'It means a lot': US congressman reacts to beef rules
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ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
Fears injured wildlife suffering with shortage of WA animal control agents
South West West Australian wildlife groups say a lack of qualified people to euthanase injured animals is causing needless suffering, with police forced to step in. Warning: This story contains details of animal injuries that some readers may find distressing. Wildlife care group FAWNA president Suzanne Strapp said animal control agents and volunteers accredited to legally destroy injured kangaroos by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) were in short supply. "In one case, one of our veteran carers reported a kangaroo with a broken leg, but when she went back the next day, the animal was still alive and foxes had eaten its tail," she said. "She said it was one of the most disturbing things she had seen in 40 years of [rehabilitating wildlife]." Ms Strapp said FAWNA did not have accredited agents who could destroy an animal, requiring the group to contact the Department's Wildcare Helpline. The volunteer-run helpline takes about 10,000 calls each year from members of the public who find sick or injured animals. For injured kangaroos, the helpline then contacts animal control agents to euthanase the animals. However, Ms Strapp said past experiences had taught them they needed to check on the animal the next day to make sure it had been euthanased. Australind Police Station Acting Officer in Charge Grant Earnshaw said officers were often the only people available after hours. "We mainly do it on the weekends or after hours because during the day, the rangers are the people who deal with it, however, they don't work 24/7 like we do," Sergeant Earnshaw said. Mr Earnshaw said officers had educated themselves on how best to destroy the animals. "It's not in formal training, but it's recognised obviously by staff that that's what we do regularly," he said. "There are photographs in the station of different animals like a cow, a horse, or a kangaroo with the best angles [to shoot at] to put an animal down." Margaret River Wildlife Management owner Michael Penrose was an animal control agent for 12 years. Mr Penrose said changes to firearm laws in June 2024 had made volunteering as an animal control agent (ACA) difficult. Stipulations about needing written permission from property owners to shoot kangaroos made him concerned that he would break the law if he euthanased an animal by the road. "Once new laws came in, we had to get permission from the property owner to be able to euthanase kangaroos on their property," Mr Penrose said. "We had to have the property owner's details, a written letter sent to confirm all the details were on the register, and that we were registered on the property to use that firearm." "It's not just myself, it's left every other ACA in the region frustrated." Mr Penrose said he had seen members of the public try to euthanase wildlife themselves and put the animal through unnecessary suffering as a result. "Trying to help the animal, people will use whatever blunt object they can to try and euthanase the animal from suffering," he said. "They could be charged with animal cruelty despite trying to euthanase it as quickly as possible." A DBCA spokesperson told the ABC the responsibility for managing injured wildlife was shared between government agencies, volunteers and land managers. There are 85 volunteer animal control agents registered with DCBA.
ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
Tassie's top tap water supplier named with nationals now in sight
Dean Barnett The main criteria that the judges are looking for is visually. Is it a nice, clear sample? Smell comes into it, so ideally something with very little odour. And then I guess the most important criteria is taste. Is it nice and fresh and crisp, something you can drink all day? Kylie Baxter Now, let's compare quality. How does Tasmanian water rank, for example, compared to other states? Dean Barnett Well, what I can say about the IXOM Best Tasting Tap Water competition is that Tasmania has certainly held its own with two national winners in the last five years. So you're definitely producing a good drop in Tasmania, that's for sure. Kylie Baxter And so then what happens now? Does Rocky Creek compete for a national title? Dean Barnett Yeah, absolutely. So they'll go up in the national title later in November, early December. Like I mentioned before, Tasmania's got a really good track record over the last five years, the only state to have two national winners. So if I was a betting man and just going off those odds, Tasmania's in a really good position for another national title. Kylie Baxter So just for clarity, we had Fern Tree. So run us through those wins in the nationals. Dean Barnett Yeah, definitely. So Fern Tree was in 2023. They were the national winner. Rossarden, water treatment plant, 2020 national winner. And then all the states will go up against each other again in November, early December. You might go, oh, so what happens after the national competition? Once we have a winner, we submit that into a international competition. And we also use that same sample to go up against the New Zealanders because we like beating them on any occasion.
ABC News
4 days ago
- ABC News
Young endangered cassowary dies after ingesting fish hook
A juvenile cassowary has died in Far North Queensland after it ingested a fish hook, prompting fresh calls for tourists and locals to avoid feeding the birds or leaving fishing debris. Innisfail wildlife ranger Stephen Clough said he had been monitoring an adult male bird and his three chicks in the Coquette Point area on the Cassowary Coast, about 90 kilometres south of Cairns. He said he had observed the critically endangered birds approaching people for food for several weeks. "They were displaying behaviour which was consistent with behaviour we see when birds have been fed," Mr Clough said. The Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) received a report on July 27 that one of the juveniles had "a length of fishing line dangling from its beak". "[The bird] was struggling and stepping on and tripping up on it and seemed to be in a little bit of pain," Mr Clough said. Rangers searched for and captured the bird, sedated it and took it to Tully veterinarian Graham Lauridsen for assessment. Mr Clough said the incident was "a sad reminder" for people to be more conscious of not feeding birds and to properly dispose of fishing materials. Listed as endangered, the southern cassowary's greatest threats are habitat loss, traffic and domestic dog attacks. While wildlife carers in the area regularly attended to sea birds and turtles swallowing fish hooks and lures, Mr Clough said it was less common for cassowaries. The DETSI said people should remove bait from hooks after a fishing session and discard any unwanted fishing tackle properly into a bin. Dr Lauridsen said it was the third cassowary found with a fishing hook lodged in its throat in the last year, with another at Etty Bay and another "further south". But unlike this latest chick, the last two survived. "Once we started and got an X-ray, the hook was well and truly stuck right down in its abdomen," Dr Lauridsen said. Dr Lauridsen said the hook had done too much internal damage and was in "such a precarious spot" that it could not be retrieved, and the bird died while sedated. He said it was important for the public to understand the risks of leaving fishing lines and rubbish around. "We're not just sort of polluting or leaving our litter around," he said. "It can create a very significant drama for, in this case, an endangered cassowary."
