Wildlife Bytes 18/5/11

Leading Story
Pet Reptiles
Salmonella poisoning from reptiles is increasing in Australia, as families take a shine to snakes, turtles and lizards as household pets. Reptile expert Robert Johnson said many pet owners were unaware of the risks posed by reptiles and needed to practice good hygiene to eliminate their chances of infection. Symptoms of salmonellosis from reptiles include fever, vomiting and diarrhoea and many cases go undiagnosed or are dismissed as food poisoning. Salmonella carried by reptiles is transmitted to humans through handling the animal or coming into contact with its faeces. "'The guidelines are simple wash your hands after touching reptiles; don't allow reptiles to roam free; don't eat, drink or smoke after touching reptiles; [and] don't clean reptile equipment in kitchen sink,'' Dr Johnson said. He said children under five should avoid contact with reptiles because they were prone to contracting infections and were likely to touch their mouths. Elderly people and people with poor immune systems, such as cancer sufferers, should also avoid contact with the animals.
In 2009, a four-month-old baby girl was taken to an ACT hospital emergency department after contracting salmonella through indirect contact with an eastern bearded dragon. Testing revealed the girl had been infected with a type of salmonella known as rubislaw. A subsequent article published in the Medical Journal of Australia revealed that between nine and 19 cases of rubislaw had been detected in Australians between 2000 and 2009. Dr Johnson said the risk of salmonella poisoning should not deter people from owning reptiles. ''They are great little pets. They don't create a noise and you can keep them in reasonably small areas. But you have to maintain good hygiene.'' He said owners can reduce their risk by regularly cleaning out their pet's enclosures. ''It is a bacteria that is shared during times of stress, so a reptile is more likely to have it if it's not being kept in adequate conditions, [if it] is too cold.'' An estimated 50,000 people own reptiles in Australia and Dr Johnson expects this number to increase as more families move into apartments and smaller homes. He will speak about salmonellosis at the Australian Veterinary Association's annual conference in Adelaide this week. *Canberra Times
Seals
Advertisers often tell us how life-changing hair loss can be, but it actually is a matter of life and death for the Australian fur seal. These seals depend on a thick coat of fur to maintain their body temperature. Seals in the Bass Strait off southern Australia are losing clumps of their fur. Damage to this insulation means that the animals must spend more energy maintaining a core body temperature, negatively affecting their health and survival. The current issue of the Journal of Mammalogy reports on the two-and-a-half year study of an Australian fur seal colony at Lady Julia Percy Island. Since 1989 a hair loss syndrome, or alopecia, has been particularly prevalent among this population of about 30,000 seals. *Underwater Times. Read more ... http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=28390415106
Californa Parks Closed
In an attempt to reduce California's severe budget problems, officials will be closing 70 state parks across California, eliminating 220 jobs and closing redwood forests, historic sites and coastal woodlands. This move will save California $33 million, as part of a larger plan to close a deficit of roughly $15 billion. All together, the parks that are scheduled to be closed attract 5.6 million visitors a year. Environmental activists are understandably upset about the decision. "This is a pretty devastating list," said Elizabeth Goldstein, executive director of the California State Parks Foundation. "It represents 25 percent of the park system and, for the Bay Area, it's a big hit." * Read More http://www.care2.com/causes/environment/blog/california-will-close-up-to-70-state-parks-to-save-money/
Wildlife Pets
Millions of live animals have been imported into the United States for commercial purposes since 2004, with more than 3.1 million collected in the wild coming through Miami alone. Some imported animals, such as iguanas, have established populations in South Florida. Search our database to see where the animals originated, how may were brought in and who brought them here.
