Fwd: SINO AUSTRALIAN KOALA DEAL

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Apr 30, 2006 5:56 AM

SINO AUSTRALIAN KOALA DEAL

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Koalas can't bear being sent to China: activists

Welfare fears ... animal keeper Lindy Thomas with one of six koalas that

will this week be flown to China's Xiangjiang Safari Park.

Photo: *Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary*

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By Alex Mitchell

April 23, 2006

 

 

SIX koalas should not be sent to a zoo in China because their safety and

survival cannot be guaranteed, animal welfare groups claim.

 

They say the koalas - the first to be imported into China - risk contracting

disease, and warn that the People's Republic does not have laws to protect

zoo animals.

 

Australia for Animals co-ordinator Sue Arnold said: " China has one of the

world's worst records on animal welfare and it is simply shocking that six

koalas are being sent there.

 

" The Chinese authorities have a record of ignoring horror reports on the

state of the country's live animal parks and that is a major concern. The

transfer should be halted because we have absolutely no confidence in the

arrangements that have been put in place. "

 

But Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell has issued an export licence

allowing the koalas to be flown to their new home, saying he is satisfied

their welfare needs will be fully met.

 

The koalas are due to leave the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on the Gold

Coast this week bound for the Xiangjiang Safari Park in Guangzhou province.

 

The safari park management donated $650,000 - almost $110,000 a koala - to

the Currumbin park, which is owned by the National Trust of Queensland and

is one of the Gold Coast's most popular attractions.

 

The Queensland Government shares some of the concerns of animal welfare

activists. Ross MacLeod, senior policy adviser to Environment Minister

Desley Boyle, told Australia for Animals: " The minister is concerned that

the wellbeing of these animals cannot be guaranteed once they leave

Australia.

 

" It is the view of the Queensland Government that the koalas, which are

proposed to be transferred out of Queensland for the purpose of overseas

zoological display, should only do so under stringent conditions concerning

their health and welfare which are applicable before, during and after

transfer.

 

" Such conditions should be set down in a tripartite agreement signed by the

sending and receiving institutions and the Queensland Government. "

 

In a letter to her federal counterpart, Ms Boyle raised the issue of

kangaroos taking part in boxing matches at circus shows at the Xiangjiang

Safari Park.

 

Referring to undertakings about the koalas' welfare in China, Ms Boyle said:

" The means of enforcing undertakings made by the safari park in relation to

the welfare of these animals when in China are unclear to me and this

heightens our concerns for the koalas' welfare. "

 

Senator Campbell has obtained a guarantee that the Chinese zoo owners will

remove kangaroos from their " boxing kangaroo " attraction and this was a

condition for the transfer of the koalas.