Hundreds of endangered koalas are being shot dead by helicopters flying over parts of Australia in what welfare groups have called a 'massacre'.
The marsupials are being gunned down as part of a welfare programme but campaigners have hit out at the government and called the actions cruel.
Roughly 750 koalas, some of which are protected, have been killed by aerial snipers from Australia's Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) as part of a euthanasia programme after bush fires left many injured and starving in Budj Bim National Park.
While the government has claimed it is looking out for the koalas best interests, animal welfare groups have reported joeys (baby koalas) plunging from trees still clinging to their dead mothers according to the Sunday Mirror.
Wayne Pacelle, President, Center for a Humane Economy told the paper: 'This isn't mercy. It's a massacre.'
