WILD dogs are being blamed for the loss of koalas from many places in southern and central western Queensland.
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Peter Sanderson has lived at Westbourne, south of Tambo all his life and says he used to hear koalas down by the creek near his house every night.
“The Queensland government used to come out and study them, they were all through this land,” he said.
The disappearance of koalas from the countryside happened about five or six years ago and coincided with the arrival of wild dogs in big numbers.
Peter says droughts are not to blame for their disappearance as the water and eucalypts at one of their favourite spots, Joe’s Tank, is still available.
“They’ve got to come down out of their trees to drink. They’d be a very easy target for a wild dog,” Peter said.
His family has lost an estimated 600 lambs out of one mob so far this year and killed five wild dogs in one memorable day.
Eight years ago they ran 8,500 sheep on another property, Wyanga, further to the north but say they can’t even run killers there now for the number of dogs on the prowl.
Although they bait, trap and shoot what they can, the Sandersons now say they’ll have to put more fences up.
“I don’t like it, it’s dead money, but what can you do,” Peter asked. “We’ve either got to do that or go out of sheep altogether.”
In the meantime, the koalas will have to fend for themselves.
