Wildlife Bytes 7/6/11

Leading Story

More ACT Kangaroo Kills

More than three thousand kangaroos will be shot over the next month as part of the ACT Territory’s annual cull, which starts tomorrow. ACT Parks and Conservation, which oversees the contractors conducting the cull, is this year targeting 3427 kangaroos on six sites in the Canberra Nature Park. The sites that will be closed to the public while the cull is underway are Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve, Goorooyaroo Nature Reserve, Mount Painter Nature Reserve, Callam Brae Nature Reserve, Jerrabomberra West Nature Reserve, Kama Nature Reserve and unleased territory land adjacent to Kama Nature Reserve. ACT Parks and Conservation Service manager Daniel Iglesias said this morning that kangaroo numbers continued to rise despite the Government’s Kangaroo Management Plan culling program. “The cull of up to 3427 kangaroos is needed to maintain kangaroo populations at appropriate levels to protect the integrity of ecosystems, several of which contain endangered flora and fauna,” he said. “The numbers to be culled have been based on kangaroo counts in each location. “Ensuring the grasslands and woodlands are not overgrazed will protect threatened species and ecosystems, provide habitat for creatures such as ground-feeding birds, prevent excessive soil loss and maintain sustainable numbers of kangaroos.” Mr Iglesias said the kangaroos would be humanely culled by experienced marksmen. “The cull will be conducted according to a strict Code of Practice that has the endorsement of all relevant authorities including the RSPCA. “Rangers and security staff have been engaged to patrol areas to ensure the safety of the public with warning signs also being installed at all entry points to the reserves,” he said. The ACT Government Vet would conduct spot checks during the program to ensure compliance with the relevant code of practice. *Canberra Times

Ed Comment; this is disgraceful...Sunday June the 5th was World Environment Day, and these ratbags were out there slaughtering our kangaroos in the Canberra Parks and Reserves....and supported by the ACT RSPCA, and the ACT Greens. In fact, as one activist pointed out, the ACT Greens are more likely to push for solar powered shooters trucks than to seriously question what's happening here.

How low can they go? Last year after the culling in Canberra, ACT Parks Russell Watkinson said that culls shouldn't be needed this year, ( front page 3 July 2010 Canberra Times article )
''In retrospect it would have probably been desirable if we could have been able to cull more last year, and I am hopeful we won't have to do a big cull next year or hopefully not one at all".
This 3 July 2010 article is online at http://www.animalsaustralia.org/media/in_the_news.php?article=1243. Local activists are out and about around the Parks, realising they can't stop the shoot, but are trying to muck up their plans as much as possible.

Meanwhile ACT Animal Liberation are looking for people to keep an eye out around the Canberra Nature Reserves where there will be shooting. The reserves where they are shooting are as follows: Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve, Goorooyaroo Nature Reserve, Mount Painter Nature Reserve, Callam Brae Nature Reserve, Jerrabomberra West Nature Reserve and Kama Nature Reserve, Unleased territory land adjacent to Kama Nature Reserve.

Things to look out for are as follows: Security Utes driving around the reserves, A white tray Truck With 'PARKS' in big letters on the side or ACT logo with Parks on the side, Shooters trucks - 4 wheel drives (generally Toyota brand) with 2 large white antennas attached to bull bars on the front. These are very distinctive. Often they have a number of obvious lights also arrayed along the bull bar and other spots on the vehicle, Any other suspicious activity - that is behaviour you have not noticed before. Pass on any info to ACT Animal Lib.*

The possiblity of taking out an Injunction to stop the shooting is being considered, but the problem is that an Injunction can only be effective if the ACT Government is breaking the law, or the Legislation, by killing the kangaroos, which it is not. The Legislation has been "fitted out" to allow this killing to take place. As one commentor noted in the online Canberra Times, "Gee, won't this do wonders for ACT's tourism propects and reputation once this bloodbath again gets picked up by the international media. We will be listed alongside such tatsteful events as seal clubbing in Canada and the yearly dolphin slaughter in Taiji (Japan)."

