| FORESTRY
& LANDCLEARING |
| INVASIVE
SPECIES |
| WILDLIFE |
| NEWSLETTER |
| SUPPORT THE TRUST |
| Wildlife Conservation
Issues Overview
Conservation
Issues Species not regarded by primary producers as pests or potential commercial resources are not systematically monitored. However where zoologists do look, the picture is discouraging: disease is contributing to the decline of the Platypus (Mucor mucorum), Tasmanian Devil (Devil Facial Tumour Disease), Eastern Barred Bandicoot (Toxoplasmosis) , Tasmanian Pademelon (Toxoplasmosis and Ovine Johnnes Disease) and many of the state’s frog species (Chytrid fungus). The
effects of poisoning, shooting, road mortality, introduced organisms (competitors,
predators and diseases), habitat modification and ecological disturbance on local
populations of all Tasmania’s fauna species are unstudied, but anecdotal reports
suggest the problems may be significant and that Tasmania’s wildlife is in decline. Shooting Wallaby shooting is also permitted for recreation, with hunters sometimes using packs of dogs to flush animals out from the undergrowth and in some cases, to maul and kill them. Tasmania is the only State in Australia where it is legal to use hunting dogs for the purpose of flushing out and killing native wildlife in spite of the Dog Control Act 2000 which says "If a dog attacks an animal … the owner or person in charge of the dog is guilty of an offence." Hunting dogs can cause extreme distress, severe injuries and death to Bennetts Wallabies and Tasmanian Pademelons and also other fully protected species: Quail, Native Hens and other ground dwelling birds, Bettongs, Potoroos, Eastern Quolls, Bandicoots and Wombats. The animals panic, bolting from their hiding places suddenly at great speed which can result in broken necks and limbs from collisions with fences and the involuntary expulsion of pouch young due to stress. Pursued animals may also suffer from capture myopathy, a condition caused by exertion and muscular stress. The practice is not supervised and there are anecdotal reports of joeys being fed live to dogs or being left behind to die of exposure. See
more information on hunting wallabies with dogs. Alternatives
to Shooting 1080
Poison The public has no recourse to stop a 1080 drop in their neighbourhood despite the fact that many pet dogs die in agony every year through secondary poisoning. Secrecy surrounds the use of 1080 and its administration by the Tasmanian government. There is no public record of who uses 1080 or where it is laid. Contract workers who collect the dead animals for disposal report picking up Ring-tail Possums, Wombats, Bettongs, Potoroos, Eastern Quolls, Shrike-thrushes, Forest Ravens, herons, hawks and owls. In fact, any creature that eats carrot is at risk of poisoning. Any animal or bird that eats the poisoned meat is also at risk. In other parts of Australia 1080 is used, in spite of growing opposition, to poison feral animals (rabbits, pigs, wild dogs) and Dingos. Even in instances where 1080 is used for conservation purposes, its use is contentious because of its excessive cruelty to victims. Only in Tasmania is 1080 used routinely and indiscriminately to poison native wildlife species. Death by 1080 is not painless: it is prolonged and distressing. Animals stagger around, thirsting, frightened, disoriented and convulsing, sometimes for days until they succumb to central nervous system collapse, coronary or respiratory failure or are attacked by predators they cannot fend off. A 1987 RSPCA Report "Incidence of Cruelty to Wallabies in Commercial and Non-Commercial Operations in Tasmania" recommended the use of 1080 be banned on cruelty grounds. Get more facts on 1080 use in Tasmania. Download
a PDF fact sheet on 1080 poisoning in Tasmania. Joeys Pets
and Livestock
| TOP | Alternatives
to 1080 Forestry corporations admit that they have no reliable method for risk analysis, opting for ‘prophylactic’ use of 1080 when there is even a possible risk to plantation seedlings. Responsible landholders already use alternatives in commercial situations. The Federal Government made a pre-election promise to end the use of 1080 in Tasmania by December 2005 but it appears that they intend to renege on this commitment due to pressure by farmers’ lobby groups and the logging industry. Download
a report on the Evaluation of non-1080 non-lethal techniques for commercial control
of marsupial herbivores.
1080
for Wallabies on King Island The
Tasmanian government has not yet developed a wallaby management plan that meets
Federal Government guidelines for firearm calibres for humane harvesting. An approved
management plant would allow the commercial harvesting for export wallaby meat
markets, so farmers intend to use mass poisoning as an alternative to commercial
shooting, rather than using fencing to protect their crops and pasture from native
animal grazing. Possum
Meat for Export The expired management plan allowed for up to 250,000 Possums to be trapped and brought in alive for slaughter in a purpose built abattoir near Launceston. The "Code of Practice for Capture, Handling, Transport and Slaughter of Brush-tail Possums (Trichosurus vulpecular)" allows for animals to be held in boxes prior to slaughter for up to two days. Animal
Liberation obtained footage of the practice in the abattoir showing the workers
swinging the pouch young against the work-bench to kill them and sending animals
in to the slaughter room while they were still conscious. CODE
OF PRACTICE FOR CAPTURE, HANDLING, TRANSPORT AND SLAUGHTER OF BRUSH-TAIL POSSUMS
(Trichosurus vulpecula) In the case of naked young, killing by decapitation with a sharp instrument is recommended. In larger young, a heavy blow should be used to destroy the brain, followed by bleeding out… During transit on public roads Brush-tail possums may be subject to stress caused by: a)
deprivation of food and water, Possums may be held no longer than 48 hours after capture… Brush-tail possums must be stunned whilst still in the transport box, using either an approved electrical stunning device or a captive bolt pistol held against the skull… Females
must be examined for pouch-young as soon as possible after bleeding…" Road
Mortality Pouch young starve, die of exposure or are attacked by predators. Some of the infant marsupials that are rescued and handed over to foster carers wake up screaming and cry frequently for up to a week after they are orphaned. Traffic after dark causes most of the accidents with marsupials while most of the bird collisions are during the day. More and bigger, faster, wider roads, power lines and other infrastructure that isolate populations of animals and pose lethal risks to them, is under construction all the time. There are models for road construction that minimise the effect of traffic on wildlife populations, but as these designs and installations are relatively more expensive, they are rarely used. People
who care about wildlife avoid driving at night wherever possible, and when they
do drive after dusk, drive slowly and scan the road ahead for wildlife and are
prepared to stop to allow an animal to leave the road and consequently they rarely,
if ever, cause wildlife mortality. Muttonbirding Duck
Shooting Hunters are permitted to shoot ducks in Game Reserves, including Moulting Lagoon which is also a Ramsar listed wetland. Many ducks die slowly of injuries. Last year Wood Ducks were added to the list of species that can be legally shot based on unsubstantiated reports of high numbers from shooters and landholders. | ||||||||||||
|
TOP | | ||||||||||||
| Do
something positive for our environment. Support the Tasmanian Conservation Trust. Think Globally! Act Locally! | ||||||||||||
