Watch Loggers Cut Down a Tree While a Koala and Her Baby Cling On for Dear Life

[Omaha Steve]

The video highlights a battle between the Australian timber industry and animal activists over protection for the marsupial.

Story & video: http://www.takepart.com/video/2015/02/09/loggers-cut-down-tree-while-koala-clings-dear-life?cmpid=longtailshare

February 10, 2015 By Taylor Hill

Taylor Hill is TakePart's associate environment and wildlife editor.

The video is hard to watch: A giant, screeching machine tears into a blue gum forest in Australia, felling a tree inhabited by a koala and her joey.

In 37 seconds, the video captures the struggle for land between loggers and the tree-dwelling marsupial, whose numbers are declining across Australia as forests are razed to build housing developments and shopping malls.

The mother survived the fall, but the health of the baby is not known, according to nonprofit group Friends of the Earth.

“This was a private land operation, and the woman who took the footage was verbally assaulted and refused access when she tried to access the site and check on the baby,” said Anthony Amis, a Friends of the Earth spokesperson. “The person that took the footage went back to the site a day later and found three very sick and injured koalas—one had to be euthanized because it had maggots in it,” Amis said.

FULL story at link.

[shenmue]

1. Oh no!

[Rex]

2. Dam, they couldn't at least remove them first? Had to just make a bold statement.

"Fuck life, watch me chew up this tree...nom nom nom..."

Rancid.

[madamvlb]

3. This is just so sad.

I refuse to eat anything with palm oil (yes you can find Nutella without it) what we are doing to this planet scares me. Orangutans are being desimated because of our need for Palm oil.

http://www.orangutan.org.au/palm-oil

[KittyWampus]

4. I had heard this and haven't had time to see if there is any way to source cruelty-free palm oil.

It has extremely useful applications in vegan cooking but I don't use it cause it is quite harmful.

There may be some micro-businesses out there though.