The authorities of the Australian state of Victoria are having to address criticism from animal rights activists after the mass shooting of koala bears, TASS reported citing the Sky News Australia TV channel.

According to the TV channel, up to 750 koalas have been killed in the Budj Bim National Park over the past month. Sky News Australia pointed out that for the first time, snipers who fired from helicopters were deployed to cull animals. Environmental authorities explained it by saying that many animals had already been seriously injured, dehydrated or starved after a fire that destroyed about 2,000 hectares of forest in April.

The State Premier, Jacinda Ardern, said that before shooting the animals, experts conducted a "thorough assessment," and the killed koalas "suffered a lot."

The actions of the authorities caused outrage among defenders of wildlife, the TV channel notes. "There's no way to find out from a helicopter if a koala is sick," said Jess Robertson, the president of the Koala Alliance. Georgie Purcell, a deputy from the Animal Justice Party in the Parliament of Victoria, in turn, drew attention to the fact that during the shooting no one checked whether the animals had cubs in their "nursery" bags.

According to the Australian Koala Protection Foundation, the koala has been recognized as an endangered species in the states of Queensland, New South Wales and the Capital Territory since February 2022. The sharp reduction in their population is caused by habitat destruction, dog attacks, forest fires and road accidents.