Australian police investigate death of koala screwed to post

 

A supplied image obtained January 11, 2018 of a dead koala that was found screwed to a pole at Brooloo Park Lookout, near Gympie, Australia, January 10, 2018. Koala Rescue Queensland/AAP/Handout via REUTERS

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The death of a koala found screwed to a post in Australia has sparked an outcry from animal rights groups and prompted a police investigation.

 

The koala may have been alive when it was "cruelly attached" to the post of a wooden shelter using building screws, though it was dead when found on Wednesday, said Koala Rescue Queensland in a Facebook post accompanying a picture of the animal.

 

It shows the small koala, limbs wrapped around one of the shelter's wooden supports, appearing to clutch a bunch of gum leaves. The caption says "all is not as it seems". It gives the location as a lookout at Brooloo Park, 140 km (85 miles) north of the city of Brisbane in Queensland state.

 

"Police are currently investigating the matter," Senior Sergeant Pierre Senekal, at nearby Kenilworth, told Reuters on Thursday. He said the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) will organise an autopsy of the animal to determine cause of death.

 

Animal cruelty can attract a maximum penalty of seven years jail or fines of up to A$252,300 ($200,000) in Queensland.

 

"This is very disturbing," Queensland RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty told Reuters.

 

"Whether or not the koala was dead, how somebody would think this was in some way humorous, when little kids go to that lookout area, is beyond me," he said.

 

Koalas are one of Australia's major tourist attractions and are often inaccurately described as bears, but are infact marsupials, a mammal whose young are suckled in a pouch.

 

The koala was listed as a "vulnerable" species under an Australian conservation law in 2012. There are fewer than 100,000 of the animals left in the wild, perhaps even as few as 43,000, according to Australian Koala Foundation estimates.

 

($1 = 1.2713 Australian dollars)

 

(Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Michael Perry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-01-12

speechless  

sort of crucifixion. death is from being unable to breath. death is very slow and very painful. crucifixion is a christian obsession in a christian country. disgusting isn't it.

 

39 minutes ago, jobsworth said:

sort of crucifixion. death is from being unable to breath. death is very slow and very painful. crucifixion is a christian obsession in a christian country. disgusting isn't it.

 

"crucifixion is a christian obsession in a christian country. disgusting isn't it."

Are you sure you'r OK ? 

1 hour ago, Tchooptip said:

"crucifixion is a christian obsession in a christian country. disgusting isn't it."

Are you sure you'r OK ? 

are you one of them by any chance?

the quote is out of context.

 

There is a special place in hell................

1 hour ago, jobsworth said:

are you one of them by any chance?

the quote is out of context.

 

Not at all, I found this sentence: "crucifixion is a christian obsession in a christian country"  completely mad, unless I missed something and failed to understand?

Alive or dead, that's sick.

A sick act for sure, but it is a positive sign that there is no other crime to report on in the land down under. There was no spree of violent home invasions, no huge gangs of foreign youths running amok causing chaos and fear among the urban dwellers. Just a dead koala nailed to a post. Well done Australia.

23 hours ago, Ulic said:

There is a special place in hell................

No, there isn't...but hopefully a special place in a jail cell.

7 hours ago, FreddieRoyle said:

A sick act for sure, but it is a positive sign that there is no other crime to report on in the land down under. There was no spree of violent home invasions, no huge gangs of foreign youths running amok causing chaos and fear among the urban dwellers. Just a dead koala nailed to a post. Well done Australia.

Our resident keyboard warriors need not fear, plenty of local lads beating up cops.

 

 But I guess someone like you can would probably say these particular lads were up to just a bit of ‘innocent mischief’ and ‘boys will be boys’.

 

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/police-officer-injured-after-violent-brawl-in-torquay-20180109-p4yyck.html

i will find you , then i will kill you .

3 minutes ago, sirmud63 said:

i will find you , then i will kill you .

Nasty, them drop bears. 

The autopsy proved the koala was dead for many days but still a sick thing to do

like the youths who kicked quokkas and recorded it on phone and placed it on the web 

On 1/13/2018 at 7:08 PM, FreddieRoyle said:

A sick act for sure, but it is a positive sign that there is no other crime to report on in the land down under. There was no spree of violent home invasions, no huge gangs of foreign youths running amok causing chaos and fear among the urban dwellers. Just a dead koala nailed to a post. Well done Australia.

People that torture animals have the potential to harm humans.    

Even if there were no law prohibiting harming animals in a manner like this, it it wrong and if not evil, borders on evil.  

 

it's a shame to do that to an animal