Wildlife Bytes 27/4/11

Fraser Island Dingoes

The last of two dingoes who attacked a three-year-old girl on Fraser Island has been caught and has also been put down, says a spokesman from the Department of Environment and Resource Management He said witnesses gave descriptions of the dogs' ear tags, which contain up to three colours, to identify the animals involved in the attack. A male and female dingo were destroyed after the incident at Hook Point yesterday afternoon. Department of Environment and Resource Management general manager Terry Harper said the dingoes were humanely destroyed. Authorities said the wild dog bit the girl's legs, inflicting several puncture wounds. "It looks like she was about to board the barge when it happened," a Department of Community Safety said. The attack occurred about 2.45pm, at the southern end of an island famed for its natural environment but synonymous also with problem dingoes.

The girl's injuries were not serious and authorities were unsure if she needed to stay overnight at Gympie Hospital. "She was with family members when the attack occurred,'' Mr Harper said. "The girl received first aid at the site and then was taken to Gympie Hospital for treatment to her wounds. Mr Harper also reminded visitors to the island to be aware of the animal. "All visitors should be careful," he said. "They need to keep their distance from dingoes and follow the safety message available on our website." It was the second attack on the island in about three months. On January 16, a Korean woman was surrounded by a pack of five dingoes and suffered minor injuries. Authorities were last night unable to explain the circumstances of the latest attack, including whether the girl was trying to feed the dingo. Earlier this year, Environment and Resource Management Minister Kate Jones repeated government warnings not to feed nor interact with the wild dogs and to supervise children at all times. "The dingoes on Fraser Island are wild animals and should be left alone," she said at the time. "The best food for native animals is the food they find themselves, and that is why it is important that dingoes do not learn to associate humans with food." Those who feed dingoes or leave food exposed on the island risk a maximum $4000 penalty.

Ed Comment, It now appears another witness claims the girl was not being supervised, and ran into the dunes where she was bitten. The two dingoes have been killed by DERM. Last week another Fraser Island 9 month old dingo known as Staples was killed by the Queensland Government. Apparently a woman complained that she and her four children felt terribly threatened by this dingo, and once an animal bites someone they said they have to follow procedure.....and killed the dingo. Many people are now saying the girls parents should be prosecuted for leaving a 3-year-old unsupervised on the Island. But tourism Industry spokepeople say the Island crowds were the best they have seen since 2009, and if the Government wasnt so frightened of the Tourism Industry, now would be a good time to cap vistors to the Island ...especially at times like Easter!

Coal Seam Gas

The Lock the Gate movement has gone national and this national movement against under-regulated coal and coal seam gas mining. As well as farmers and other rural residential landholders, environmental groups from around the state and country are backing a four-day event including displays, workshops and direct action, at Tara on the western Darling Downs in Queensland.
Local organisers the Western Downs Alliance are engaged in a confrontation with the British Gas-owned QGC that intends to establish a gas field early 2011 on the Tara rural residential estates, home to more than 2,000 people. Farmers, environmentalists and scientists have been warning the State and federal governments for some time that CSG activities are potentially hazardous to human health, agricultural land and underground water and could damage the Great Artesian Basin for centuries. They have called on these governments to impose a moratorium on the industry until all outstanding social and environmental issues have been addressed. Their only response has been to give the companies the go-ahead to bulldoze their way onto people’s properties and conduct an uncontrolled experiment on the Australian environment, meanwhile crossing their fingers that nothing disastrous happens – at least while they are in office.