Keppel Island Treeclearing
Resort developer Tower Holdings says it will work with contractors to ensure there are no future breaches of tree clearing restrictions on Great Keppel Island off Yeppoon in central Queensland. The company and a water sampling contractor were warned by the Department of Environment and Resource Management for clearing tracks in about 2,000 square metres of bush in Lot 21. In a statement, Tower Holdings says it has reaffirmed expectations and requirements with its contractors. Michael McCabe from the Capricorn Conservation Council says the breach is a concern despite the small scale. "There were a number of what we call push tracks put in by people doing some water core sampling we believe," he said. And I think there's several hundred metres by bulldozer width of trees knocked down, some mature trees and remnant vegetation damaged or destroyed. "In the grand scale it's not a huge area but in the context of Keppel Island and what we're hoping to see there with improved environmental management by resort developers it does concern us that these things can happen. *ABC
Panda Dies
The oldest panda in the world, 34-year-old Ming Ming, has died, Chinese state media reported overnight. Ming Ming was rescued in Pingwu county in the southwest province of Sichuan in 1977 and had lived in Xiangjiang Wild Animal World, a safari park in the southern province of Guangdong, since 1998, the Global Times reported. Experts found that her kidney had failed due to old age. The China Panda Protection Center in Sichuan confirmed that Ming Ming died May 7, but the death was only reported by media overnight. The life expectancy of pandas is around 15 years for wild pandas and 22 years for those in captivity, according to experts. Ming Ming was sent to live in the UK in 1991, but after fighting with male Berlin panda Bao Bao and failing to mate, she was shipped back to China in 1994. *Adelaide now
Forestry
Tasmania's forest peace talks have been rocked by the decision of a key green group, The Wilderness Society, to suspend its involvement over a lack of action. The talks agreed on a historic blueprint to end conflict over the island's wild forests eight months ago, but are yet to fully implement a logging moratorium, months after it was due. It is the first loss of a central participant from the year-old talks between industry, unions and green groups. The Environment Minister, Tony Burke, warned last night that federal government help would only be possible if these groups kept working together. 'The only reason that we have an opportunity for an outcome that works for jobs and conservation is because of the goodwill that's been shown in the community-led agreement,'' Mr Burke said. The peace talks have identified 570,000 hectares of high conservation value forests in Tasmania up for protection as the biggest timber company, Gunns Limited, ends native forest logging. The Premier, Lara Giddings, said the state government had protected 98 per cent of high conservation value forests, with just 2 per cent remaining to fill legally binding contracts and to keep forest workers employed. But TWS's Tasmanian campaigns manager, Vica Bayley, yesterday showed reporters a logging access road into public old growth forests in the Esperance Valley. He said the road was built this year, while the moratorium was supposed to be in place. *Mercury
Slow Loris
Quarantine officials have euthanised two tiny primates smuggled into Brisbane on an international flight this morning. The slow lorises were found running free in the cabin of a plane that had left Dubai. A number of passengers are being questioned. Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) spokesman Colin Hunter says although the South-East Asian primates are endangered, they had to be put down. "Our standard operating procedures require us to contain any potential biosecurity or human health risk," he said. "The animals arrived without documentation so therefore under standard operating procedures; unfortunately we're required to euthanise." *ABC
Wildlife Smuggling
A Pilbara mine worker has been fined $3700 after he was convicted of illegally possessing four native snakes and a skink. James El-Saj, 29, was arrested at Perth Domestic Airport on September 8 last year after two Stimson's pythons and a broad banded sand swimmer skink were discovered when he arrived on a flight from Newman. Department of Environment and Conservation wildlife officers found a third Stimson's python and a pygmy python at El-Saj's Welshpool home later that day. The fly-in fly-out mine worker was charged with unlawful possession of the pygmy python and skink under the Wildlife Conservation Act. He was also charged with illegally keeping three Stimson's pythons in captivity. DEC wildlife officer Matthew Swan said El-Saj claimed to have taken the skink from his workplace and purchased the four pythons from a man who advertised online. "These animals are protected species in WA and it is illegal to take protected fauna from the wild without a licence," he said. "It is also illegal to purchase reptiles from anyone other than a licensed reptile dealer." The matter was heard in the Perth Central Law Courts last week. In addition to the fine, El-Saj was ordered to pay $119 in court costs. Mr Swan said the skink was able to be returned to its natural habitat but the Stimson's pythons could not be released because of the risk of introducing disease to the wild population. Anyone with information about the illegal removal of reptiles is asked to phone the DEC Wildcare hotline on 9474 9055. WANews