What you can do. Write to Fed Minister Tony Burke Tony.Burke.MP@aph.gov.au It's not his portfolio, but Fed Labor are getting a flogging in the Polls, and the controversy over this kill by the ACT Labor Government is not helping them. Writing to the ACT Government is a waste of time. Writing to the ACT RSPCA and The ACT Greens (they support the killing) may be useful, if you dont mind reading garbage replies. The Canberra Times is not publishing letters about this kill either, but they are printing comments on line here .....
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/kangaroo-cull-quota-doubled/2184061.aspx?src=rss

After Belconnen.

We recently found this letter which was written by a bystander to the infamous Belconnen Kangaroo Kill in 2009, and we thought our readers may like to read it too.

As a mother, I found the immense suffering of the mothers and joeys during the massacre at Belconnen (culls are supposed to help suffering animals, not kill healthy ones) particularly hard to bear. Their maternal bonds are just like ours, and to see them calling for each other, with the little ones being trampled in the panic, just broke my heart. Some of the joeys were left without their mums and without food and water for days. Eventually they just gave up and allowed themselves to be pushed into the killing pens. We have to stop doing this to sentient beings if we are to retain any semblance of true humanity (kindness/mercy). The males were also trying to protect the abandoned joeys and lead them away to safety. What is wrong with human males (and tragically some females) that they were happy to be cowards, sadists and bullies while the animals were setting an example of dignified, caring behaviour? I appreciate grasslands and diverse ecosystems but the true threats to them in Canberra are development for houses, shopping centres, offices, roads etc. and the frightening drought. We don’t see all the ‘expert ecologists’ shooting bulldozers, or even lying in front of them, but they trash grassland more effectively than any kangaroo. Oddly enough, sacrificing all those kangaroos also hasn’t made it rain. Grasslands and kangaroos have done a better job of harmonious evolution than all too many Canberrans are managing with the natural world. As, your article says, we have to find less primitive ways of interacting with Australia’s unique and precious flora and fauna before it is too late. * Crikey


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Crocodiles

Northern Territory wildlife rangers are urging fishermen who encounter aggressive saltwater crocodiles to report them. Rangers will head to Corroboree Billabong south-east of Darwin this week to decide whether to remove a big saltie that has been menacing fishermen. An angler reported the crocodile lunging at the side of his boat two weekends ago and there have been up to a dozen other reports of the croc causing problems. Ranger Joey Buckerfield says he will go to Corroboree to look for the crocodile on Thursday night. "If it is found to be aggressive, it will be harpooned and taken to a croc farm," he said. He says the aggression is probably territorial in nature. "I think because it is such a big size and it seems to be the only croc in that area, it might just feel threatened by boats," he said. Corroboree Billabong is part of the Mary River wetlands and has the largest concentration of saltwater crocodiles in the world. It is also a popular spot with fishermen. Tourists flock there to join river cruises to see the local wildlife, including big crocodiles. *ABC

Wildlife Poaching

Two days of inspections of warehouses and buying stations of a Zamboanga-based trading company have yielded such a large stash of protected corals, shells and other marine species that two 20-foot container vans were not enough to hold them, the head of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said here Saturday. BFAR Director Asis Perez said the authorities discovered tons of corals and shells in one warehouse they inspected Saturday in the village of San Roque . “We saw a still undetermined, huge volume (of corals and shells), much bigger than what were seized in Manila,” he told the Inquirer. Asked to give an estimate, he said the shells and corals in that particular warehouse of the Li and Lim Trading would not fit in two 20-foot container vans. “I guess more than that and we need to evaluate how large this stash is,” Perez added. *Enquirer News Read more ... http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/12049/huge-stash-of-corals-shells-found-in-zambo-warehouses

