MEDIA RELEASE PR36334
Hundreds of Wombats Slaughtered - Australia's Disgrace
SYDNEY, Sept. 30 /Medianet International-AsiaNet/ --
Hundreds of wombats are being slaughtered with the South Australian government issuing unregulated
destruction permits.
Wombats are being slain as they leave their burrow, their burrows are being bulldozed with residents still
inside, left to suffocate or starve to death taking days or weeks to die.
Illegal killing of wombats has been highlighted by a young Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat aptly named
'Bean Bag' who was shot five times and left to die on a remote station in the Murraylands region of SA.
Cruel killing methods of insufficient gassing or petrol bombs have also been discovered.
The Wombat Awareness Organization (WAO) - a nonprofit organization and SA's only large scale wombat
rescue service has been inundated with over 265 wombats in the past 18 months and calls of concern from
communities all over South Australia regarding the disturbing treatment of their faunal emblem.
'Many of the reasoning's for destruction permits are based on assumptions - not research.' Founding WAO
Director Brigitte Stevens claims. 'The truth of the matter is that research shows a decline in active burrows, an
increase in threats and there is simply no accurate estimation of population numbers'. The Southern Hairy
Nosed Wombat is being affected by the drought, culling both legal and illegal, Sarcoptic mange and vehicles.
Considerations should be made that no population of animals can be sustained under so much pressure,
protection orders are desperately needed.
WAO has recently been joined by Western Australia's Peel Zoo to raise funds to purchase a large parcel of
land for wombat protection and as a safe haven for rehabilitated wombats.
Stage one requires the purchase of a 13,000 acre portion of Portee Station, 150 km north east of Adelaide
at the cost of $455,000, with the intention to buy the remainder of the station for the purpose of further
developing a rescue centre for Southern Hairy Nosed Wombats.
Peel Zoo is launching a national awareness campaign to raise money to help secure the first stage of
Portee Station and ensure the Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat avoids extinction.
CONTACT INFO
Brigitte Stevens
Wombat Awareness Organisation
Phone: +61 458 RESCUE
Email: Brigitte@wombatawareness.com
Tony Greenwoods
Sanctuary Drive, Pinjarra, WA 6208
Phone: +61 8 9531 4322
Mobile: +61 402 758 682
E-mail: info@peelzoo.com
SOURCE: Wombat Awareness Organisation
Translations:
NEWS 
