and end a koala famine.
Some 30,000 koalas on Kangaroo Island, off the coast of the state of South Australia, are stripping the island of its native gum trees, destroying the ecosystem and causing a koala famine, say environmentalists and national parks officials.
'We are talking thousands of starving koalas,' said Sandra Kanck from the Australian Democrats, Australia's third major political party.
'While they may be cute and cuddly we need to get beyond emotion to reality...my suggestion is professional shooters do it quickly and cleanly,' Kanck told Reuters on Friday of the proposed cull."
Some 30,000 koalas on Kangaroo Island, off the coast of the state of South Australia, are stripping the island of its native gum trees, destroying the ecosystem and causing a koala famine, say environmentalists and national parks officials.
'We are talking thousands of starving koalas,' said Sandra Kanck from the Australian Democrats, Australia's third major political party.
'While they may be cute and cuddly we need to get beyond emotion to reality...my suggestion is professional shooters do it quickly and cleanly,' Kanck told Reuters on Friday of the proposed cull."