Tara 2011 will be based at the Tara Showground and supporters are urged to gather showing the widespread popular concern. Bring lightweight camping gear as the showground has basic camp sites along with toilets, showers etc. Cheap, basic meals will also be provided. An itinerary and full list of facilities will be sent out shortly. Please let us know if you coming, how many people are coming with you and, very importantly, if you want to present a workshop. Let us know the name and nature of the workshop and anything you might need from us for its presentation. Please also let us know if you are prepared to help with organisation of the event and setting up on Friday. Remember, the coal seam gas industry has plans to move into many, many parts of Australia, so while this is happening on the Western Downs, it could be happening in your area tomorrow.
Massive coal seam gas projects in the Darling Downs have received government approvals, but not community approval. Rural landholders are now holding them off at their front gates and now is the time to show them that they have your support. When: Fri 29 April – Tues 4 May 2011 Where: Tara Showgrounds (300km west of Brisbane) What: 4 days of workshops, forums, displays, entertainment and direct action
How: to register your interest or for more details. Email tara2011@lockthegate.org.au or phone 07 4669 4864 See http://westerndowns.group-action.com/events/

Rhinos

Increased security and working closely with the local community has led to a significant rise in Nepal's rhinoceros population. Maheswor Dhakal, an ecologist with Nepal's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, says a survey this month showed that the country's rhino population was 534 compared to 435 in 2008, when the last count was done. Dhakal said Tuesday that the number of rhinos had decreased during the decade of fighting between government troops and Maoists rebels that ended in 2006. During the conflict, soldiers were pulled out of conservation duty, leaving the forest unguarded. Since the end of the fighting, soldiers have returned to the forests to keep poachers out, and the government has introduced programs with local villagers.

Kangaroos

An exhausted kangaroo has been rescued by lifesavers on the Gold Coast after being discovered swimming in the Southport Broadwater. The ailing kangaroo was spotted swimming in the Broadwater near Wavebreak Island by an off-duty lifesaver about 2.30pm. He managed to drag the exhausted animal into his tinnie before meeting volunteers from Wildcare at Runaway Bay. Once recovered, the kangaroo was released into the wild in the Gold Coast hinterland. The kangaroo may have come from South Stradbroke Island, which has a small population of wild kangaroos. *Courier Mail

Crocodiles

The Northern Territory government are hoping that Prince William and Kate Middleton sign their wedding certificate with crocodile skin pens from Darwin. The pens - a reddish one for him and a brownish one for her - were part of the NT's bargain basement wedding present to the royal couple. They cost only $120 each. We also understand that Posh Spice Victorian Beckham owns $1.5 million worth of dead saltwater crocodile in the shape of handbags. *WPAA

A headless crocodile was found on the beach between Lake Alexander and Pee Wee's restaurant off Alec Fong Lim Drive in East Point Reserve. The headless crocodile was also tailless, meaning in all it was only about a 1.5m trunk with legs. A group calling itself the Easter Orphans noticed the safety croc when celebrating their Easter on the quiet beach. The crocodile appeared to have been slaughtered overnight or early yesterday morning. The NT News believes the crocodile was shot inside a trap at Woods Inlet and then dragged out to the beach where it was cut up. In December, amendments to existing laws made it an offence to interfere with or damage crocodile traps, with a fine of up to $6500 or a maximum of six months in prison. The act expanded the definition of interference of a trap to mean touching, standing on, entering, moving or otherwise disturbing a crocodile trap owned by the NT Government. *NTNews

Tassie Devils

The latest effort to create a disease-free population of tasmanian devils is underway in Tasmania's north. A 10-hectare sanctuary has been set up near Launceston to breed a wild, healthy devils. The land was donated by Tasmania Zoo and the sanctuary has been funded in part by the State Government. Bruce Englefield from the Devil Island Project says healthy populations are needed to replenish wild stocks once the facial tumour disease has been beaten. "We need devils we can put back in the wild, ones that are bred in captivity are simply not suitable to go back to the wild and so we are producing devils ready for the day when we put them back to the wild and re-populate Tasmania mainland," he said. Environment Minister Brian Wightman says the sealed enclosure allows devils to breed away from the risk of facial tumour disease. "What the free range enclosures provide us, is a chance to keep devils safe while we continue to work and look for a cure." Mr Englefield says they also allow devils to retain their wild characteristics. "They are learning that when an eagle comes over, get down your burrow." The Devil Island program aims to breed 2,500 genetically diverse and healthy devils by 2050. The sanctuary is one of four now open across the state. *ABC

