Koalas being killed on infamous stretch of Sydney road

ABC NEWS (Australia)

It's more than a year since koalas were listed as an endangered species in New South Wales. Some populations are actually growing but, in many cases, so too are the risks. One particular stretch of road in Sydney is becoming notoriously dangerous for the treasured marsupial.

Transcript

00:00 Come on, sweetheart.

00:03 Meet Millie, a four-month-old koala joey being nursed back to health after she was

00:08 thrown from her mother's pouch.

00:12 Passing vet nurse Stephanie Mills stopped to rescue the injured pair near Dead Man's

00:17 Creek in Sydney's south-west ten days ago.

00:20 I popped a towel around her and then got her straight into the car and then I had the young

00:24 joey.

00:25 But the mother, named Storm, didn't survive.

00:29 Researchers call this the kill zone, a stretch of Heathcote Road near Sandy Point, taking

00:34 in parts of Menai, Holsworthy and Pleasure Point.

00:38 We're getting fed up with it, having to remove several bodies and I said it's very heartbreaking,

00:42 especially when it's a mother and a joey.

00:45 Since last October, there have been nine known incidents of koalas being hit in the area,

00:50 an average of one per month.

00:53 Previously, there were only about three hits being recorded per year.

00:58 You don't see that live updating of records in those government databases, which is where

01:05 the decisions are being made.

01:08 Conservationists say the endangered animals are on the move due to development and are

01:13 finding themselves in serious trouble.

01:17 Wildlife groups are calling for urgent changes to this stretch of road, including fencing,

01:22 warning signs and a more effective koala underpass.

01:26 It says it is working on exclusion fencing and is talking to Defence about damaged fences

01:32 at Holsworthy Barracks.

01:34 We just need to look at better solutions going forward and we're working with the koala experts

01:39 and the organisations that are on the ground such as WIRES and I'm working really closely

01:43 with the Minister for Roads to put those into place.

01:46 Those who deal with the aftermath say there's no time to lose.

01:50 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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