Day: June 12, 2023

Share this page AWPC has learned: THE FEDERAL COURT just delivered final orders for our historic win for Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum that protects the forests subject to the case from logging!  Although the court reached its conclusion in this case in May, until today it had not yet decided how the judgement would apply practically.  IMAGES (from L): Greater Glider, Steve Parish; Steve Meacher, President, Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum; Leadbeater’s Possum, Dan Harley. SOURCE. Justice Mortimer’s orders today grant final injunctions to protect the 66 areas of forest home to the threatened Greater Glider and critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum subject to the case.  The judge also made formal declarations of unlawful logging by VicForests in those 66 areas and ordered VicForests pay Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum’s costs of running the case.   This is huge and sets a national precedent! This case will have national implications for species threatened by logging under Regional Forest Agreements across the country which will now face much greater scrutiny.  Just yesterday, the Bob Brown Foundation launched a similar Federal Court case, challenging logging under Regional Forest Agreements in Tasmania’s forests.  We echo the sentiments of our client, Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum below:    “We are immensely grateful to the public for the donations that have enabled us to pay the costs of mounting a case on this scale and   to     all those who have worked on the case and supported us in so many ways on this long and challenging journey.     And to the surveying team from WOTCH and the expert witnesses who provided an unassailable body of detailed evidence.”  This is the first time the Federal Court has granted a final injunction to prevent logging of threatened wildlife habitat and the first time Victoria’s logging industry — the largest in Australia — has been held to account under federal environment law for its devastating impacts on endangered wildlife. The outcome of this case demonstrates that properly enforcing our environment laws is critical to stem the loss of wildlife in this country. We are so thrilled that the Greater Glider and Leadbeater’s Possum in these areas of forest can rest easy for now — protecting these areas of habitat is vital to their recovery. We hope this is a message to all industry and governments across the country that if they flout the law at the expense of our threatened wildlife, the community will hold them to account in court.

Share this page Amid claims from the Victorian Government that various native species are overabundant, and extraordinarily these claims still continue in various plans being issued by the Victorian Government, despite the vast scale loss of wildlife in the devastating fires. Here is an updated analysis of some of the Victorian Government’s numbers (publicly available or obtained under FOI) from our President, Peter Hylands, as he describes the real situation for Australian wildlife in the State of Victoria. The question we need to ask is why is so much wildlife dying in Victoria because of the enabling and often promotion of these killing activities by the very government responsible for the welfare of these precious and unique animals? 2020 WAS A very grim year for Victoria’s Australian species. What we can tell you is that Australian wildlife in Victoria is anything but protected. Wildlife in Victoria is also subject to extreme acts of cruelty. Much of this activity is encouraged and enabled by its current government. “As we managed to get caught in Melbourne’s extensive lockdown and ring of steel which locked up the city for many weeks, I have taken some of that time to investigate the current circumstances for Victoria’s native species. As always, marsupials and birdlife are in the forefront of the abuse. I have created this as a reference document for the reader to use”. Here are some simple facts for Victoria that tell a very grim story, yet the killing continues and is encouraged by the Victorian Government, and oddly by organisations such as the Country Women’s Association (CWA) as has recently been the case in Central Victoria. At a time of dire environmental conditions, including vast scale bushfires, the killing of Australia’s wildlife in Victoria has continued at scale. Permits to kill Kangaroos on a very large scale have been issued across Victoria’s regions (including Central Victoria) and populations are declining rapidly region by region, as remaining populations are targeted by commercial and non-commercial shooting activities. As is the case for the rest of Australia, the Victorian Government Kangaroo population estimates are exaggerated and this means that commercial quotas are most often not met (because the Kangaroos are not there in the numbers stated) and in at least one case in Victoria, and for one species of Kangaroo (it is now coming close to being more than one species), the number of permits being issued and the number of animals covered by these permits is likely to exceed their entire state population for that species. Victoria has been converting its Authority to Control Wildlife (ATCW) Kangaroo permits to commercial permits, a process that commenced in 2014. We can however expect to see a drop off of animals killed in Victoria against commercial quotas as populations dwindle. Australia, including Victoria, is the leading exterminator of mammal species in the world.   “In early March 2020 I was working in the desert country to the   west of Alice Springs, a remote place where I often stay. Coming   in to see our friends in Hermannsburg I rang the Victorian ecodev    number 136 186 to enquire how the latest Kangaroo harvest   quotas had been calculated for each Victorian region. I was put   through to a staff member in Ballarat and initially told there had   been surveys in both 2019 and 2020. I knew this to be incorrect   so  when I queried the response, I was given a lecture about how   terrible these animals are and told that people (like me) living in   cities do not understand the issues. Given that I have owned two   significant rural properties, one in Central Victoria over many   decades and another near the Endeavour River in Far North   Queensland and I spend time working in the remotest places in   Australia and I know a lot about numbers, these claims seemed   pretty outrageous”. — Peter Hylands Impact of the commercial trade in Kangaroos on killing rates in Victoria The repugnantly named Kangaroo Harvesting Program (KHP) began in Victoria on 1 October 2019 following the Kangaroo Pet Food Trial (KPFT) which commenced in 2014. If the periods 2009–13 and 2014–18 are compared, the rate of killing roughly tripled from 259,288 to 747,659 animals when those periods are compared. Sadly, having saved the Red Kangaroo from the pet food can in Victoria over concerns with vastly exaggerated population numbers, the high level of animals subject to the non-commercial ATCW permit in 2019 (10,073 animals) can only be described as malicious conduct. These next numbers required a bit of guess work so may be out by a small margin, but it looks like since 2009, much of it occurring from 2014 on, permits were issued to kill 1,385,339 Kangaroos, of which 555,026 were victims to the commercial trade in wildlife, across three species, that is the Eastern Grey, the Western Grey and the Red Kangaroo (other species were also killed in substantial numbers). If we add another 20 percent to that number for the number of Joeys killed by these activities that adds yet another 277,000 animals to the slaughter since 2009.    “The claims from both politicians and public servants in Victoria that the Kangaroo Pet Food Trial would not increase the rate of Kangaroo      killing, and then, once the trial had commenced, claims that significant increases in the killing   rate (for example an increase of the killing      rate for the Red Kangaroo of 759 times over the 2011 control total) was due to favourable climatic conditions, and hence conditions for   breeding resulting in population increases, are simply untrue. This becomes entirely obvious once the increases in kill rates are analysed   by region. The very significant increases in kill rates occurred in the Kangaroo Pet Food Trial zones. This is simply disgraceful, particularly   given the rates of killing from the period the trial commenced, that it is most probable that populations had started to decline rapidly during    2016.”      — Peter Hylands, 2018 The most Eastern Grey Kangaroos for which permits were issued in the period 01/01/2017 to 31/10/2019

Share this page Calls for immediate shut down of bird shoot due to “uncontrollable” lawlessness and health risks NOT EVEN A week since Victoria’s recreational bird shoot started and not even covid restrictions have prevented lawlessness and cruelty. Shocking pictures on social media show the proximity of men in army fatigues with guns near built-up areas. Reports have been made to the regulator about illegal shooting — well before allowable time — with the regulator’s response 24 hours later requesting more information which would help them identify the perpetrator.                                                                                                                                                                       