Australia to exterminate its Koala population

Australia - A controversial new culling campaign has been launched by the Australian Right Wing government led by prime minister Tony Abbott. Starting in early 2016, Koalas, the animal which is one of the most iconic to the continent will begin to be killed off so as to reach the 2020 Zero Koala goal. The reason for this extermination all comes down to the damage that Koalas do to their man food source, the Eucalyptus tree. Products from the Eucalyptus tree, such as Eucalyptus oil, is one of Australia's biggest exports and the large consumption of Eucalyptus leaves by Koalas costs the nation as much as 100 million US dollars a year. So in order to save money and increase production of Eucalyptus wares, the country has decided to reduce the Koala population to zero.

Australian prime minister Tony Abbot spoke about project 'Koala Zero' at a conference in Canberra this morning. These are his words:

- Australians, we've had to make a very hard decision but we believe that it will be for the better and benefit our nation in a great many ways. The Koala population has gotten out of hand and is robbing us of very valuable goods that could bring millions in revenue for the government and in turn, build roads, schools and improve our healthcare. We already have one iconic animal, the kangaroo, and we should be happy to have had the opportunity to get to know Koalas for a long time before they had to leave. This is not a light decision, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices in order to create a better Australia

A specific division of “Koala Killers” has been created and it will carry out the dirty work, poisoning and shooting Koalas. Approximately 2000 will be killed every day and the hides will be sold at markets across the country and the rest of the world.

Organisations such as PETA, have unexpectedly, come out in strong opposition of the Australian government's dire decision. A spokesman of the organisation, Hugh Myrone Gaines, made this statement in an article online:

- It is almost beyond belief, that a government of such a beautiful country with such beautiful wildlife would make such an outlandish, murderous decision. We will do everything in our power to abolish 'Koala Zero' and we hope that we can get higher powers behind us.

Individuals online have also come together in protest of the decision, joining together under the hashtag #SaveTheKoala. One particular tweeter said this: "Tony Abbott and his cronies have gone too far this time, they must be stopped, and koalas cannot die! #SaveTheKoala”

The Koala species will thankfully not be extinct, as many exist at Zoos worldwide, but the native population of Australia will be completely extinct. To discuss this story, join the discussion under #SaveTheKoala