WASHINGTON — Australia is struggling with how to humanely reduce the overpopulated koala, a debate similar to a local concern over whether to euthanize deer in Rock Creek Park.
Victoria state government secretly euthanized almost 700 koalas between 2013 and 2014 to thin the population of the marsupials. The animals are starving and dying of disease due to overpopulation, according to ABC News (that’s the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, not the American news organization owned by Disney).
The animals were captured, sedated and then euthanized by wildlife officials. The current Victoria administration pledges to be more transparent about future efforts to control the koala population, which continues to grow.
One man, who owns a campground in the Cape Otway area, tells ABC News that the koalas killed acres of trees and that so many koalas were dying that the carcasses left a stench in the air.
For two years, the National Park Service has used sharpshooters to thin the deer herds in Rock Creek Park. The controversial program resulted in lawsuits locally.
