Wildlife Bytes 21/12/10

Wombats

Up to 60 volunteers are struggling to save wombats trapped in their burrows by floodwaters. A team of Victorian volunteers drove through the night on Friday to help in the operation again yesterday. The team of workers is losing hope of finding any wombats alive as time goes on. Wombat Awareness Organisation founding director Brigitte Stevens said she and the volunteers had already pulled 113 bodies from flooded burrows. "As time goes on and they're starting to float more, we'll get more little bodies," Ms Stevens said. Two have been pulled out alive since the floods almost two weeks ago, but both had to be euthanased. Ms Stevens said she hoped some had found air pockets in their burrows and had survived. "It's overwhelming," she said. "We're just trying to give them a second chance. All the other burrows (we haven't got to) are covered with millions of litres. We just can't do anything." She said volunteers had been working for up to 18 hours a day.

The Victorian SES has loaned a water pump to Wildlife Victoria for the rescue - the first time the SES has been involved in a wildlife disaster rescue. It is also the first time the WAO or Wildlife Victoria has been involved in a flood rescue operation. Wildlife Victoria volunteers are trained to respond to bushfires, and helped animals in the aftermath of the Black Saturday fires. Ms Stevens said it would take another week to pump the water from known burrows on public land. The next concern for surviving wombats would be pneumonia, she said. Ms Stevens said she did not know how many wombats could be trapped in the region, or how many may have died. The pool the group was pumping out yesterday sat about burrows that were home to about 17 wombats which Ms Stevens had cared for in the past. It was the second day they had been pumping that pool. The WAO is currently caring for 17 resident wombats, most of which are too sick to be released into the wild. Adelaide Now

Controlled Burning Condemned

Increasing controlled burning in the Mallee to meet a Bushfires Royal Commission recommendation would threaten the long-term survival of the region's native wildlife, a scientific study has found. Birdlife including the Mallee emu-wren and black-eared miner, both of which are endangered, and threatened marsupials such as the western pygmy possum, face a dramatic loss of habitat if the commission's advice to triple the rate of prescribed burning to 5 per cent of public land each year is followed. ''Of course there is a need for prescribed burning to protect life and property, and to reduce the risk of large bushfires, but a blanket application of the 5 per cent target proposed by the royal commission ignores ecological subtleties in areas like the Mallee,'' said Mike Clarke, associate professor at La Trobe University's zoology department. ''The 5 per cent figure was based on foothill forest areas like the Dandenongs and Kinglake where people have settled, but it's not ecologically sustainable in areas like the Mallee.''

A four-year study, led by Professor Clarke and Professor Andrew Bennett of Deakin University, found large parts of the Mallee have not burned for between 20 and 140 years. Flora in these parts has reached a maturity essential for certain species to thrive. It takes at least 40 years for a tree hollow to begin to form in the Mallee, and at least 20 years for spinifex to become high-quality habitat. ''Such slow-developing resources highlight the importance of specifically providing for their availability in fire management planning,'' the study's authors write. If 5 per cent of public land in the Mallee were burnt each year, without burning the same area twice, it would take 20 years to burn it all. Between 1972 and 2007, typically 1.1 per cent of the Mallee burnt each year, whether through bushfire or prescribed burning. In that time there were three big fires that burnt more than 100,000 hectares, and less than 3 per cent of the region experienced more than one fire. Professor Clarke said the Baillieu government needed to respect the unique characteristics of the Mallee in managing fire risk. "'The new government should have a science-based approach to burning, with a target worked out region by region, not a simplistic blanket-wide application of 5 per cent,'' Professor Clarke said. The government has promised to meet the commission's 5 per cent target by 2014, a tripling of previously prescribed levels to about 390,000 hectares a year. *Age