Cassowaries

The endangered cassowary population of north and far north Queensland is continuing to rely on volunteers and farmers for food after Cyclone Yasi. Mission Beach fruit grower Peter Salleras has a Government-installed feed station on his farm that is supporting a mother bird and her two chicks. The cassowaries would normally forage on forest fruit but most of that has been destroyed. Mr Salleras says without the feeding station it is likely the birds on his property would struggle to survive. "It's probably a good move that they're not using fruit that they'll become a pest with once our fruit starts to come back on," he said. "There's grapes and rockmelons cut up and apples and I understand it's fruit shop and supermarket waste. "It certainly looks pretty good quality a fair bit of it but it's obviously doing the job because there's not much native fruit in their droppings at the moment." Mr Salleras's own fruit crop is still recovering but one soursop from his tropical fruit orchard got away. "I saw a fruit that was half eaten quite high up a tree and I thought the flying foxes had come back and found it first," he said. "Actually I looked at the ground and there was a big patch of where the mulch had been well and truly shifted away from the cassowary jumping up and down, so it could reach it and yes it was clear what the culprit was." *ABC

Bluefinned Tuna

The bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean Sea need our help and we are on our way now! Your support is crucial to ensuring we can fulfill our mission. Fuel, supplies, and provisions for the crew are all essential for our success. Illegal fishing operations are exterminating the bluefin tuna. It is not casually fading from existence. We need your help to continue fighting against the pillagers of nature and the destroyers of future generations' legacy. These poachers are killing our oceans in the name of greed and self-advancement, with little to no consideration for the present or future state of the oceans. But together we can make a difference! When you donate to Sea Shepherd, you make our successful campaigns possible! On behalf of all of us at Sea Shepherd, and our clients, thank you for supporting our vital mission. *Sea Shephard

Tortoises

A UK tortoise is now faster than her friends after having a wheel fitted to replace a missing leg. Tuly lost a front leg when it was horrifically gnawed off by a rat while she was hibernating. But now, thanks to a toy car wheel and some Velcro, she is fully mobile again - and her pals are finding it hard to keep up. Philip Chubb, 64, whose daughter Eleanor runs a local Tortoise group in Norwich, made the prosthetic limb. He said: "Tuly came to us after the vets operated to save her life last year. She was mobile but very off balance and slow. "She was rubbing away her shell because it was scraping along the ground when she walked. It was a problem that would have lead to more complications." Mr Chubb bought a toy tractor at a car boot sale and removed one of the wheels. Then he made a brace out of metal and Velcro strips. He added: "Her balance was corrected. She didn't look like a sinking ship anymore and then she just took off. "She clearly didn't mind having it on and seemed delighted to scoot off to feed on the weeds. She's now actually the fastest tortoise we have which is rather funny." *Orange.co.uk

Alligators

Police are investigating reports of two alligators being spotted at a holiday park lake - in Norfolk. A visitor claimed he saw the reptiles on the surface of the water, reports The Sun. Worried holidaymakers and fishermen are now keeping watch for the pair at 60-acre Waveney Valley Lakes in Wortwell. Park manager Dave Potter, 58, said: "It has caused quite a stir. We have 90 plots for caravans and lodges, so there are a lot of people here. The police had a good look around but didn't find anything." Norfolk Police said a member of the public reported the alleged sighting. It added: "One of our officers visited the owners of the venue to make them aware of the claim." No one knows how the creatures may have got there. Alligator expert Dr Laura Brandt said: "It is possible they have been released or have found their way to the water." *Orange.co.uk

Cane Toads

Not in My Back Yard week begins today as ToadBusters work to remove the cane toads that have invaded Darwin during the Wet. FrogWatch co-ordinator Graeme Sawyer said research had shown toads cannot store water and so need to be near water, providing the basis for a strategy to prevent toads over running the Top End. "Unfortunately the toads have the advantage during the wet season as the moisture allows them to go anywhere and we get a new influx of cane toads into the control areas each year," he said. "As the dry season sets in, conditions change in our favour. Toads become much more vulnerable and concentrated in certain areas because of their complete dependence on regular access to water. This makes them much easier to find." Mr Sawyer said during NIMBY week people need to check their yard for toads at least twice, including after dark, and catch them. He said the easiest way of disposal was to put them in the Cane Toad Detention Centres. "Drop the cane toad into the centre and it can live in comfort until FrogWatch comes clears the centre and disposes of (them)," he said. Centres are located at Freds Pass, Darwin Shoal Bay Waste Centre, Defence Establishment Berrimah, RAAF Base gates at Winnellie, and Palmerston's Archer transfer station. You also can freeze, then bury them in your garden or compost, or put them in the bin. NIMBY week runs from June 6 to June 12. People are encouraged to record their catches by emailing toadreport@frog watch.org.au or phoning 1800 243 564. *NT News