Whaling

Japanese whalers have launched their annual coastal hunt, with five crew from the tsunami-devastated whaling town of Ayukawa joining the first voyage since the March 11 disaster. Two whaling vessels left Kushiro on the east coast of the northern island of Hokkaido after their departure was delayed by one day due to bad weather, said Hiroko Furukawa, a fisheries agency official. The crew from Ayukawa Whaling, the only whaling company in Ayukawa, are expected to catch up to 60 minke whales off Kushiro until June, the official said. "Local whaling officials are preparing to accept people from Ayukawa who were victimised by the disaster," Mr Furukawa said, adding that a further 23 people from Ayukawa had come to Kushiro to work in processing whale meat. The tsunami that last month slammed into Japan's north-east coast destroyed Ayukawa Whaling's storage facility and carried its fleet of three whaling ships hundreds of metres inland, where they remain. Ayukawa Whaling chairman Minoru Ito has said he would lay off all 28 employees and suspend whaling operations in the town until further notice. The tsunami came shortly after Japan recalled its Antarctic whaling fleet a month early, citing the threat posed by environmentalist group Sea Shepherd. The group, which says its tactics are non-violent but aggressive, has hurled paint and stink bombs at whaling ships, snared their propellers with rope and moved its own boats between the harpoon ships and their prey. Japan has continued to hunt whales under a loophole that allows killing of the sea mammals for what it calls scientific research, although the meat is later sold openly in shops and restaurants. Japan also argues whaling is an integral part of the island nation's culture. *AFP

Dolphins

The US Navy has concluded that it would have been dangerous to stop an underwater training blast believed to have killed three or four dolphins last month off San Diego Bay. The 3rd Fleet public affairs office said Monday that Navy divers monitored the area for marine mammals for more than 90 minutes before placing a charge on the ocean floor. The Navy says that 10 minutes into the 15-minute countdown, observers spotted dolphins approaching and the commanders determined it would have been too dangerous to try to stop the detonation. They instead placed their boat between the dolphins and the detonation site in an attempt to head off the pod. Three dead dolphins were recovered there. Another was found days later near Ocean Beach. Training remains suspended. *SunNews.com

EPBC Act Reform on Hold

The government will wait at least two years until it responds to a comprehensive review recommending a shake-up of national environment laws. The two-year wait has been questioned by the review's spearhead, Allan Hawke, who calls the decision ''curious''. Under the laws the federal environment minister can approve or reject major industrial projects such as pulp mills and mines based on their impact on endangered species and other threatened environment. The Hawke Review recommended the laws be significantly strengthened to give them greater environmental teeth while making them easier for business to navigate. The report was first delivered to then environment minister Peter Garrett in October 2009. But current Environment Minister Tony Burke said the government did not expect to legislate any changes to the laws - known as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act - until 2012. ''I've made it clear now is the time to be discussing the full range of options on how to improve our national environmental law, both to better protect the environment and cut red tape for businesses,'' Mr Burke said. ''These are complex reforms and I want to take time to talk them through in detail with community, industry and business groups.'' Dr Hawke, formerly secretary of the Defence Department and chancellor of ANU, said: ''It is curious the government will take longer to respond to the review than it took a team of experts to investigate and write it.'' *Age

NSW DECCW Changes

There have been some structural changes to NSW government departments following the recent state election. The former Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) has now become the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) which sits within the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC). The government assures us that this change has not affected Parks and Wildlife Group's management of protected areas and native animals. The policy on the rehabilitation of protected fauna is still in effect and all licences issued by PWG are still valid. They have assured wildlife groups that they will continue to consult with the them on any future proposed changes to rehabilitation policies, codes or the licensing system. Meanwhile, a proposed partnership between Queensland's DERM and the Qld RSPCA has quite understandably alarmed some wildlife carers.*WPAA

