The grey nomad hotspot of Mission Beach in Queensland is struggling to cope with an unprecedented influx of wallabies.
The area, which is generally more famed for its cassowaries, is said to be at crisis point with more and more bouncing marsupials heading into town as nearby areas are developed.
Dozens of animals are reportedly killed each night around Mission and South Mission Beach in vehicle strikes and dog attacks.
According to the ABC, the local wildlife shelter is overloaded, and some residents are deliberately killing the animals.
“The issue is escalating, it is getting to boiling point,” said the manager of the Cassowary Coast Wildlife Shelter, Tanya Jones. “People are deliberately running them over, they are putting molasses on the roads for crying out loud to attract them on to the road.”
The RSPCA is currently investigating a case of cruelty to a wallaby in the South Mission Beach area.
Cassowary Coast Mayor Bill Shannon told the ABC there had always been wallabies in the area but the population has ‘exploded’ over the past few years. He said while rural landholders are able to apply for a permit to cull animals, there is no way to safely control them in urban environments. He said wallabies were a protected species so council was unable to take action.
The wallaby issue has divided the local community with tourism operators and some locals welcoming the animals, and others considering them a nuisance.
“Tourism and eco-tourism is the only thing that is keeping Mission Beach alive,” said Tanya Jones.”People come here for our beautiful beaches and our wildlife.”
She says eradication of the wallabies might impact on the region’s business prospects.
The Cassowary Coast Regional Council is scheduled to hold a meeting on the issue shortly. It has invited the public, state government representatives and council staff to discuss possible solutions.
Would you rather visit Mission Beach with – or without – a wallaby plague? What other sorts of mass wildlife ‘invasions’ have you seen on your trips, and where did you see them? Comment below.
Seems the real plague are too many humans destroying nature for financial gain.
Totally agree with you Charley. They are being pushed out of their habitat so what do the humans up there think was going to happen? That they would pack up and move their groups elsewhere?
Wrong sorry Charley and Colleen, it’s easy to make judgement when you don’t know the facts. The wallabies have eaten 750 acres of farming grasses NOT land cleared for development as Tanya Jones and ABC have quoted. They aren’t a rainforest species but a plains animal , now all that’s left are noxious weeds after they’ve pulled all the grass out by the roots and moved into town. It’s sometimes easy to comment without actually seeing the problem.
Sooner have Wallabies than stinking Bats
I live in a rainforest, one of the very few areas not cleared at MB and as we are not afraid of the habitat and habitants and have utmost respect for them; we are privileged to live with cassowaries, agile wallabies (yes they do live and feed in the rainforest),possums, gliders and many more wonderful animals and birds.
The unprecedented amount of clearing has killed off many small animals and birds and has taken away food and shelter for what could survive, including the cassowary and the agile wallaby.
If one thinks about it, agiles are a coastal animal, in Australia most of our forests, littoral forests and rainforests are along the coastline where most rainfall occurs.
I welcome the wallabies where I live. The vermin are unnecessary real estate developments which destroy habitat. I believe cattle are also vermin – I don’t eat them and we don’t need them. People have to learn limits or there will be no viable life support system left for man OR animal. MONEY is NOT a RESOURCE!