RESCUE Wombat Rescue Tasmania Inc. ABN 96914501942

29 January 2019

Wombat Rescue Tasmania's group response to the Senate Inquiry into the Faunal Extinction Crisis

On behalf of Wombat Rescue Tasmania Inc. (WRT), I wish to thank you for the opportunity to present our submission for the Senate Environment and Communications Committee Inquiry into the Faunal Extinction Crisis across , and to present at the public hearing in .

Our Key Concerns • Sarcoptic mange (sarcoptes scabiei) is having a widespread detrimental impact on bare­ nosed wombat populations (subspecies Vombatus Ursinus Tasmaniensis; and Vombatus ursinus ursinus on Flinders and Maria Islands) around Tasmania. • This impact is not just confined to the Naraw ntapu National Park, where there has been a documented population collapse (Martin et al.2016), or the adjacent West Tamar Region in Northern Tasmania, despite State Government claims that mange is not an issue beyond these areas. • Inadequate monitoring of wombat populations and mange preva lence, and inadequate funding towards treating mange in wild populations at the Commonwealth and State level. • Sarcoptic Mange has not been declared a notifiable disease by the Commonwealth. • Bare-nosed in Tasmania may be declining rapidly before being listed as threatened or the Key Threatening Process (KTP) is enacted under the EPBC Act. • Other critical impacts are not being recognised and these may be also driving sarcoptic mange: climate change, habitat fragmentation and loss, subsequent decline in nutritional needs, overcrowding; and these are compounded by other key issues of culling and road trauma. • There is no National mange strategy.

Background Our group is a grassroots, self-funded community group, based in the North and South of Tasmania, which aims to treat free-living bare-nosed wombats affected by sarcoptic mange in their natural environment throughout this state. WRT is the only group currently undertaking such a comprehensive commitment to treating mange-affected wombats in Tasmania. The burrow flap method which we use is labour intensive and does require a significant commitment by volunteers who undertake treatment of wombats that have been reported by members of the public to our Facebook page or hotline number.

Our goal is to treat all identified mange cases w herever possible, to monitor for ongoing outbreaks, fund raise, create public awareness, and to encourage research into better treatments in order to

Email: [email protected] prevent the continuing waves of the mange epidemic. The localised extinction that occurred at , documented by various researchers (Martin et al. 2016; Old et al.2017)) and now in Kelso/Greens Beach in the West Tamar region highlights the urgent need for a national mange strategy.

Wombat Rescue Tasmania Inc. has over 90 members, and is a Registered Environmental Organization, with charity status under the ACNC. Our group was formed as a result of local community frustration with a lack of government interest, both (State and Federal), in the mange problem. In 2016, the distressing image of wombats, blinded by crusty scabs covering their eyes, with little fur as they wandered about the streets and paddocks in the day time, became a common sight for the local people of Kelso and Greens Beach in Northern Tasmania. The wombats were literally scratching themselves to death as the hard plaques scrunched their bodies, making movement difficult, and then with painful fissures appearing, secondary infections took their toll of hundreds of wombats in the area. There was no government response to treat these wombats despite the population collapse that had just occurred in the neighbouring National Park.

Sarcoptic mange (sarcoptes scabiei) is caused by a parasitic mite that burrows into the epidermal layer of a wombat’s skin, causing thick plaques or scabs to form over its flanks, legs, eyes, and ears. This parasite was introduced by the first settlers and their and is not, therefore, an endemic species of this land (Fraser et al. 2016). The infected wombats are intensely itchy, and are seen out grazing diurnally instead of at night. They became very thirsty and have trouble trying to eat enough to maintain a healthy body weight. Thus, wombats with mange have very poor body condition with the only fur left on their bodies usually just a thin tuft along their spine. Secondary infections that result in the shutdown of bodily organs eventually kills them. Mange is an extreme welfare issue that would be called animal cruelty through neglect if it were a domesticated animal.

The following are the Key Terms of Reference that WRT can address:

a) the ongoing decline in the population and conservation status of Australia's nearly 500 threatened fauna species;

WRT asserts that as Sarcoptic Mange threatens the survival, abundance and evolutionary development of wombats, it should be declared as a KTP (EDO Tasmania Report 2018). WRT believes that mange has been overlooked and neglected as a significant key threatening process that has already resulted in localised extirpations throughout Tasmania, in addition to declines noted in mainland states (National Mange Report 2018)

• Researchers state that sarcoptic mange, which is highly prevalent in wombats, is the main cause of population decline (Old et al. 2017). Martin et al. (2016) argue that their research challenges the view that it is a self-limiting disease, and that it is ‘persistent and can remain as a stable chronic infectivity’ or present in a range of different ‘dynamic scenarios’. • What is the tipping point for a population collapse? Is 5 % of mange in a population too high?

Researchers have noted that as mange prevalence rises, wombat abundance decreases (Martin et al. 2016, p.7), and moreover, sarcoptic mange spreads as a ‘travelling wave through a population of bare-nosed wombats’ and it is a ‘significant burden upon bare-nosed wombats (possibly also southern-hairy nosed wombats) at a national scale, which should be investigated further (Martin et al. 2016, p.6)’.

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As we are fragmenting our wombats’ habitat ranges, it is only a matter of time for mange to completely change the viability of populations as shown by the Narawntapu /Greens Beach/Kelso experience. Often wombats are pushed into little pockets, and the ensuing overcrowding is wreaking havoc with nutritional stress and recurring mange.

With the assistance of Wombat Rescue Tasmania Inc. and Wombat Warriors, Kerry Finch MLC for Rosevears presented a motion to the Legislative Council of the Tasmanian Government highlighting the seriousness of the impacts of sarcoptic mange on wombat populations.

