Police believe the stalactites and speleothems were deliberately damaged. PIC: NSW Police
As if littering, daubing graffiti on rocks, and ripping off tree branches to feed campfires wasn’t bad enough, the mindless minority who seemed determined to ruin the Big Lap for everybody have gone ‘next level’.
Hard as it is to believe, police have been forced to launch an investigation after stalactites and stalagmites in an ancient NSW cave system were deliberately damaged.
The shocking incident is believed to have taken some time between October 17 and October 23 at Jillabenan Cave, part of the Yarrangobilly cave system.
“A padlock securing the doorway into the cave was removed, and the power distribution board was also damaged,” a NSW police spokesperson told the ABC. “As the stalactites and ‘straws’ within the cave are naturally formed, the damage is irreversible.”
The NSW National Park and Wildlife Services says some of the caves in the Yarrangobilly are more than 400 million years old, with the Jillabenan Cave dating back around two million years.
Former Kosciuszko National Park manager Ross McKinney told the ABC the alleged damage was appalling.
“Unnecessary and disgusting in the extreme,” he said. “The Jillabenan Cave is one of the beautiful highlights of that cave system that attracts so many visitors.”
Andy Spate, who was formerly employed by National Parks to manage their caves said that, sadly, it was not the first time this kind of incident had occurred.
“I’m shocked rather than surprised,” he said. “It’s happened before at Yarrangobilly, quite some time ago now.”
Be a bit hard to blame the backpackers for this.