Alligators
Alligator hunter Johnny Douglas says his job is now tougher than gator hide. For more than a quarter-century, Douglas, 46, like his father before him, made a decent living in Central Florida stalking, snaring and skinning alligators that strayed into a backyard or some other place where the reptile wasn't welcome. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission called on him 170 times last year. But this week he'll stop answering their calls and will tend lawns instead. Old-school trappers such as Douglas, whose livelihood depended largely on the sale of alligator hide, are calling it quits as the price of gas has soared and the price of alligator skins has plunged on the world market. He is the fifth in the past year to resign from the Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program, which pays a stipend of $30 per gator to trappers who kill or remove alligators posing a threat to people, pets and property. Lucas, who has taken on a part-time job cutting greens for a floral company to make ends meet, traces his woes to competition from alligator and crocodile farms, the consolidation of tanneries and a changing marketplace that has seen a rise in the international supply of crocodilian hides and a fall in demand. Wild alligator hides that once commanded $60 a foot now fetch just $15 a foot — if you can sell them at all. *OrlandoSentinel
HoneyBees
Soon we may face the serious conundrum of having to hang up moblie phones to save the honey. A new Swiss Federal Institute of Technology study (PDF) has concluded that cellular phone calls disrupt a vital honeybee communication signal (known as "worker piping"), causing the bees to become terminally confused and die (a condition known as Colony Collapse Disorder). The worldwide decline in the honeybee population has been closely watched and documented by scientists, and has for the most part been attributed to chemical toxins, such as the controversial hive-killing pesiticide clothiadin. This study is the first to present hard evidence of a technology-based cause for the bee-pocalypse. Scientists point out that the ever-growing disappearance of honeybees may have devastating ripple-effects for the environment and for the world's human population. Since 70% of food crops are pollinated by honeybees, the prevalence of Colony Collapse Disorder among bees could easily impact agriculture and world hunger. *Read more http://www.care2.com/causes/environment/blog/your-calls-may-be-killing-the-bees/
Whales
Attempts to free a distressed whale believed to be tangled in ropes from cray fishing pots off Rottnest Island have been hampered by an electrical storm. The Department of Environment and Conservation’s marine mammal team has been forced to change its plans to cut 10m of rope wrapped around the mammal’s pectoral fins and across its back. The crew has attached a satellite tag to the trailing rope and is returning to port. The whale, an 11m humpback, will be monitored overnight and the crew will return to sea tomorrow, if it is safe, to try and free it. DEC was alerted by Water Police following a report from a recreational boater about midday. This is the first report of an entangled whale this year. Whales – predominately humpbacks – began their northern migration from the Antarctic earlier this year with confirmed sightings off Rottnest in March, which is earlier than normal. Usually, whales migrating north are seen off the metropolitan coast from May onwards and generally are further out to sea. *WA News
Climate Change
Scientific evidence linking climate change to the intensity and frequency of natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and drought is mounting, the head of the world's peak climate science body says. Dr Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said a new report on extreme weather events to be released later this year will support previous findings natural disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity around the world. Dr Pachauri said Australia was one of the countries more vulnerable to an increase in natural disasters, but its wealth and knowledge means it was better prepared to adapt than other countries which would be significantly impacted, such as Bangladesh and Burma. *SMHRead more: http://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/australia-more-vulnerable-but-prepared-says-un-climate-chief-20110516-1epzx.html#ixzz1MYQ3ZyX3
