Dead koala photographed screwed to a post in south-east Queensland, sparking investigation
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An "incredibly disturbing" photo of a koala screwed to a pole has surfaced, prompting an RSPCA investigation into what an animal welfare worker has called "one of the worst things" he has seen.
It is believed a member of the public phoned two wildlife rescue services after seeing the animal at a picnic area at the Brooloo Park Lookout in Imbil near the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday.
Council workers took the koala away, saying it was dead and had been screwed to the post.
A picture of the koala was posted to The Koala Rescue Queensland Facebook page calling on the public for any information on who was responsible.
The post, which was shared more than 1,000 times, sparked outrage on social media with some calling the act "disgusting" and "beyond evil".
Facebook user Jenalle Payne said the story brought tears to her eyes.
"This is totally disgusting what person could do this," she wrote in a post.
"Makes me sick to the core that so many humans are so bloody cruel," Cherie Ann wrote.
"I hope to god these scumbags are caught."
RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty said investigators were approaching the Gympie Regional Council to see if they could retrieve the koala's body.
"There needs to be an autopsy done on the koala's body to find out exactly what happened," Mr Beatty said.
He said it was "incredibly disturbing" and the offenders could be prosecuted.
"If it was proved that somebody did inflict injuries that caused the koala to die they will be charged with animal cruelty and possibly even worse under the criminal code," he said.
Koala Rescue Queensland president Murray Chambers said he had seen many terrible things done to koalas, but none as cruel as this.
"This is probably one of the worst things I've ever seen of my whole 10 years of doing this," he said.
He said he did not know if the koala was alive when it was attached to the post.
"At this stage we don't know … we need to try and find this out," he said.
Sunshine Coast police said they were making enquiries about the incident.
Topics: animals, human-interest, conservation, environment, law-crime-and-justice, crime, imbil-4570, qld, australia