Extinctions

"We live on the most incredible planet, and yet we abuse it, and we abuse it mercilessly," says Paul Watson, head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in the opening moments of the season 4 premiere of "Whale Wars" (Animal Planet). "Right now we're living in a major extinction event. We'll lose more species of plants and animals between 2000 and 2065 than we've lost in the last 65 million years. If we don't find answers to these problems, we're gonna be victims of this extinction event that we're at fault for." * Paul Watson

Hedgehogs

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People's Trust for Endangered Species have released research that suggests hedgehog numbers are dropping precipitously. They're down 25% in the last 10 years alone. But otehr authorities claim that people are regularly reporting a complete absence of hedgehogs, where once they were plentiful. Its believed the hedgehog population for the UK in 1955 was about 30m. Today it is around 1m, and falling. In other words, we have already lost in excess of 95% of the country's hedgehogs. The landscape, suburban and rural, has become massively fragmented. In the countryside intensive farming, improved pastures and poorly managed hedges have all contributed to the isolation of hedgehogs in what are known as "rural refugia", or more commonly, towns and villages. In many cases the hedgehogs also have a jailor, in the form of badgers, the presence of which prevents their spread out into the wilds. A campaign called Hedgehog Street has been launched. The call is going out for people to start to work with their neighbours to ensure that their gardens help, rather than hinder, hedgehogs. Already people have started cutting hedgehog-sized holes in their fences and there are many other simple ideas available through the campaign's website. Hedgehogs are important; they are an essential and utterly unmistakable connection with the natural world. They remind us that there is wildness beyond the suburbs. *The Guardian

Ed Comment; Although numbers are dropping in the UK, there is a hedgehog population in an unlikely place...New Zealand. Many decades ago, when this Editor was growing up in NZ, there were quite few hedgehogs around, one lady hedgehog and her family lived under an old chookshed, and I used to take her out saucers of milk to drink. Hedgehogs are regarded with benign indifference by most New Zealanders, who tend to see them as appealing creatures that eat garden and pasture pests. Hedgehogs were introduced to NZ in the late 19th century and are now widespread, and estimated to number between two and four per hectare in most areas, perhaps reaching as many as 8 per hectare in optimum conditions. Some studies suggest that hedgehogs are responsible for significant levels of predation on skinks and ground-nesting native birds’ eggs, but probably do very much less damage than introduced possums, and cats and dogs. *

Seals

Sea lions off the coast of South Australia are now protected from closed gillnet fishing in 18,500sq km of waters - an area the same size as Kakadu National Park. More than 9000 sea lions' futures will be protected by the fishing bans, which began at the start of the fishing season on May 1, extending from Fowlers Bay in the state's west, to the southern side of Kangaroo Island. Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) chief executive Dr James Findlay said there had not been many sea lion deaths in the past year and the AFMA is now monitoring the area. "AFMA's strategy to protect sea lions from accidental interactions with gillnets has been highly successful and the data shows there have been only two seal lion mortalities in the last year, not 256 as one report predicted," he said. "We have also introduced 100 per cent independent monitoring on all gillnet fishing in the remaining area of the fishery." The AFMA has introduced strict consequences to manage ongoing risks to sea lions and will implement further area closures if there are more accidental sea lion deaths. The gillnet fishing bans which commenced at the beginning of the current fishing season on May 1. *Adelaide Now

Ed Comment; HSI believe thats not good enough, the protected areas are not big enough, and they still allow seals to be killed. Write to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator the Hon Joe Ludwig by email to joe.ludwig@maff.gov.au or by fax 02 6273 4120; and to his Parliamentary Secretary the Hon Dr Mike Kelly AM MP by email to parlsec@daff.gov.au or by fax to 02 6277 8556 Write to the Environment Minister, the Hon Tony Burke MP by email to Tony.Burke.MP@aph.gov.au or by fax to 02 6273 6101

Tell the Ministers that:

The Australian Sea Lion is an endemic species, found nowhere else in the world. The Australian Government therefore has a responsibility to provide the species with the highest level of protection;
you welcome the efforts made to date by the Government, which include 100% observer coverage and closed areas to protect the Australian Sea Lion, but explain that these are not sufficient to allow the recovery of all Australian Sea Lion populations;
The Government sanctioning of ‘trigger levels’ set by AFMA of 104 Australian Sea Lions (or 52 females) is unacceptable for an endemic species listed as vulnerable under federal environmental legislation;
The proposed deaths of Australian Sea Lions is contrary to the scientific evidence and advice which calls for the bycatch of Australian Sea Lions to be as close to zero as possible, a figure not only appropriate for conservation reasons but also for welfare to ensure suffering of these animals through drowning in gillnets is minimised;
Waiting for more data to be available is prolonging the suffering of Australian Sea Lions. More data will not solve this issue with any satisfaction;
Tf fishers claims are correct, that they do not catch Australian Sea Lions, then they should be agreeable to a trigger level of 1 to ensure the recovery of all Australian Sea Lion sub-populations;
If increased protection cannot be afforded to the Australian Sea Lion then the Environment Minister must revoke the export approval for the fishery. Please write as soon as possible!

Penguins

A scientist recommends little penguins be classified as vulnerable, following their decline in Victor Harbor, Gulf St Vincent and Kangaroo Island. Adelaide Mount Lofty Ranges and Kangaroo Island Natural Resources Management Boards penguin scientist Annelise Wiebkin said the sea birds met the requirements to be listed as vulnerable under the International Union for Conservation of Nature at an information session at the Victor Harbor Rec Centre on Monday, May 30. One clause for such a classification is if there is an "observed, estimated, inferred or suspected population size reduction of more than 50 per cent over the last 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer, where the causes of the reduction are clearly reversible and understood." Little penguin numbers in the region have declined from about 14,200 between 10 and 30 years ago, to 5,226. It represents a 63 per cent decline in the past 30 years. Little penguin numbers on Granite Island were 146 in 2010, less than 10 per cent of the figure recorded in 2001.

Annelise said it is likely the birds' mortality rates are to be blamed for their decline. She said little penguins often go back to where they were born to breed, which meant recolonising in new areas is low. Habitat destruction could be a possible cause, for example new housing developments or vegetation clearance. Climate change may be affecting the little penguin's ability to find food. Anchovies consist of 70 per cent of a little penguins' diet. Annelise said the fish little penguins eat are often located in a certain space within a wave. If climate change is making this space wider, the fish become more dispersed. This makes it harder for little penguins to find food. New Zealand fur seals naturally eat penguins, but it is not known if they are a direct cause of their reduced rates in the region. The average life expectancy of a little penguin is seven years, although they have been known to live for 25 years. The public are being called upon to help with research about the death of little penguins. People who come across a dead little penguin are asked to fill in a morbidity form, available at the Victor Harbor Visitor Information Centre. * Coast Times

Climate Change

The world may have to resort to technology that sucks greenhouse gases from the air to stave off the worst effects of global warming, the UN climate change chief said before global talks which opened yesterday. ''We are putting ourselves in a scenario where we will have to develop more powerful technologies to capture emissions out of the atmosphere,'' said the executive secretary of the UN framework convention on climate change, Christiana Figueres. ''We are getting into very risky territory,'' she said, stressing that time was running out. The UN climate talks, which began yesterday in Bonn, will over the next two weeks try to revive the negotiations before the next climate conference, taking place in Durban, South Africa, in December. Little progress is expected, however, as the negotiating time is likely to be taken up with details such as rules on monitoring emissions. Ms Figueres tried to inject a greater sense of urgency into the proceedings by pointing to research from the International Energy Agency that found that emissions had soared last year by a record amount.