Editorial

It appears that any plans to overhaul the EPBC Act have been put on hold by the new Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke. The Hawke Review into the EPBC Act began in 2008, and Government approval was expected in 2010. The Hawke Review recommended 71 alterations to the EPBC Act. While former Environment Minister Peter Garrett had produced a document for Cabinet to consider, the Federal Election and subsequent change of the Environment Minister, put everthing on hold. Minister Tony Burke has recently said ''I've wanted to look over the recommendations for change with a fresh set of eyes … and I won't be able to declare particular reforms that we're taking up until we have developed a government position.'' In political double speak, that means Burke will certainly reject many of the recomendations made in the Garrett Report. The Federal Government had already rejected several of the Hawke recomendations, including reform of regional forestry agreements, and for an interim ''trigger'' that would allow the minister to reject or amend projects emitting too many greenhouse gases. Wildlife protection never got a mention. It's now likely that the badly needed reform of the EPBC Act will be watered down yet again, to allow vested interest groups to progress development at "whatever the environmental costs". * WPAA

Dolphins

Lifesavers suspect a knife was used to slice apart a baby dolphin found dead off the Gold Coast. An IRB team warning two boats to move on from the bathing area off Surfers Paradise saw the 1m-long dolphin about 12.20pm yesterday. Surf Lifesaving Queensland Gold Coast duty officer Ryan Knight said lifesavers were confronted with a gruesome scene when they found the dolphin about 300m offshore. "The dolphin was lying upside down. They picked it up and took it back to shore," Mr Knight said. "It had a cut on the chest about 30 to 40cms in length. It basically had been filleted like a fish. "The wound was fresh. The dolphin was still bleeding. Our patrol members said it was a quite disturbing thing to witness. We're pretty sure it was done by humans." Lifesavers moved the carcass to Sea World for its marine staff to examine and were contacting Water Police to investigate. *Courier Mail

Gliders

Meet the latest victims of Sydney's housing crisis - the feathertail glider. Once common in the city, there are concerns the gliders have been pushed to Sydney's fringes by overdevelopment and reckless pet owners. According to Taronga Zoo, sightings are rare and experts believe we may be on the verge of them disappearing. "There's simply not enough places for these little guys to live," said Paul Davies from the zoo's Australian Fauna Unit. Mr Davies said they had been receiving reports of feathertail gliders living in letterboxes. This, he said, "was a sign there weren't enough tree hollows because of growing housing development". The zoo is worried for the future of Sydney's small marsupial, which measures only 65mm to 80mm. The other threat comes from cats: "When pets roam at night they might see a feathertail glider. If they do they kill it." He was worried the marsupial could go the way of the coin that once carried its image. "The feathertail glider used to featured on the 1c coin and it would be a real shame to have them to go the same way," he said. *Daily Telegraph

Disgusting Food

We happened to be surfing the Internet the other day, and found a list of the World's best restuarant dishes for 2010. Surprisingly, there were no kangaroo dishes, athough the website did feature such disgusting dishes such as Pan-fried sheep testicles, Spiced pig’s blood at blood temperature with potatoes and cockles, and Sausage with snails. But no kangaroo, emu, or possum. It appears warm spiced pigs blood is more interesting for those diners who put no value on their bodies. http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/dishes-of-the-year-2010.htm

Koalas

'The Senate Inquiry into the status, health and sustainability of Australia's koala' has to recieve all Submissions before February the 8th 2011. Anyone can submit to Senate inquiry. The more submissions the Senate Environment, Communications and the Arts References Committee receives in relation to the risks to our koala population, the better the chances of having the koala deemed “vulnerable” in accordance with the EPBC Act. If we are to protect the koala we all must act now, and you can make your submission online at the following address: http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/ec_ctte/koalas/index.htm

Albatross

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says a short-tailed albatross, once thought extinct, has laid its first-ever egg on Eastern Island in the Midway atoll. The breeding pair, who have been taking turns warming the egg, previously had both been branded. Identifying rings around the mother and father show both birds were born on Torishima Island, 3,000 miles west of Eastern Island, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Sunday. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service administers Eastern Island which is part of the Midway atoll. In 2000 a Japanese non-profit called The Oceanic Wildlife Society was allowed to place 16 decoys on Midway to help the birds form a new colony. Environmentalists have endeavored to get the albatross there to form pairs by putting out detailed models of the birds and playing recorded bird cries on Torishima Island, one of the other hoped-for breeding sites, the newspaper reported. Short-tailed albatross were thought to have become extinct between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, due to overhunting for their feathers which were used in women's hats. * UPI.com