IMAGE: Source Regional Victorians Opposed to Duck Shooting Inc Regional Victorian Opposed to Duck Shooting Inc (RVOTDS) are not surprised. “This happens every shooting season. Not only are regional families having to live with this happening on their doorsteps, but they also have to put themselves in harm’s way to collect evidence for the regulator to do its job as well.” Elsewhere, a complaint was made that shooters were flouting covid restrictions with the alarming outcome the police did not know the covid rules and nothing was done. And elsewhere, appalling cruelty appears to have been captured on video of a shooter trying to hide from cameras as he fed pieces of a live bird to his dog. “It is abundantly clear this pastime is unable to be controlled and poses a serious risk to our native birdlife and rural communities” said Kerrie Allen spokesperson for RVOTDS. “Why shooting native birds was ever allowed to proceed during covid is beyond us. Now we have lawless guys with guns around the state and bands of rescuers having to follow them. It’s unnecessary and dangerous when an ugly variant of fast spreading virus is breathing down our necks.” “Victoria is a basket case right now and is it any wonder? Time for accountability. That starts with saying ‘no’ — like other states have — to a group of folks who like to shoot birds for fun.” RVOTDS has submitted a lengthy complaint to the regulator about it’s “cumulative failings over the years’ and they say if that is not responded to quickly and appropriately they will take it “far further”. In the interim they are calling on James Merlino acting Premier to shut down the shooting immediately. “The regulator is still unable to provide accurate maps of where shooting is / is not allowed. It has also failed to list wetland closures on its website. How are shooters supposed to know where they can shoot let alone how are the public meant to know where to avoid? “Regional families have been totally forsaken on this issue year after year. We believe compensation is due given all the long days, weeks and months we’ve had to put up with this madness in our backyards every year with no consideration by policy makers.” — Kerrie Allen

Share this page Dear Wildlife Protectors DAVINA DUCK AND and her three children Dixie, Dee and Dilley urgently need your help.  These gentle, defenceless, voiceless, beautiful birds live their lives in wetlands all over Victoria and the Victorian Labor government has again allowed, supported and promoted another season of duck shooting. This cruel, barbaric and inhumane slaughter of native wildbirds must be banned forever.  This video taken on the first day of the 2021 Duck Shooting season shows very clearly why? This little duck was alive, grabbed by a dog and then the sadistic shooter held the little duck while the dog savagely ripped it apart. It is beyond belief how anyone could commit this atrocity on another living being and just for ‘fun’. This little duck will never see another sunrise or sunset and you can hear the little duck crying as its life ends so horrifically. I am writing on behalf of all the ducks and their chicks who will be subjected to this killing spree until June 14. The adult ducks who are killed will leave chicks to die a long and agonising death as a result of starvation. Duck shooting must be banned forever and  the only way to achieve this is for compassionate, caring, intelligent and educated people to stand up for what they believe in, raise their voices and demand change. These native water birds live in wetlands and they should be havens for these gentle birds, not killing fields where they are slaughtered for fun. Can you please post and share this video so that all your compassionate, caring supporters will be informed about this needless slaughter and hopefully take action. Once informed people can send an email, make a phone call to politicians and join with thousands of Victorians to Ban Duck Shooting Forever. No compassionate, caring person could watch this video and not be horrified and appalled at how this little, gentle, defenceless duck ended its life. The government should be promoting and supporting nature-based tourism in all these regional and remote areas as this will provide jobs, support small businesses and ensure the long term profitablity and sustainability for regional communities, all of which are struggling in today’s world. Each of us has a voice and as shown by young people like Greta Thunberg and Malala we can change the world. This special message is written on behalf of Davina Duck and her three children Dixie, Dee and Dilley and all voiceless and defenceless native waterbirds and wildlife. Ban duck shooting forever.                                                                                                                                                                                          — Barbara Devine CONTACT LIST FOR POLITICIANS Please contact your Victorian Labor MPs in both the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament (you can find their details here — https://parliament.vic.gov.au/about/electorates), send them the link to the above footage (https://www.duck.org.au/breaking-news/) and ask that they immediately ban this obscenely cruel ‘sport’. Insist that duck shooting be included in the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions — whether 5km from home or not. Killing for the sake of killing is not ‘sport, recreation or fun’. Minister for Agriculture, Mary-Anne Thomas, reception.thomas@minstaff.vic.gov.au / phone: 8392 2261 Minister for the Environment, Lily D’Ambrosio, lily.dambrosio@parliament.vic.gov.au / phone: 9637 9504 The Acting Premier, Hon. James Merlino, james.merlino@parliament.vic.gov.au / phone: 9651 1222 PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING Remind these politicians of the Vision and Purpose of their Animal Welfare Action Plan as they have obviously never read the Plan or it was simply a PR exercise and lots of spin.   Vision:  A Victoria that fosters the caring and respectful   treatment of animals. Purpose:   To ensure Victoria continues to improve animal   welfare and is well respected globally for animal welfare   practices. The Humane Society International has publicly condemned the Victorian Labor government:  “Allowing this activity to continue would be an affront to   conservation and contravene the commitments made in   Victoria’s Animal Welfare Action Plan, tarnishing the stated   aim for Victoria to be respected globally for its animal   welfare  practices.” “The love of all living creatures is the most notable attribute of man.” — Charles Darwin

Share this page Wildlife impacted by fire THE DEPARTMENT OF Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) is the lead agency responsible for managing wildlife impacted by fire in accordance with the Victorian Response Plan for Wildlife Impacted by Fire . The Response Plan has been reviewed and updated in consultation with the wildlife welfare sector in response to the 2019–20 bushfire season. Wildlife in areas impacted by fire can be disoriented, smoke-affected and dehydrated. Some may also be suffering from burns and other injuries. Following a fire, it is expected that injured and uninjured wildlife will be seen moving through and near the fire ground. Members of the public are urged to take care if attempting to help injured or distressed animals outside of the fire area.  Improper rescue techniques by untrained or inexperienced persons can cause further distress or injury to the animal and put the rescuer at risk.  Motorists should watch out for displaced animals along roadsides. During a fire, the Incident Controller will determine if a wildlife response is required. Fire grounds are dangerous, even after the fire front has passed. Individuals, wildlife rescue and rehabilitation groups must not self-deploy to search for wildlife. Victorian Response Plan for Wildlife Impacted by Fire The purpose of the Victorian Response Plan for Wildlife Impacted by Fire (the Plan) is to define how DELWP, its partner agencies, contractors and volunteers will respond to wildlife welfare arising from fire. The Plan also defines how this will occur under Victoria’s emergency management arrangements. Victorian Response Plan for Wildlife Impacted by Fire (PDF) Victorian Response Plan for Wildlife Impacted by Fire (DOC)

Share this page Dingos are being slaughtered by hunters for money in a Victorian program that echoes colonial removal of much native wildlife in Australia. And people thought we are better. Here’s a media release with visual proof sent to Victorian parliamentarians by the Association for Conservation of Australian Dingoes Inc. THE VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT recently announced a digitised, streamlined administrative process for ‘wild dog’ bounty applications and payment to hunters. These changes are clearly a cost saving device. The current bounty for so-called ‘wild dog’ scalps is $120.     AFCAD Inc. today slammed the refinement and continuation of the ‘wild dog’ bounty as a gross waste of public funds, as environmentally harmful, as unnecessary to the protection of farm stock, and as a policy that deceives the Victorian public. Rather than streamlining the administration of the bounty, it should be abandoned. Not to do so is serious misgovernance. The ‘wild dog’ myth As confirmed by recent ground-breaking genetic research, so-called ‘wild dogs’ in Victoria are dingoes, a native wildlife taxon. Incredibly, the bounty takes no account of the fact that dingoes and dingo dominant hybrids are considered Australia’s pre-eminent ecologists important for ecosystem health, and pure dingoes are listed as a threatened native species in Victoria under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act. 2021 research found that: …feral dogs have not established a self-sustaining population in the wild and that inter-breeding between dingoes and dogs may occur infrequently. Despite historical domestic dog introgression, the dingo population maintains a