Ms Figueres said that governments should act now. ''We add $US1 trillion to the cost [of tackling climate change] with every year of delay,'' she said. However, as the talks begin, the world's leading climate change official has upset governments by insisting that the aim of the negotiations ought to be to hold warming to less than 1.5 degrees. That would be a much tougher goal than that set by governments last year, which seeks to limit the temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees - the safety threshold, scientists say, beyond which warming becomes catastrophic. ''In my book, there is no way we can stick to the goal that we know is completely unacceptable to the most exposed [countries],'' Ms Figueres said. Ms Figueres said that she had the support of the world's least developed countries, most of Africa, and small island states. She also predicted the US would play a strong role in the talks, despite the Obama administration facing Republican opposition in Congress to action on emissions. * Guardian News & Media

Flying Foxes

A colony of bats and other wildlife that call the 3 hectare bushland near the Equine Precinct at Bundall on the Gold Coast home, will soon be evicted. The bushland will be cleared due to a perceived risk of Hendra Virus being passed from the bats to horses. But some believe this action will result in displaced and stressed bats being pushed into nearby backyards. If protracted it could become a major management headache for Gold Coast City Council and be responsible for the deaths of protected native flying-foxes when they are already suffering national population decline through habitat loss and climatic uncertainty. Bat Conservation & Rescue Qld president, Louise Saunders said, “The removal of vegetation and the dispersal of up to 2,000 flying-foxes, including the vulnerable Grey-headed Flying-fox is extremely concerning. Like most urban dispersals elsewhere, the action at Bundall could be a costly and ongoing problem for Council. It is likely that flying-foxes could end up in locations that are more difficult to manage, such as nearby residential backyards or in local colonies that are already causing conflict with residents,” Ms Saunders said.

“We are concerned that the public may get the wrong idea from this dispersal and misinterpret the health risk to humans. Humans cannot get Hendra virus directly from flying-foxes. Sadly, all human cases have been contracted from contact with horses. The method of transmission from bat to horse is still inconclusive”, Louise said. “This is an extreme action against bats when there is such a slight health risk to horses. We were especially surprised that this action would be considered, as a cost effective vaccine to protect horses has been successful in recent trials and is so close to being available to horse owners”. We would like to remind people not to handle flying-foxes. Like any wild animal that is frightened or in pain it could bite or scratch. We have trained and vaccinated volunteers. If anyone finds an injured bat or bats in their backyard during the day, please call our help line on 0488 228 134 or call the RSPCA on 1300 ANIMAL.

The vegetation removal and dispersal of flying-foxes is expected to take place within the next few weeks. Important information: Neither you, nor your pets, can catch diseases from having bats in your backyard or by living near a bat colony. Less than half of one percent of bats may have Australian Bat Lyssavirus, a preventable but potentially deadly disease. It can only be contracted from a deep bite or scratch from a bat. An effective vaccine is available. Our message is please don’t try to help an injured flying-fox, call for help. Any bat found alone through the day needs assistance. Please call for help as soon as possible.
For further information call (07) 3821 2341 B/H only. For rescue assistance call Bat Conservation & Rescue Qld’s rescue helpline on 0488 228 134. Visit our web site to find out more about these amazing mammals: www.bats.org.au Media release, Bat Conservation & Rescue Qld Inc.


A western Queensland family has been told it will have to wait for more than 10,000 flying foxes to finish breeding in their backyard before they can be moved. Barcaldine resident Brett Walsh estimates 12,000 little red flying foxes are living in his and his neighbour's backyards. He says they have been there for 14 weeks and nothing can be done because the females are having babies. Mr Walsh says he and his wife can barely use their garden but the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) seems more concerned about the animals' welfare. "Basically just completely confined to your house," he said. "They have a fact sheet, 'Learning to live with Flying Foxes', and that seems to be the attitude." He says he and his wife are worried about the hendra virus and lyssavirus. "We don't have any horses but there are horses around the town and I'm not sure how that would affect those people," he said. "We are more concerned about the lyssavirus, which can spread direct from bats to humans. "That disease is fatal - we don't want to see any harm to the babies but we just want them gone."

Mr Walsh says he and his wife even considered moving out of the home until the colony moved on. "There is a lot of bat faeces and urine, the smell - you can't do any activities in your yard like gardening or having a barbecue," he said. "Basically, you are completely confined to your house. "We don't want any harm to come to the animals but we want our lifestyle back and our house back." The QPWS says flying foxes are an important part of the ecosystem. QPWS spokesman Michael Devery says it is a matter of waiting until the young are independent before dispersal options can be considered. "If you've got young there and the mothers are dispersed, for example, then the young will just starve to death," he said. "At this point in time it has to go through that cycle of the young being able to be independent and then the animals will move on. "Little reds are nomadic, they don't stay."There is no doubt there is an imposition [but] these animals will finish breeding and they will leave the property."

