A carer is making a desperate plea to change a law that allows for wombats to be legally killed in the wild.
Shelley Stafford, a registered wildlife carer at Narbeview Wildlife Shelter near Melbourne, said wombats are protected species everywhere in Australia besides Victoria - where a legal loophole in the existing law allows them to be shot.
Victoria's Wildlife Act 1975 allows the shooting unprotected, common wombats in 193 parishes by landholders without a licence.
Shelley Stafford (pictured), a registered wildlife carer at Narbeview Wildlife Shelter near Melbourne, said wombats are protected species everywhere in Australia, but a loophole in the existing law allows their killings in rural Victoria
But Ms Stafford said the law is unfair.
'I need a licence to run the shelter and to provide for wombats. We also have regular inspections from authorities,' Ms Stafford, who currently has 14 wombats in her care, told Daily Mail Australia.
'But those who kill them don't need any permission or licence.'
Victoria's Wildlife Act 1975 allows shooting of unprotected common wombats permission in 193 parishes in eastern part of the state
She said the population of wombats is declining across Australia because of habitat destruction, dog attacks and illegal shooting.
A Change.org petition has also been started to stop shootings in Murrindindi Shire, north east of Melbourne, following reports a prominent businessman is running hunting expeditions.
Dr Clive Marks, from Nocturnal Wildlife Research, said the rules regarding wombats protection are not strictly enforced.
'Realistically, there is no active monitoring or enforcement of the currently very opaque rules governing their treatment,' he told Yahoo News.
'Today they are classified as 'unprotected wildlife' in much of eastern Victoria, which is a legislative 'too hard basket' that delivers no real wildlife management strategy.'
Ms Stafford said the law means there's no protection for wombats - a native species that's endangered in much of Australia