Call for More Habitat

Coolum animal rights activist Jaylene Musgrave has launched a campaign appealing to Sunshine Coast developers to rethink the increase in land clearing from Noosa to Bribie Island. According to the director of Farm Animal Rescue Australia and Sunshine Coast Koala Wildlife Rescue, land on the Sunshine Coast is being rapidly cleared to make way for development. Vegan Warriors, of which Ms Musgrave is a part of, is concerned the clearing will reduce the natural habitat for Coast wildlife. Ms Musgrave has met with the council and the Greens to discuss buy-back alternatives with “no luck”. “There has been no action taken on suggestions to buy back land from developers,” she said. “I have been meeting with (them) to discuss options on incorporating wildlife areas within land marked for clearing, but have had no response. “If we don’t start demanding action, we will be looking at concrete jungles where once many native animals lived.” She said the pressure on animal carers and the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital was enormous. “There are nearly 90 koalas being cared for at the hospital at any given time and endless surgery to roos and other native wildlife. “The reality is, what we love so dearly about our region, is inevitably disappearing forever.” Ms Musgrave said she held grave concerns for the future of Australian fauna. “Native marsupials struggle to survive with all the odds stacked against them – drought, loss of habitat, encroachment of civilisation, illegal and legal culling by farmers, roadside deaths as well as culling in state forests, parks, reserves, national parks,” she said. “And of course threat from the kangaroo industry which kills close to four million roos nationwide annually to supply meat for export and pet food. “Let’s start making some noise and give our native animals a voice.” *CoolumNews

Koalas

It is the battle of the bulldozer versus a national icon. At stake is the survival of dwindling numbers of koalas, tens of thousands of jobs and Queensland's fragile economy. Property developers say a push to list koalas as endangered will threaten an industry which employs 11 per cent of the state's workforce. But conservation groups claim koalas are staring down the barrel of extinction unless urgent action is taken. The Urban Development Institute of Australia has told a Senate inquiry that further protection of koalas was premature and would cost much-needed jobs. UDIA Queensland chief executive Brian Stewart said while it was important to protect koalas, decisions had to be made on "sound science" and not "emotion". "This is not the time to be tinkering with a well thought out, comprehensive state policy," Mr Stewart said. "The industry desperately needs a level of certainty." The Property Council of Australia said koalas were adequately protected. But koala groups are sounding the alarm, pointing to a recent picture of a koala clinging to a bulldozed tree at Worongary on the Gold Coast as evidence greater protection was needed.

The Redland-based Koala Action Group said new roads and housing estates had had a dramatic affect on koala numbers in the area. More than 200 were killed by cars every year in southeast Queensland. The KAG's submission said the State Government was "cramming in" residents and "two major arterial roads have been upgraded to four lanes ... this has to be one of the main causes of the catastrophic decline in koala numbers". And disease was as much a risk to koalas as road traffic, the Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors' submission said. When veterinarians tested 37 koalas from the Brendale area, almost half had chlamydiosis - a killer disease. Al Mucci, general manager of life sciences at Dreamworld, said the koala was as iconic as the giant panda and had to be saved at all costs. "The koala is unmistakenly Australian," he said. "This makes koala conservation an imperative of more than just biological and cultural concern, but an issue of national identity, international image and reputation." The UQ Koala Ecology Group said listing koalas as endangered would at least provide a "speed bump in the road to extinction". *Courier Mail

Ed Comment; We understand that few wildlife groups expect the Inquiry to actually recommend appropriate protection for the koalas, and at the end of the day its the politicians that make the important decisions about protection anyway.

