Australians Enraged Over Koala Screwed to Wooden Post

The Koala Rescue Queensland NGO in Australia distributed a photo of a terrible scene from a park – a dead koala had been screwed to a wooden post of a shelter. The animal was staged, with building screws through its paws, and eucalyptus leaves hanging in front of it. The photo was distributed in an attempt to find the perpetrator, who will be prosecuted for animal cruelty, according to the RSPCA.

It’s difficult to tell as of yet whether the koala was dead when the gruesome scene was constructed, but Koala Rescue Queensland representatives say it’s likely that it had been hit by a car before being screwed on to the post, based on the fact that its fur was heavily bloodstained. There will be an autopsy however, to determine with certainty whether the poor animal was alive when the staggering display of disrespect and cruelty was perpetrated.

Koalas are generally nocturnal and spend only four hours each day actively moving around. They rest of the time, they sleep. Koalas tend to spend one day in a particular tree, before climbing down and walking over the forest floor to another tree they might like. If this koala was hit by a car, it must have happened at night, when it might have been crossing the road, trying to find another tree to climb. However, it is hard to know exactly how the scene might have transpired. Hopefully, the autopsy will reveal more clues about the little koala’s physical condition before being nailed to a post.

If the animal was dead before this was done to it, the act is still representative of a twisted sense of humor. Taxidermists perform stagings like these in order to scientifically preserve the impression of an animal for study, and to give museums the possibility of exhibiting exotic animals. But to do such a thing spontaneously comes from a completely different, and frankly disturbing emotional place.