Ants

New research has indicated that leaf cutter ants, who spend their whole lives cutting pieces of leaf for growing an edible fungi in the ant nest, change their jobs when they get older and their "teeth" wear out. Then they slow down and can no longer cut the pieces of leaf out. So they are retired to be a leaf carrier, and they spend the last part of their lives carrying the leaf pieces underground to the fungi gardens. Just like humans when they get older, senior ants can still contribute to society. *

Climate Change

A number of Sydney suburbs will be inundated regularly because of climate change-driven sea-level rises, threatening homes and community infrastructure worth billion of dollars by the end of the century, new projections show. In the first detailed attempt to study the impacts of sea-level rises on low-lying coastal areas and help local government planning, the government has released high-resolution maps that show the areas in Sydney and the central coast most under threat from sea-level rises. Sydney suburbs facing significant danger of inundation, even with limited rises, include Caringbah, Kurnell, Cromer and Manly Vale. Significant parts of Newcastle and the central coast are also potentially in harm's way. Last year the government released data revealing that an estimated 247,600 buildings valued at $63 billion could be damaged or lost due to sea-level rises. In the same data, up to 62,400 homes in NSW - worth $18.7 billion - were estimated to be under threat from inundation, mainly in the local government areas of Lake Macquarie, Gosford Wyong, Wollongong, Shoalhaven and Rockdale. The maps released yesterday also include projections for low-lying areas in other heavily populated centres, including Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Perth. *SMH Read more,
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/rising-sea-levels-will-swamp-parts-of-sydney-20101215-18yak.html

Kangaroos

The Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia says the Northern Territory is missing out on millions of dollars by refusing to commercially harvest kangaroos. It says for five years the Territory Government has refused to even allow a feasibility study into the benefits of setting up a commercial kangaroo industry. The association's John Kelly says the Government is concerned it would be too expensive to set up legislation to monitor the industry. "The Territory is missing out on potential income, a potential industry, a sustainable industry, a natural and native industry," he said. Currently roo meat is exported to 56 countries and Mr Kelly says a deal with China could increase national sales by up to 40 per cent next year. Mr Kelly says the Government needs to do a study into the potential industry. "The Northern Territory has a resource in kangaroos. I believe that's reasonably substantial but until the Northern Territory Government does a survey they have no idea how large that resource is," he said. *ABC Comment here http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/12/20/202021_ntnews.html

Australian Geographic have produced a Report criticisng the two recent Thinkk reports, claiming kangaroo meat is still safe to eat for Christmas. You can comment here....
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/kangaroo-meat-still-a-safe-option-for-christmas.htm

Birds

Australia is known for its rich bird life but the cost of colonisation on the country's birds is becoming clearer. A new study has found that one species of bird and five sub-species that were listed as critically endangered a decade ago, actually vanished between 20 and 70 years ago. Every decade, experts review the status of Australia's birds based on the observations of birdwatchers around the country. There has been no sign of the six types of birds in trouble. "We were worried about these birds when we last reviewed their status 10 years ago," Professor Stephen Garnett from Charles Darwin University said. "Sadly, no sign of them has turned up in the last decade. "A number have been targeted searches for them in just the right habitat for quite long periods of time but have still not found them." The birds now thought to be extinct are: the white-breasted white-eye from Norfolk Island, a type of pied currawong from the Grampians, a type of thick-billed grass wren from near Alice Springs, the hooded robin from the Tiwi Islands, the spotted quail thrush from near Adelaide, the southern star finch from the east coast of Australia "It's about a 25 per cent increase in the number of types of birds that have gone extinct since European settlement in Australia," Professor Garnett said. The researchers will recommend the birds be internationally listed as extinct. *ABC