dingo dominant identity, even in southeastern Australia… Further: It is possible that widespread lethal control programs have increased the likelihood of dingo x dog hybridisation events and facilitating the spread of introgressed dog genes into the wider dingo population. (K. Cairns, M. Crowther, B. Nesbitt and M. Letnic, ‘The myth of wild dogs in Australia; are there any out there?’, Australian Mammalogy, CSIRO Publishing, 2021.) Against the best scientific advice, not only does the Victorian government persist in denying wildlife status to ecologically important dingo dominant hybrids, but, perversely, places a bounty on the head of both them and pure dingoes, even though the latter listed as a threatened native taxon in Victoria. The ‘wild dog’ bounty is an invitation to fraud Presently, recreational hunters are permitted to kill ecologically important dingo dominant hybrids (deemed ‘wild dogs’) over large areas of public estate beyond the specified areas of the state where the bounty applies. As a result, hunters can legally kill so-called ‘wild dogs’ (in reality including pure dingoes listed as threatened wildlife) in areas where the bounty does not apply, but they can then nevertheless easily and fraudulently present such scalps for bounty collection. The streamlining of the bounty arrangements will simply further facilitate such abuse. Farm stock losses to predation exaggerated Stock losses to dingo predation have been consistently exaggerated by the Victorian government and state Agriculture authorities, as well as extremists within the farming lobby (reflecting a backward colonial mindset).     Yet, official Victorian government stock loss data (obtained by AFCAD Inc. through Freedom of Information legislation) show that stock loss rates to ’wild dog’ predation in Victoria are tiny and have been for a long time. Departmental statements fail to inform the public (and perhaps even the Environment and Agriculture Ministers) that the absolute and relative stock losses, as a share of the Victorian sheep flock, from alleged ‘wild dog’ predation have remained at a very low level for 20 years.     In broad terms, sheep losses per million of the Victorian sheep flock over the past 20 years have varied within a range of between 100 and 200 sheep lost per million sheep. In absolute and relative terms, the losses are negligible. The bounty is simply unjustified in terms of farm stock protection and must be condemned for the public deception it relies upon and the ecological damage it incurs. Environmentally destructive hunting of dingoes condoned by Victorian government Left: Lily D’ Ambrosio – Victorian Minister for the EnvironmentRight: Mary Anne Thomas – Minister for Agriculture What is an ecosystem engineer? The Victorian Environment and Agriculture ministers must now acknowledge and take responsibility for the gross policy inconsistencies surrounding the misidentification of dingoes as ‘wild dogs’, and for the environmental damage incurred within Victorian ecosystems through the ‘wild dog’ bounty. The buck stops with them.     A particularly disturbing aspect of the perpetuation of the ‘wild dog’ bounty is that it encourages recreational hunters to kill dingoes in the mistaken belief that they are helping to remove an exotic invasive pest. They are in fact killing Victoria’s native apex predator and harming Victorian ecosystems. The Victorian government has been repeatedly appealed to by leading environmental scientists about the environmental harm incurred by current policy.      The images below (and at top) are of dingoes killed in Victoria by hunters. Bear in mind that dingoes are listed as a threatened native species in Victoria. The contradiction is shameful and incompetent. The Victorian government must: Immediately discontinue the ‘wild dog’ bounty; Immediately discontinue use of the term ‘wild dog’ as ecologically meaningless and recognise dingo dominant hybrids as wildlife Remove the existing wildlife unprotection order for dingoes Ban all hunting of dingoes in Victoria Send a clear message to hunters and hunting organisations that dingoes are protected wildlife and impose significant penalties for the hunting and killing of dingoes. The Ministers for the Environment and Agriculture can no longer claim ignorance on this issue. ……………………………………….. AFCAD is an incorporated association registered in the state of Victoria. Its purposes are the ‘Preservation and Conservation of Australian Dingoes and its habitat and ecosystems’ and its objectives include: ‘Encourage and facilitate legislative reform to ensure the protection and survival of the dingo in the wild’; ‘Encourage and facilitate government policy change to ensure the protection and survival of the dingo in the wild’; and ‘Inform and educate the public and government about the cultural, ecological and historical significance of the dingo and its conservation’