Meanwhile, Nobel Peace Prize winner and leading climate scientist Dr Terry Callaghan says the climate is changing faster than previously thought as he explains the 2011 SWIPA (snow, water, ice, permafrost in the Arctic) report. *
Crows Killed
A murder of crows has died in mysterious circumstances in a suburban neighbourhood in Hervey Bay. Lynn Nayda and Peter Ryan are neighbours in Bruce St, Torquay, and they believe three of the native birds have been poisoned by baits left out by an unknown person for unwelcome cats. Two of the crows died on Monday and a third died yesterday, with Ms Nayda describing the drawn-out death of one of the birds as “terrible”. “It was just slowly flapping around next to the mail box until it finally died,” said an upset Ms Nayda, who works as an RSPCA ambulance driver. “It’s obvious it was baited.” Mr Ryan agreed with Ms Nayda, and said that he had seen plenty of crows dissecting and eating cane toads. So, he believes a poisoned bait must be a factor. According to Ms Nayda and Mr Ryan, people on Bruce St were having some issues with stray cats roaming the surrounding backyards and they believe someone decided to take matters into their own hands. The crows, say Ms Nayda and Mr Ryan, must have been collateral damage in someone’s clandestine war against the cats. Colin Zemek from the Fraser Coast Regional Council said it was illegal to put poisoned bait anywhere within five kilometres of town. Mr Zemek said if it was shown the birds had died from a bait, there was certainly no council authorisation to do so, although he made it clear that only an autopsy on the crows could prove they were poisoned. He said if anyone was having trouble with stray animals such as cats, they should always contact the council to trap the animals, rather than take personal action which could create other dangers. *FraserCoast Chronicle
Kangaroos
The unlawful shootings of two kangaroos in Bathurst and Cowra have been condemned by the Game Council NSW and the Orange and Districts Bowhunters club. Earlier this month a kangaroo in Bathurst had to be put down after it had an arrow lodged in its head for two days. That incident was followed last week when a female kangaroo at Wyangala Dam near Cowra, which was carrying a joey, was shot with two target point arrows, through its ears and right leg. The kangaroo died mid-week despite the best efforts of Cowra rangers and WIRES. They managed to save the joey. The two attacks have outraged a government industry and members involved in legal hunting such as bowhunting clubs. Former captain at Orange and Districts Bowhunters club Gary Collins was livid about the attacks. “It’s a couple of clowns giving us and archers a bad name,” Mr Collins said. “We don’t endorse people running around and doing this illegal act.”
It is illegal to hunt and kill native animals such as kangaroos. But like many who have expressed their anger over these senseless attacks Mr Collins said the person or persons who did this had no experience in shooting legally. “Nobody connected with the Australian Bowhunting Association would ever do this,” he said. “They have done more damage to the sport of archery and bowhunting.” People wishing to hunt must have a game hunting licence and can only shoot feral animals like rabbits, hares, foxes and wild pigs at designated areas. Game Council NSW communications manager Greg McFarland also believes anyone with a hunting licence would not have done it. He said the Game Council was appalled at the attacks and have asked anyone who knows about it to tell the authorities. “They should be dobbed in,” Mr McFarland said. “We work very closely with police, and the national parks and wildlife. “It’s difficult to track these sort of attacks because they [the culprit] are probably not in the system [have a hunting licence].” Anyone found guilty of hunting illegally could face a fine of up to $5500 and face a 10-year ban. *Central Western Daily
Flying Foxes
The 22,000-strong colony of bats at Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens have been given a reprieve. A plan to chase them out of the park has been postponed for a year. The Domain Trust was scheduled to drive the grey-headed flying foxes out of the gardens this month, using speakers mounted on buggies that were to blast out recorded sounds of engines starting and metal being banged. But the trust's acting executive director, Brett Summerell, said staff wanted to collect more information about the bats before they were pushed to resettle in other flying fox camps in Cabramatta, Ku-ring-gai and Parramatta. "It's important we collect more information on fitting radio and satellite collars so we can reduce any potential impact on the flying foxes," he said in a statement released by the trust today. Dr Summerell said the additional monitoring would help researchers get baseline data on the movements of the bats during May and July - the period when the relocation is due to be carried out. May and July are when the colony at the gardens is believed to be at its lowest.