Mr Devery says there are no horses in the area and other concerns can be managed. "Any known association with hendra [virus] has been through a horse," he said. "I am advised there aren't any horses at or near the property. "There are some discomforts when they are close to people. "If you take some basic precautions, and I guess the biggest concern people have is the health risk, so not get scratched or bitten by an animal and the way to do [that] is obviously not to touch them but ultimately these animals, they will go." *ABC

Dolphins

Authorities are disgusted by the discovery of two rare dolphins found dead, tied to mangroves, and weighed down by a slab of concrete in north Queensland. A local recreational fisherman found the rare snubfin dolphins near the mouth of Two Mile Creek, north of Townsville. Authorities say the dolphins were hand-tied to the mangroves and they are appealing for leads to find those responsible. Richard Leck from the World Wildlife Fund says he is incensed. "The killing and concealing of these two dolphins is totally reprehensible and completely out of line with what the community expects what happens within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area," he said. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority officer Mick Bishop says it is a disturbing find. "Certainly, somebody's been involved in that because of the very nature of it. In some cases, when you find dolphins, there's possibilities of disease or starvation or whatever," he said. Mr Bishop says it could be related to illegal fishers who may have tried to conceal the accidental killings of the dolphins. "The most likely of the explanation is that they would have been caught in a fishing net," he said.

"There was no evidence of propeller strike or anything like that and generally a boat strike, most people don't even know they've done it. "And so most likely, it would be a fishing net to have caught two dolphins. In those cases it could have occurred quite legally and the net could have been set legally, but there's an obligation on operators to report these deaths." Nearly 12 months ago a commercial fisherman spotted four dugongs tied up in a similar way in Bowling Green Bay, off the coast of Townsville. Mr Leck says he would like to see the perpetrators of this latest case brought to justice so it does not happen again. "Obviously the people involved know what they've done but it's unlikely that this activity happens without other people being aware," he said. "Now's not the time for fishers to be protecting their mates. Now's the time for fishers to be protecting their species and we call on people who have some knowledge of this to come forward." Legal fishers do not face fines for reporting the accidental netting of a marine creature like a dolphins, dugongs or turtles.

But Mr Bishop says unregistered trawlers in that region face severe prosecution if they snag and kill protected wildlife. "There's several different [pieces of] legislation; there's state, federal and marine park legislation. But, for example, under state legislation the maximum fine could be $330,000 or two years in prison," he said. Mr Leck says he wants the snubfin officially listed as a threatened species as there are only about 1,000 left in the wild. "The snubfin has recently been declared in the last 10 years as a new species of dolphin," he said. "It was originally confused with another inshore dolphin but this is Australia's very own inshore dolphin. It's very rare and little is known about it." Authorities in central Queensland are also puzzled by the deaths of two adult dolphins which washed ashore in the past fortnight. *ABC

Koalas

An animal protection advocate is calling for the cancellation of all existing development approvals on the Sunshine Coast in a bid to protect the region’s dwindling koala population. Jaylene Musgrave, founder of the Vegan Warriors group, is also pushing for a cap on development and the introduction of wildlife corridors to protect the species. Ms Musgrave, who has been working closely with the Sunshine Coast Koala Wildlife Rescue Service, said the dwindling koala population was largely the result of development, with other species such as lizards, echidnas and kangaroos also threatened. She has been working with the SCKWRS to lobby the regional council for change and hopes to meet with council representatives to discuss the issue. To bring the issue further into the spotlight, Ms Musgrave appeared on national television last week. “The Sunshine Coast Council is one of the few in the country that hasn’t put wildlife corridors in place. Some councils did this as far back as 1998,” she said. The corridors are remnant, regenerated or artificially created habitats, which link larger areas of wildlife habitat and enable animals and plant seeds to move between them in an otherwise uninhabitable environment.

