By PAUL MILLAR
AN EMBARRASSING gaffe has led to culling of koalas at Cape Otway, according to a conservation group.
Australian Koala Foundation said the state had planted 93,000 trees of the wrong species in an “ill-informed attempt“ to protect starving koalas.
Foundation chief Deborah Tabart said neither of the two kinds of eucalypt planted since 2012 suited the koalas or the region.
“There are hundreds of different tree species that koalas eat and their diet varies greatly from one region to the next,” Ms Tabart said.
“I’d be embarrassed if I was the person who approved the planting of the wrong tree species.”
Ms Tabar blamed a lack of ecological expertise, both now and in the past.
“There are issues, huge issues, with the trees and these issues are being clouded by the government culling koalas under the guise of welfare.
“Thirty years ago these koalas were moved to Cape Otway for tourism purposes.
“They shouldn’t have been because the preferred trees for Victorian koalas do not grow well on these soils.
“Basically, these Koalas have been stuck eating the wrong trees for 30 years and they’re sick and the trees are sick. Worse still, 93,000 of the same trees have been planted that cannot possibly fix the problem.”
Conservation Ecology Centre, which has state and commonwealth support, has been conducting revegetation work at Cape Otway.
The centre has co-ordinated revegetation, focusing on private land.
A Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning spokesman said the work was undertaken across 10 private land holdings.
“This included 40 hectares of revegetation work on former pasture land as well as 50ha of restoration planting in areas where the coastal manna gum canopy has been over-browsed by koalas,” he said.
“These plantings include a range of native plant species that are endemic to, and likely to thrive on, Cape Otway’s sandy soils.
“Many koalas at Cape Otway are able to access the Great Otway National Park, which has extensive stands of several other known koala food tree species but many are reluctant to move from their favoured coastal manna gum trees.”
The state recently culled more than 50 kolas at the cape amid concerns for their health and claims of overpopulation.