The monitoring would include calculating the monthly population of Sydney's bats and tracking their movements using radios and satellites. The bats were blamed for killing 27 trees and jeopardising another 300 since moving in two decades ago. Dr Summerell said gardens staff would "do everything we can to limit damage" to the affected trees, which include the red cedar and kauri, in the meantime. "We're working for a balanced approach to address the welfare of the flying fox population and preserve our much-valued trees," he added. The grey-headed flying foxes are listed as a threatened species under NSW and federal laws. As such, the mating spell during March and April, the pregnancy term after July, and the birth and growth of the bat pups from mid-October to February are all no-go periods for the noise project. Groups such as Bat Advocacy opposed the eviction, saying it would be unsuccessful. *SMH
Meanwhile, flying foxes in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens have been moved on using loud noise. The Environment Department said the colony had grown to about 150, having flown in from eastern Australia in search of food. While a small number can live happily in the city gardens, officials said the colony had grown too large. Department staff banged on metal to drive some of the flying foxes to another location. Regional ecologist Jason van Weenen said they did not need to move far. "This all we wanted, we wanted to see them moved just a short distance," he said. "They can actually start defoliating some of the trees and certainly species in the garden can be quite sensitive to that." Officials will keep monitoring the flying foxes' habits over the next few months. *ABC
But an advocacy group says using loud noise to move flying foxes from their roost in Adelaide's Botanic Gardens is inhumane. Environment Department staff have been banging metal to disturb a colony of about 150 grey-headed flying foxes because they are stripping foliage and damaging rare plants. But Nick Edards from the group Bat Advocacy says the technique is depriving the tiny animals of sleep. "The females especially, they're going to be in the first trimester of pregnancy now so stressing animals that are part of a species that's in decline and possibly causing any problems with the breeding cycle is a concern for us," he said. "The longer these sort of stressful techniques are applied, the more risk they present to the animals, so if the project doesn't achieve the objectives quickly we would hope that the ecologists would step back and reassess how the project is going." *ABC
Scallops Killed
Tasmania's scallop industry wants the Victorian Government to compensate it for the death of 24,000 tonnes of shellfish. The Tasmanian Scallop Fishermen's Association says the shellfish died after intensive seismic testing in Bass Strait last year. Association president Bob Lister has written to Victorian Premier Ted Bailleu seeking compensation and assurance such testing will not be done over scallop beds again. Mr Lister said the dead scallops would have been worth about $70 million and that Tasmania's 24 scallop fishermen suffered individual losses of up to $8 million last season alone. "It has now been shown that environmental conditions were not to blame for the deaths," he said. "The intense seismic testing was conducted by Geoscience Victoria over known scallop beds in the middle of Bass Strait between March and August. "Tasmanian fishermen have serious money tied up in the industry and need to be compensated for their losses." Mr Bailleu told the TSFA the Victorian Government would look into the issue.
Mr Bailleu's office did not respond to calls from the Mercury yesterday. The scallop industry feared the impact of the seismic testing may affect scallops for years to come. The State Opposition said Fisheries Minister Bryan Green should also shoulder some of the blame for the situation. Opposition fisheries spokesman Rene Hidding said Mr Green had shrugged off concerns raised by the scallop industry many months ago. But Mr Green said all research done to date had failed to show any link between scallop mortality and seismic surveying. "This included specific research by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority following the scallop harvest this year," Mr Green said. He said he asked for assurances from the Federal Government last year that an investigation would be done, and that he met the TSFA and facilitated research involving the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. *Mercury Ed Comment; If this seismic testing killed all these scallops, what else did it kill?