“The council states they ensure developers adhere to guidelines to looking after koalas that are in areas that will be developed. “(But) this seems extremely confusing as the SCKWRS spends each and every day collecting koalas, kangaroos and other wildlife that have been hit by cars, trying to escape because their homes have been bulldozed. “If progress and growth cannot be achieved sustainably then they should be stopped until a viable solution is found.” A council spokesperson said about 80,000 people had moved to the Coast in the past 10 years and council was working on a new planning scheme. “We have endorsed the Biodiversity Strategy, the implementation of which is supported by a $9 million Environment Levy program, including land acquisition, partnership funding for community groups and a range of other initiatives.”
Estimated local koala numbers by electorate: Fairfax 90-180, Fisher 270-540, Longman 150-250, Wide Bay 450-900 Source: Australian Koala Foundation: 2011 *Sunshine Coast Daily

Kangaroos in Canberra

“Cull roos now to save rare grassland,” says the headline in the Canberra Times. The ACT’s Commissioner for Sustainability and Environment, Dr Maxine Cooper, goes on to list the evidence use to support this sentence of death by shooting. “They threaten rare grasslands in a critical condition” is the clincher. But these are native grasslands that have evolved with Eastern Grey kangaroos over millions of years ?—?but can they adapt to shoddy science? “On advice from experts that I’ve had, the only humane way to reduce large numbers of kangaroos is through humanely culling.” Evidence from botanists no doubt, and this profession has form ?—?a preparedness to endorse the killing of other indigenous species to protect plant “biodiversity”. In the mid 1980s botanists supported by other scientists propelled a campaign over a decade that led to the culling of thousands of kangaroos in Victoria’s Hattah-Kulkyne National Park.

In that same decade, in Victoria again, permits were issued to shoot white winged choughs, a delightful bird that lives in family groups and had habituated to the mudbrick dwellings of the dry valleys behind Eltham. Here botanists said that these birds loved eating rare native orchids, (exposed by years of firewood collecting) and were “over abundant” because people had been feeding them. They had to be shot. Shooting white winged choughs was on the border of extreme, when putting wire over the rare orchids protects them to this day. A similar excuse is given by the ACT commissioner: “We want the kangaroos as part of the ecosystem, but because they no longer have any natural predators, hunting of them has been reduced and the area on which kangaroos used to graze has been taken up by urban development. You actually have to have the human in there as one of the predators and control the numbers of kangaroos.”

Kangaroos have always had dogs as predators. Dingoes are not that common in the ACT these days, but their place has been more than taken by packs of domestic and feral dogs. Humans and their cars are also a significant source of mortality, as Dr Maxine Cooper states: “In the 2007-08 State of the Environment Report, Dr Cooper reported rangers picked up about 1000 kangaroos from roadsides as a result of vehicle collisions across the territory each year.” That number would increase if females carrying joeys are taken into account. They must be expensive panel beaters in the ACT?—?she also claims they did $7 million worth of damage to cars annually. This continuing academic assault on kangaroos seems to have a colonial twist?—?a deep seated insecurity with the Australian landscape and its animals. A need to meddle, to change and dictate and modify. Shooting the kangaroos doesn’t work well as kangaroos can always move in from elsewhere quite quickly if the feed’s good. Then they just need to be shot again.

There are many threats to native grasslands and the animals that live in them. Apart from clearing for development, cats and domestic dog packs threaten what animals are left with little of the former cover while rabbits, hares, goat and even pigs pressure the grasslands?—?but it is the kangaroos again that are the target. Living with kangaroos is going to require more effort. Effective fencing, effective road crossing, slowing traffic, movement sensors to slow traffic down in time to stop, etc etc. They mow lawns for nothing, reduce fire hazards and attract tourists. To shoot them is a primitive colonial over reaction to native wildlife and the Australian landscape that we seem to be further from reconciling with than ever. Odd isn’t it. The over-abundance of other species ?—?the feral pigs, hares, deer, goats, feral dogs and feral cats, let alone domestic and stock animals?—?are rarely, if ever, referred to. *Crikey.com, 2009

Ed Comment; This article was written in 2009, and the comments therein are still relevant today, in light of the current Canberra kangaroo kill.

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