Slider Turtles Found

Four red-eared slider turtles have been seized by Victorian officials in the past six weeks, prompting fears someone may be breeding them. One was found at Ferntree Gully yesterday, and others have been discovered at Aberfeldie, Healesville and Attwood. Staff at a Ferntree Gully kindergarden contacted the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) after discovering their pet was in fact a pest. They breed prolifically and eat native frogs and fish. The turtles are an aggressive, introduced pest. They have yellow stripes on their face and red stripes behind each ear and can carry a type of tuberculosis and salmonella. DSE spokesman Ken Larner says the number of turtles found recently makes them believe someone is breeding them. Anyone who sees one of these turtles is urged to report it to the state government on 136 186. *ABC

Polar Bears

The Canadian government is embarking on a process to put a price on polar bears in hopes of protecting the endangered animal. A recent study that suggests there is still a slim chance to save the animals from global warming. Researchers say the polar bear population this year appears to be in even worse shape than last year. So Ottawa is hiring a private company to consider how much the bears are worth as a national icon, to tourism and just by existing. At stake is whether to list them as a species at risk. Researchers have predicted that by the year 2050, only a third of the world's 22,000 polar bears might be left. And recent efforts in the US to protect the bears suffered a setback when an international conservation watchdog ruled they were not endangered enough to need a worldwide trade ban. A new study released this week, suggests the bear's fate from climate change is not yet sealed, but their future is clearly in the hands of policy makers. *ABC

Spiders

They're fat, they're hairy and they love smelly sneakers. Feisty funnel-web spiders are making a surprise appearances in NSW this summer, lured out of hiding by the wet weather and seeking refuge around suburban homes. They aren't the only danger lurking in the suburbs - snakes love the hot and humid weather, particularly the highly venomous eastern brown snake and more common red-bellied black snake Australian Reptile Park spider expert Julie Mendezona said funnel-webs usually emerged in autumn but increased ground moisture may have triggered an early breeding season. "The males are going out at night looking for females to mate with because it is usually too hot in the day," she said. "They can sometimes get a bit disoriented and can't find their way back to where they started so they'll just hide anywhere, which can be in shoes left outside. The species' habit of ending up in swimming pools is of particular concern at this time of year, as they can survive underwater for more than 24 hours inside a bubble of air. There are about 40 different funnel-webs in Australia, but Ms Mendezona said the Sydney funnel-web, found from Nowra to Newcastle and west to Lithgow, was "the main offender". No one has died from a funnel-web bite since an antivenom was developed in 1981, but it is still one of the world's most deadly species. Ms Mendezona said the Australian Reptile Park needed more spiders for venom milking and urged anyone who found a funnel-web to capture it safely, if possible. The park's website, reptilepark.com.au, has details of how to catch the spiders and drop-off points. * Daily Telegaph

Tassie Devils

The effort to have an insurance population of healthy Tasmanian devils has been given a boost. In parts of Tasmania up to 90 per cent of the devil population has been wiped out by a contagious cancer-like facial tumour disease. The Devil Island Program has seen the development of three enclosures at sites around Tasmania and the establishment of a fourth free range enclosure has begun. Legislative councillor Kerry Finch says the enclosures are designed to protect healthy devils from contracting the deadly disease. "There's a lot of research that is going on and of course there needs to be a lot of money that needs to be raised to put into these projects," he said. "So we're constantly working away at that; we have volunteers who are getting the interest of the general public and the general public have absolutely been fantastic." Mr Finch says preparations are underway to move healthy devils to the area. "So we just need to make sure that we move as fast as we possibly can to establish this insurance population," he said. "Because if they become extinct in the wild we need to make sure we've got this gene pool of animals available that will be the survivors that will be able to take the species on into the future." *ABC

Whaling

NZ Foreign Minister McCully warns anti-whaling protesters that Japanese ships will be armed and says activists must take care The government is warning anti-whaling protesters that Japan is taking a strong stand to prevent any action against them this year, after clashes last season. Last year, Pete Bethune, the New Zealand skipper of the Ady Gill which was destroyed in a collision with the Shonan Maru, climbed aboard the Japanese vessel in an attempt to serve a citizen's arrest on its captain. He was arrested and taken to Japan where he stood trial. The Greens want the government to do everything it can to keep anti-whaling protesters safe on the seas this summer, including sending offshore patrol vessels to the Southern Ocean but Foreign Minister Murray McCully has ruled that out. He is warning activists that Japanese whaling ships will have armed officers on board this season and says it's up to protesters to keep themselves safe.

