Eating's cheating

BY RIGHTS, the 4,000-odd residents of Kangaroo Island should be among the happiest on the planet. Their home has the stark beauty of Scotland’s Western Isles, but is also blessed with a Mediterranean climate.

Once known for its seal colonies and laid-back lifestyle, Kangaroo Island has become a Mecca for gourmets, as it produces the sweetest lamb, award-winning wines, organic honey and olive oil.

There’s no graffiti, no pollution - and no traffic jams. But something is eating away at this little Eden just eight miles off the South Australian coast. The culprit? The Blair-eared koala. Or, to be more precise, 40,000 of them.

Professor Dean Jaensch, from Flinders University in Adelaide, claims that the rampant vegetarians are chewing the island to death. "Without action, the vista that will greet tourists will be dead gum trees and a carpet of koalas that have starved to death."

Since 18 mainland koalas were introduced in the 1920s, these cuddly interlopers have wreaked havoc, killing forests and threatening the livelihood of the island’s sheep farmers, bee-keepers and wine-makers.

The koala population has mushroomed, but the animal is protected by law, and anyone caught shooting one faces a fine of 4,000 or two years in jail.

Many believe koala numbers must be dramatically culled, but it is a terrifying prospect for South Australia’s government. It believes that a mass shooting would do irreparable damage to the state’s reputation as a green tourist destination.

Now the government is toying with the idea of a "Berlin Airlift" rescue, which would see large numbers of koalas given to zoos and wildlife parks.

Islanders are refreshingly honest. "At least 30,000 need to go. Airlifting them is a joke. Who’s going to take that number?" says Tim Williams, a wildlife guide. A passionate defender of the indigenous wildlife, he advocates the widespread cull of koalas.

Despite its growing celebrity, Kangaroo Island remains touchingly archaic; people here have plenty of time for each other - provided you’re not a koala, of course. sm

Kangaroo Island can be reached by ferry from Cape Jervis to Penneshaw at A64 (26).

See www.ki-ferryconnections.com

There are regular bus services from Adelaide bus depot to Cape Jervis.

Emu Air operates a half-hour flight from Adelaide which costs A111.40 (46.85) one-way. Call 00-61-8-8234 3711.