Wombats in South Australia are a protected species, yet their homes - their burrows are not.

The Wombat Awareness Organisation has made hundreds of reports of wombats being buried alive over the past 15 years and this will continue unless laws are changed.

Day in day out, wombats in South Australia are being buried alive as a form of eradication. Wombats can not dig themselves out of bulldozed burrows as they have nowhere to put the soil. They become entombed and suffocate. If the wombats are not helped, they can live for up to 21 days once their burrows have been filled in. Wombats face the horrors of being buried alive and currently, there are no laws in place to stop this

This form of eradication can be stopped by protecting wombat burrows by law. Wombat burrows house many other species of wildlife such as echidna's, small native mammals, reptiles and birds - they are ecosystems within their own rights. So many of our beautiful, endangered wildlife rely on wombat burrows for habitat and they too are buried alive with the wombats.

Wombat burrows are seen as a nuisance to land owners but we believe that as original inhabitants of the land, wombats should be allowed to live in safety in their own environment.

Wombats in South Australia can be slaughtered legally by being granted a destruction permit. Wombats killed under a permit must be shot between the ear and the eye (adults) and their babies must be bludgeoned and/or decapitated, this is the current law. Read more here: https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/sharedassets/public/plants_and_animals/cop-wombat-2018.pdf

We are asking Hon Susan Close MP: Minister for Climate, Environment and Water for complete protection of the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats and their burrows. Together, we can stop the cruelty.