"We've got information to suggest that the intent of the protesters is to take a fairly robust approach. It's a recipe that causes me considerable concern which is why I keep reminding people of the need for them to observe the law of the sea in regard to the safety of human beings." However, Green MP Gareth Hughes says more needs to be done and sending ships would provide Japan with a strong signal. "If a ship is able to go it should be sent because what we're talking about is people's lives on the high sea. Also I believe we can legitimately question New Zealand's commitment this year towards whale conservation." The government has announced it won't join Australia in taking court action against Japan's whaling programme but will have input into the case. Australia is applying to the United Nations' highest court, the International Court of Justice, to stop Japan's co-called 'scientific whaling.'.NewstalkZB


The Japanese whaling fleet has come under more pressure to abandon its annual hunt in the Southern Ocean this summer. Conservation groups have accused the country of breaching an injunction issued by the Federal Court two years ago by undertaking its annual whale hunt this summer. The Japanese whaling fleet is currently on its way south and this year its quota includes more than 1,000 whales. The injunction, secured by Humane Society International in January 2008, argues the hunt in Australia's Antarctic territorial waters is illegal. The Federal Government's case also calls into question Japan's scientific whaling program. It has been lodged in the International Court of Justice, but it could take years before the matter is heard. "In the face of that, Japan is just carrying on regardless, as if there's no court case, there's no international condemnation of their so-called scientific whaling which we all know is a sham," HSI's Alexia Wellbelove said. Ms Wellbelove says last year's hunt included pregnant females, and the slaughter is an act of bad faith that flies in the face of international condemnation. "Well according to the cruise reports that the Japanese publish and present to the IWC meeting, 185 females were pregnant and that's 69 per cent of all the females caught were either pregnant or lactating and we just think that's really gruesome," she said. "These animals are trying to breed and it's a brutal killing and it's totally unnecessary." *ABC

Indigenous Hunting

New laws to stop unnecessarily cruel hunting practices being used on Dugong and Turtles were proposed by the LNP in Cairns today. Opposition and LNP Leader John-Paul Langbroek and Shadow Environment Minister Jack Dempsey today released a draft regulation which would make it illegal for anyone exercising traditional hunting rights to wound, mutilate, torture or unnecessarily prolong the death of any animal. Mr. Langbroek said the draft regulation, if adopted, would close a loophole that had allowed some individuals to abuse the traditional hunting allowances and subject dugong and turtles to prolonged, excruciating deaths. “My former Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability Glen Elmes raised this matter in Parliament earlier this year and brought my attention to a graphic YouTube video which showed a turtle being kept alive while its flippers and meat were cut off.” Mr. Langbroek said. “This video is sickening and raises serious questions about the treatment of these animals by some individuals.” “This behaviour is not acceptable and new regulations could provide a stronger legal framework to discourage this practice.” Mr. Langbroek said.

Mr. Dempsey said the Bligh Labor Cabinet could adopt the animal cruelty regulations without having to take it before Parliament. “Keeping a turtle alive while it is cut up or letting a dugong bake to death in the sun is a practice that should be outlawed.” Mr. Dempsey said. “No-one is calling for a ban on all traditional hunting but we must consider the long-term survival of these species and the treatment of these animals — this cruelty is simply not necessary.” Mr. Dempsey said. The draft regulation will be available to be viewed on Mr. Langbroek’s website – www.jplangbroek.com – and feedback can be provided via the website or by emailing Mr Dempsey at bundaberg@parliament.qld.gov.au Mr. Langbroek was accompanied in Cairns today by Mr. Dempsey, Mr. Elmes and newly appointed Shadow Minister for North Queensland Andrew Cripps. *Network News