Forests
Some of Australia's most popular stores are driving the destruction of native forests, according to a report by a new environmental group Markets for Change (MFC). Furniture, building materials, and paper products were found to be coming at the expense of native forests in Australia and being sold by over 30 businesses in the country, such as Freedom Furniture, Bunnings, Officeworks, Staples, Target, Coles, and Woolsworths. "Australian families do not want to buy into this destruction. They want to know that the everyday products they buy are not endangering wildlife or leading to increasing climate pollution. Well known retailers need to become part of the solution and not the problem—that means rapidly moving away from using native forests to environmentally responsible plantation timber for their products,” said Tim Birch, CEO of Markets for Change, in a press release. Markets for Change is asking these stores to commit to a procurement policy that would ban products made from native forests or from old growth forest destruction abroad. The organization encourages consumers to purchase products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) only if products have 'full FSC certification', and to avoid products with 'FSC-controlled wood' or 'mixed source certification'.
According to the report: "This level of certification is unacceptable because it continues to be given to companies that are undertaking logging operations in native forests in Australia. These logging activities are destroying native forest ecosystems." Industrial logging is currently permitted in 76% of Australia's nearly 150 million hectares of native forests. Currently, logging is ongoing in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, and Western Australia. Businesses in Australia selling products made from native forests according to Markets for Change: Australian Floor Style, Australia Post, Bedshed, Bunnings, Decorug, Dick Smith, Domayne, Embelton, Everyday Living, Freedom Furniture, Focus on Furniture, Forty Winks, Furniture Court, Furniture One, Harvey Norman, Home Trimber and Hardware, Hudson Building Supplies, IGA, Mitre 10, Office Choice, OfficeMax, Office Products Depot, Officeworks (which also stocks paper from Indonesia), OzDesign, Perfect Timber Floors, Sleep City, Snooze, Staples, Target, and Woolsworths. *MongaBay.com
Snakes Alive!
Gordon Ramsay has been labelled "offensive" by animal welfare groups after eating the still-beating heart of a snake on television. The Michelin-starred chef was filmed swallowing the raw cobra organ after watching the struggling creature being slit open at his table in a restaurant. The scene was recorded in Vietnam, where eating snake is associated with virility and enhanced male sexual performance. It will be shown on Channel 4 on Monday night as part of his new series Gordon's Great Escape. Andrew Tyler, director of charity Animal Aid, said: "Clearly Gordon Ramsay is complicit in an act of cruelty to an animal, something that would be a criminal offence if it happened in Britain. Snakes can feel pain like any other animal and there is no excuse for this. "His macho posturing, and this disgusting scene in particular, suggests he is insecure in his masculinity." Kim LeBreuilly, chairman of the education committee at the British Herpetological Society, added: "The idea of treating any animal in this way, presumably just for the shock value, is offensive." Ramsay, 44, has a five-year, £5m deal with the channel that is due to expire this summer. His F Word series average 3.5m viewers but the first episode of his current series attracted less than half that number. Last week, viewers saw him eating a raw duck foetus on a visit to Cambodia.
For the latest episode he was taken to a Ho Chi Minh eatery that serves reptiles including lizard, which according to his local guide "tastes like chicken". The six foot cobra was taken from a tank and slit open, its heart removed and suspended in liquid in a glass where the organ was seen still beating. "The thought of eating that turns my stomach," remarked Ramsay, before grimacing and downing the dish in one go. He was warned that a snake's heart is often felt moving inside the stomach because it can continue to beat for several minutes after a snake has died. The rest of the snake was then served, including a glass of bile, curried guts, chopped skin and fried bone. "I think I'm going to become vegetarian," remarked Ramsay. A spokesman for Channel 4 said: "The series is about authentic food throughout Asia and illustrates how local food is sourced as well as the local customs and rituals associated with it in each of the countries featured. "Viewers are made aware before the start of the programme that some sequences feature animal slaughter so they know what to expect and the series is appropriately scheduled after the watershed." Ramsay's business empire almost collapsed in the credit crunch, and needed an injection of several million pounds from his £40m personal fortune to stay afloat. *Telegraph UK
Turtles
A seaturtle feast for Tonga's Methodist ministers has sparked a clash with a Kiwi woman, who has made a life's work out of saving the endangered reptiles. Jo Kupu, known in Tonga as the "turtle lady", said something good might actually come out of the incident, which saw 10 turtles eaten. Originally from Mt Cook Village, Kupu has rescued around 600 turtles in the last decade, buying them at the Nuku'alofa market and releasing them. Green turtles are endangered, although there is evidence they are making a comeback in the South Pacific. But, for the fishermen of Ha'apai, when the arrival of mating turtles coincided with the Free Wesleyan Church annual conference in Nuku'alofa, it was an opportunity too good to miss. Fourteen were netted alive and shipped to Nuku'alofa, to lie in the sun on their backs awaiting their fate. "They suffocate when they are upside down, they choke and drown on their own saliva," Kupu said.
