THIS REPORT HAS BEEN PRODUCED IN COLLABORATION WITH Tree-clearing: the hidden crisis of animal welfare in Queensland CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 1. INTRODUCTION 7 Rising habitat destruction 8 2. LIVES LOST 10 Animal at risk 12 Mammals 12 About the authors Dr Martin Taylor is a conservation scientist with Birds 13 over two decades of international experience in endangered species and conservation research and Reptiles and frogs 14 advocacy. Aquatic animals 14 He has served on the scientific committee of the International Whaling Commission, and Animals Committee of CITES. 3. IMPACTS ON WILDLIFE WELFARE 15 He is a member of the IUCN World Commission Wild animal fates after tree-clearing 15 on Protected Areas. Dr Taylor currently serves as principal conservation scientist with WWF- Afflictions and injuries 18 Australia. Dr Carol Booth is a writer, naturalist, Wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and release 20 environmental philosopher, and policy advisor. Case study: Koalas in southeast Queensland 22 She has worked as an advocate on a wide range of conservation issues, including protecting flying- foxes, strengthening environmental biosecurity and 4. REDUCING IMPACTS 23 improving water laws. She was editor of Wildlife Australia, and has written numerous conservation Wildlife salvage 23 reports and articles. Wildlife rescue 25 Dr Mandy Paterson is a Veterinarian and Principal Scientist at RSCPA Queensland, with decades of experience in animal science research and 5. GAPS IN LEGAL PROTECTION 26 advocacy. Dr Paterson also serves on several boards and committees dealing with animal welfare such Vegetation Management Act 1999 27 as the round-table on the spotter/catcher code and the Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics Advisory Nature Conservation Act 1992 28 Committee. Animal Care and Protection Act 2001 29 Acknowledgements Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 29 We are grateful for the guidance and assistance of Professor Hugh Finn of Curtin University, veterinarian Jon Hanger and a number of wildlife RECOMMENDATIONS 30 carers, spotter/catchers and ecologists who wished to remain nameless. Stronger tree-clearing laws 32 Front cover Mandatory fauna salvage 32 A koala and her joey seek refuge on a bulldozed log Receiving habitats must have capacity to absorb salvaged fauna 33 pile, near Kin Kin Queensland © Briano / WWF-Aus Enhanced funding for enhanced research and wildlife rescue services 33 Habitat destruction is a major to be found injured or sick nearby. RSPCA Queensland records show that rescues of forest-dependent wildlife more than tripled from 2011 to 2016, a rise attributed in EXECUTIVE driver of extinction of wildlife. part to higher clearing rates. Relocated or released wildlife also face the problem that Over 120 Australian vertebrate the habitat into which they are relocated likely does not have sufficient resources to SUMMARY species have ended up on the support immigrants. national threatened species list Although fauna salvage could save many more wild animals, most tree-clearing operations proceed without any requirement for it, and salvage services are not bound due in large part to bulldozing by adequate training and practice requirements. of their bushland habitats. There is no law requiring those who bulldoze bushland in Queensland to reduce their impacts on animal welfare. Tree-clearing and conservation laws are silent on But behind this conservation crisis lies a largely unacknowledged crisis of animal animal welfare impacts of habitat destruction. Queensland’s animal welfare law does welfare. Tens of millions of wild animals each year suffer injuries, deprivation and not regulate actions not directed at the wild animals themselves, such as habitat death due to the bulldozing of their forest and woodland habitats, also known as tree- destruction. Perversely, someone bulldozing trees can injure and kill thousands of clearing, land clearing or deforestation. wild animals with impunity, but if they step out of the bulldozer and intentionally This report shines a light on this hidden crisis of animal welfare in Queensland – by shoot a native animal without a permit, they could be prosecuted. presenting information about the likely numbers and fates of wild animals afflicted by tree-clearing, identifying law and policy gaps that allow their welfare to be disregarded, and recommending policy to alleviate the crisis. Bushland destruction has recently resurged in Queensland due to weakening of the EASTERN AUSTRALIA Vegetation Management Act 1999 by the former Newman state government. Tree- BEING RECOGNISED AS clearing rates have more than tripled, with nearly 300,000 hectares of forests and woodlands, both mature and immature, bulldozed in 2014-15, the latest year