Cane toads

Solid evidence has been found of a breeding colony of cane toads, one of Australia's worst invasive species, in Sydney. Since their introduction to Australia in the 1930s, the ugly, poisonous cane toad has multiplied and spread across the country. They are a familiar sight in north Queensland and the Top End, but every now and then, a cane toad will hitch a ride in a truck and make it further south. Authorities are worried because it is difficult to turn back the clock once these hitchhikers turn into breeding populations. Sutherland Shire Mayor Phil Blight says toads have made themselves at home at Taren Point in Sydney's south. "We first found cane toads in Taren Point industrial area some years ago now," he said. "Initially the numbers were small, just odd examples of hitchhikers, but the beginning of last year our pest control officer found increasing numbers. "He was able to collect evidence that we suspected there was breeding occurring in the southern part of Sydney."

Rick Shine, from the University of Sydney, is part of a team that is trying to better understand the local toad population. He says already there has been some success. "We put these small transmitters on toads that we capture out there at Taren Point and we follow them around," he said. "That very quickly found a breeding site with some tadpoles, which tells us that clearly that gives us an opportunity to take a few thousand potential toads out of the system before they can become a problem." Professor Shine says it is vital to interrupt the breeding cycle because of how quickly toads can breed. That is also when the extremely hardy toads are at their most vulnerable. It is not just pest controllers that toads need to fear. "The toads quite frequently use drains as cover and the drains contain rats," Professor Shine said. "We don't normally think of [them] as our best friends, but rats evolved in the northern hemisphere, in the same place that toads did, and they're capable of dealing with the toad's poison. "One of our telemetered toads got massacred and eaten by a rat. Unlike a native predator, for which a toad would be a fatal meal, for a rat a toad is just a pretty nice breakfast. "We may actually have some of the old invaders helping get rid of some of the new invaders in the drains of Taren Point."

Yamba, on the New South Wales north coast, is the southernmost boundary of where permanent, breeding populations of cane toads are found. But an isolated colony did take root further south in Port Macquarie. That is one of the few places where man appears to have triumphed over toad, but those responsible for stopping them say it is not necessarily a victory that is easy to replicate. Brad Nesbitt, a Pest Management Officer with the National Parks and Wildlife service, says there are no guarantees. "We haven't had a record of cane toads in that area now for three to four years," he said. "There was a muster that was organised but in addition there was some development that occurred in that area that encroached into a man-made dam where the cane toads were breeding. "It looks like that habitat modification might have been one of the key factors in removing the cane toads from the area. "I think that gives some optimism, but there's no guarantees with this type of work." *ABC

Flying Foxes

The New South Wales Government plans to make it easier for farmers to cull a threatened species of flying fox by halving the time it takes to get a special shooters licence. The grey-headed flying fox is listed as “vulnerable” under state and federal laws and it currently takes 48 hours for a culling licence to be approved. Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson said the Government plans to reduce this to 24 hours and also fast track approval for the forced relocation of colonies. “There is no question something must be done to stop the destruction of valuable fruit crops like apples and stone fruit,” Ms Hodgkinson said. "Where there are no alternatives, licences for the control of flying foxes will continue to be issued.” She said the Coalition could also call on the Federal Government to re-assess the flying fox’s listing as a vulnerable species under the Threatened Species Conservation Act. The move breaks a pre-election promise to end the culling within two years. It comes after extensive lobbying by farmers who say the fruit-eating mammals cause hundreds of thousands of dollars in crop losses.

A 2009 independent review commissioned by the former state government found that shooting flying foxes did not protect orchards and was hastening the decline of the species, whose numbers have dropped 30 per cent nationally in the past decade. They are listed as under threat mainly because of habitat loss. The animals are considered essential to a number of plants that require seed pollination. It is estimated a single flying fox can disperse up to 60,000 seeds a night. NSW Greens MP and environment spokesperson Cate Faehrmann said the move was another instance of the Government lowering the status of the environment and selling it out to commercial interests. “I'm extremely worried about what is yet to come," Ms Faehrmann said. In Sydney, the Royal Botanic Gardens recently won a High Court challenge to evict a colony of up to 22,000 grey-headed flying foxes permanently. *News.com.au