Koalas are dying on the coal highway: we found 145 koalas killed along a single Queensland highway last year
"In Central Queensland, there’s a known koala death hotspot. The Peak Downs Highway connects Mackay on the coast with the Bowen Basin coal mining region. Cars and trucks travel along the highway at speed. The road is notoriously dangerous for humans, with a death toll in the dozens. But it’s also lethal for koalas."
"How many are killed? Throughout 2023, citizen scientist and honours student Charley Geddes and our team of scientists counted 145 otherwise healthy koalas struck and killed along a 51 kilometre stretch of this highway. This is a huge figure. By contrast, an average of 365 koalas are admitted to veterinary hospitals each year after being hit by a vehicle across the entire south-east Queensland region. Unfortunately, this koala haven has one major problem: fast-moving vehicles. The Peak Downs highway runs directly through this prime koala habitat."
"...Many eucalypts have been conserved, benefiting koalas and other wildlife. This has been done deliberately, as these trees provide shade for grazing animals. The gum trees koalas prefer – blue gums and ironbarks – are found all along the highway. As a result, we found koalas were being killed nearly anywhere along the stretch."
"One major reason why so many koalas die on this stretch of highway is because of the high volume of traffic, much of which is going to and from the coal mines in the Bowen Basin. This geological basin contains Australia’s largest body of coal, and has 48 active coal mines as of 2023. Queensland’s largest export is still metallurgical coal.The high death toll is clearly an indirect consequence of mining operations."
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https://theconversation.com/death-hotspot-we-found-145-koalas-killed-along-a-single-queensland-highway-last-year-242585
#koalas #roads #cars #mining #logging #coal #extractivism #WildlifeExclusion #wildlife #EndangeredSpecies #ExtinctionCrisis #roadkill #ClimateEmergency #ecocide