for ONE OF 11 GLOBAL which data are available. This has led to Eastern Australia being recognised as one of FOUR MAJOR CHANGES ARE NEEDED TO ALLEVIATE THE DEFORESTATION 11 global deforestation fronts, the areas which on current trends will account for 80% FRONTS of all global forest losses up to 2030. ANIMAL WELFARE CRISIS DUE TO TREE-CLEARING. WWF-Australia estimates clearing in Queensland kills about 34 million native Strengthen laws to stop excessive clearing mammals, birds and reptiles every year, comprising 900,000 mammals, 2.6 million The reform of most urgent importance is to greatly curtail the destruction birds and 30.6 million reptiles. of bushland habitats and native wildlife by strengthening the Vegetation Management Act and tree-clearing codes. But this underestimates true numbers of animals affected. In particular, the legacy impacts of clearing due to fragmentation and degradation of the remaining habitat Mandatory fauna salvage are likely to be even more severe because they are ongoing and affect subsequent Fauna salvage should be mandatory for tree-clearing projects, consisting of generations. This is exemplified by koalas, of which more than 10,000 were admitted pre-clearing surveys of native animals and the relocation of animals at risk to the four wildlife hospitals in southeast Queensland from 2009 to 2014, mainly due to suitable habitat with proven capacity to absorb the immigrant animals. to dog attacks and vehicle collisions, more than 10 times the numbers directly affected Spotter/catchers engaged in fauna salvage work also should be professionally by clearing. trained, independent and bound by a code of practice, and standard operating procedures. The current draft code of practice for tree-clearing should be The enormous extent of suffering and death caused makes tree-clearing the single finalised and adopted to minimise animal welfare impacts through, for greatest animal welfare crisis in Queensland. Yet it is largely unmonitored and example, use of appropriate machinery, restrictions on the timing of clearing unstudied, and neglected in wildlife policy and law. and fauna salvage. Although we can be confident that animals losing their habitat to destruction likely all Receiving habitats must have capacity to absorb salvaged fauna die, we know little about their specific fates. Many die on the site of clearing – some Relocations of salvaged fauna should be permitted only where the proposed quickly if they are crushed by machinery or falling trees, for example, and others more receiving habitat has been surveyed and shown to have capacity to absorb slowly from injuries, starvation or exposure. Others die as they flee from clearing – the immigrants. Those destroying habitats should be required to fund in collisions with cars, fences or powerlines, killed by predators or due to injuries or regeneration of replacement wildlife habitats as an offset. deprivation. Larger and more mobile animals like birds and kangaroos may make it to remaining habitat but their chances of survival are low because it is more than Enhanced funding for research and wildlife rescue services likely that remaining habitat is already fully occupied. Overcrowding leads to elevated Studies are needed to quantify the consequences of clearing for animals of conflict, stress, hunger and disease risks for immigrants and residents. different species, while wildlife rescuers, hospitals and veterinary clinics need greater financial support, especially in under-served rural areas. In very few instances, animals are removed prior to or during clearing by fauna salvage services (known as spotter/catchers in Queensland) or rescued if they happen 4 WWF-Australia Report 2017 Tree-clearing: the hidden crisis of animal welfare in Queensland 5 © WWF-AUS / PATRICK HAMILTON Bulldozing of bushland, also 1. INTRODUCTION known as tree-clearing, land clearing or deforestation, is treated mainly as a conservation issue under Queensland’s laws and policies. Focused on species and ecosystems, the law that restricts tree-clearing (the Vegetation Management Act 1999) ignores animal welfare and has no provisions to prevent killing of animals as a result of clearing operations. The law that is supposed to prevent killing of native animals (the Nature Conservation Act 1994) also ignores animal welfare and has loopholes that fail to prevent killing of protected native animals by bulldozing of habitat. The state’s animal welfare law (the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001) likewise offers little protection for wild animals whose habitat is bulldozed. The focus of regulation is on humane treatment of animals in captivity. The lack of legislative safeguards to prevent or alleviate the suffering and death of wild animals caused by destruction of their habitat is a major