She and husband Levini heard about the turtles but, by the time they got to the market, 10 had gone to the Methodists. The remaining four were rescued, but one, thought to be about 150 years old – nearly as old as Methodism in Tonga – died soon after it was returned to the sea. "All the years I've been involved buying turtles and releasing them, we've never seen turtles that big, and so many," Kupu said. Last year, she heard of a 200-year-old turtle being caught, but the fisherman hid it from them and they could not save it. "It made me really angry because no one cared. The fisherman swore at me," she said. In the past decade, she has been funding people to go into the markets to buy the turtles. "I've bought hundreds, I've been doing it for years, since I was about four. I think they are amazing creatures and deserve to be in the sea." With breeding programmes in Tahiti, Samoa and Vanuatu, turtles are starting to return to Tonga, but the law is vague over whether they are protected. A turtle tagged in Tahiti in 1990 recently turned up in the Nuku'alofa market and was later eaten. *Underwater Times
Hunting
The NSW Primary Industries Minister, Katrina Hodgkinson, is being accused of pandering to the Shooters and Fishers Party by proposing to allow recreational hunting in more than 140 state forests for 10 years - twice the period allowed by the previous government. The Herald revealed last week that the Game Council NSW allowed hunting to take place illegally in 31 state forests after failing to notice that the period during which hunting was permitted had expired. It is understood that about 1300 permits were issued by the Game Council during this period, exposing hunters to criminal prosecution for unlawful firearms use. The same day, Ms Hodgkinson began the process of declaring 142 state forests open for hunting by publishing a proposal in the government gazette. The notice proposes that hunting would be allowed until June 2021. The previous gazetted period, signed off by the then primary industries minister, Ian Macdonald, was for five years. Ms Hodgkinson said she proposed to double the previously gazetted period to ''cut red tape''. ''The five-year period was the first time NSW forests were opened for conservation hunting,'' she said. "Given our responsibility to control feral animals that have a devastating impact … and our determination to cut red tape, we believe a 10-year period is appropriate.''
But a Greens MP, David Shoebridge, accused Ms Hodgkinson of attempting to appease the Shooters and Fishers Party, whose vote the government may need to rely upon in the upper house. ''The previous government had an unhealthy relationship with the Game Council and the Shooters Party. It is looking like the current government is going to continue this.'' Mr Shoebridge said most people who use state forests are not hunters and ''their interests are being ignored … to appease the Shooters''. The proposal coincides with delicate negotiations over the government's workplace safety reform bill with the crossbench MPs who hold the balance of power in the upper house. The workplace reforms are being opposed by Labor and the Greens. The government needs three out of the four votes of MPs from the Shooters and Fishers Party and the Christian Democratic Party to get its legislation passed. It has been forced to delay a vote for at least two weeks to shore up crossbench support. Ms Hodgkinson said permission to hunt in 31 state forests expired before the election. "'I have made it clear … to the Game Council of NSW and Forests NSW that they are to immediately review their administrative processes to ensure such errors do not occur again,'' she said. *SMH