The Russian embassy in Australia has said it hopes a koala hugged by Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Brisbane has survived a mass culling of the marsupials by wildlife officers.



The seemingly lighthearted one-line comment at the top of the embassy’s Facebook page refers to the summit in Queensland, but the koala cull was carried out in Victoria.

The message follows news that 686 koalas were put down near Victoria’s Great Ocean Road in 2013 and 2014, an operation carried out in secret to avoid a backlash from activists and locals.

Wildlife officers captured and euthanised the koalas, reportedly by lethal injection, in response to overpopulation and starvation in the area’s manna gum woodlands.



The Russian embassy’s message reads: “Hope in the number of euthanised koalas did not get those animals that leaders at the G20 Summit in Brisbane were photographed with.”



The post includes photographs of the Russian president and Barack Obama holding koalas at the G20 summit in November.



The summit was notable for western leaders’ irritation with Putin over Russia’s actions in the Ukraine conflict.

On Wednesday, Victoria’s environment minister, Lisa Neville, said the state government had asked experts to advise on the management of koalas at Cape Otway, about 230km south-west of Melbourne.

She would not rule out future koala culls, if recommended by the expert panel.



“My main priority is making sure that we reduce the suffering of koalas due to starvation,” Neville said.



Cape Otway koalas cannot be moved from their native habitat because they overeat and die, she said.