That the Legislative Council:

(1) Calls upon the Government to acknowledge and recognise that:

(a) sarcoptic mange is having an adverse effect on wombat populations around the State; and

(b) that the disease is not just an issue confined to Narawntapu National Park and the West Tamar region;

(2) Urges the Government to become more involved in the fight to save the wombat population and strongly encourages the implementation of a state wide strategy for controlling the mange epidemic through a coordinated treatment plan thus reducing reliance on the efforts of community groups; and

(3) In recognition of the seriousness of species extinction in Australia calls upon the Government to give urgent consideration to the creation of a separate Wildlife Environment Department or something similar so that extinction issues are not submerged below competing interests of primary industries.

The motion above was passed by the Upper House on 30 October 2018.

d) the adequacy of Commonwealth environment laws, including but not limited to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, in providing sufficient protections for threatened fauna and against key threatening processes;

The Tasmanian Bare-nosed wombat sub species lack any adequate protection because in the eyes of the State and commonwealth Governments, it seems that they are deemed too common.

Despite the documented rapid population collapse at Narawntapu N.P, and significant decline at Greens Beach and Kelso (see farmer’s signed statement), and the evidence of the numbers of treatment kits (see document) distributed widely by Wombat Rescue Tasmania in response to the community’s sightings, mange has not been declared a notifiable disease. The State Government, which would be informing the Commonwealth, maintains the argument that wombat numbers are steady, but this is based on inadequate monitoring as outlined below (see point i ).

The experience of the Facial Tumour spread should highlight the need to put processes in place for other species afflicted by disease and/or parasites before reaching critical levels of decline. Wombats may decline rapidly due to mange before being classified as vulnerable under the EPBC Act. There needs to a more timely response to enact protection. 2

• Additionally, culling and the issue of crop protection permits without adequate monitoring is another factor driving wombat numbers down. In Kelso, a land owner in recent years shot dozens and dozens of wombats even though there was no crop or livestock on the land (Police were contacted by locals after shots were heard at night and deceased wombats were seen on the property).

Governments have very little control over how many wombats are actually being shot, and the conditions are too lax i.e. there are often no inspections to see if there was a legitimate need for a cull permit, and the land manager, as in the case above, was warned that authorities were on their way, so was able to hide all evidence prior to the inspection. Each permit issued seems to be open ended, with up to 50 wombats able to be culled, no time restrictions and no apparent follow up to count carcasses (this is based on anecdotal reports).

Note: ‘Stop the Cull’ Change.org online petition by Wombat Warriors Tasmania presented 37, 000 signatures to State Parliament in 2017. Subsequently, the State Government moved to reduce the cull permits issued. However, one farmer that contacted WRT told us how when dealing with DPIPWE to get advice on how to relocate wombats from under his house to another part of his property, he was told that he could apply on the phone for a cull permit.

In another major incident at Kelso, a landowner buried and burnt wombats that were living in a series of burrows under patches of gorse at one end of his property. The land owner did not have to consult Landcare or NRM bodies despite knowing that the gorse was habitat for wombats. WRT’s pleas to spare the burrows from the gorse clearing by using mitigating strategies went unheeded, and subsequently the 15 wombats being treated for mange were never recovered, with only one burnt body found on the edge of this paddock, which indicated the fate of the others. The subsequent investigation by DPIPWE was totally inadequate (see supporting letter).

The EDO Tasmania was commissioned by WRT to prepare a report to: examine options to pursue actions against the landowner; to explore legal obligations of the State Government; and to make recommendations for better protections (see EDO Tasmania’s Report into the incident]. Edo Tasmania advised that this incident did not “constitute an offence against the Wildlife Regulations, the Animal Welfare Act 1993 or the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999” ((EDO Tasmania Report 2018). In summary, WRT had no avenue to pursue any action to protect wombats because they were not considered a vulnerable species.

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h) the adequacy of existing funding streams for implementing threatened species recovery plans and preventing threatened fauna loss in general;

Listing sarcoptic mange as a notifiable disease could prompt the Commonwealth to allocate targeted funding for monitoring and treatment programs (EDO Tasmania Report 2018). This would relieve the burden imposed on community groups. However, there seems to be a complete reluctance to do so by government.

The method that WRT is allowed to use is off-label chemical, Cydectin, under permit conditions, once weekly for a total of 12 weeks. Cydectin is very costly, and WRT fundraises to be able to supply the community with free treatment kits.

The State Government, we feel continues to work against us, imposing onerous conditions that are hard to meet for a small community group e.g. a recent DPIPWE order for our volunteers to produce excel spreadsheets of our data that we had collected on paper. We have received very little assistance from the department other than a small ($2700) one-off reimbursement (as per the rules for each group can only apply for up to $3000) for Cydectin.

The larger proportion of the available funding for mange, $100,000 by the State Government was mainly allocated to other bodies that counted wombats, not treated them. This is not acceptable given that neither the State Government, nor the Federal Government has a strategic plan in place to treat wombats to tackle the scourge of mange, which also affects other wildlife species.

• We know that Cydectin is not effective at a population level, but it is all we have to fight the infestations. Community efforts are often dismissed as non-expert, and our efforts are classed as futile attempts to save wombats. However, the community is not able to ignore the animal welfare situation that presents itself day after day with no assistance from the Commonwealth or the State other than a permit that allows an ineffectual dosage rate. Only with a concerted effort with countless human resources have we had success in restoring wombats to a healthy, mange-free status. The public is doing the Governments’ job, but is not assisted by the Government’s legislation, nor by the funding arrangements. For example, wombats under mange treatment have been euthanized under department orders because public servants do not liaise with our organisation to check whether the wombat is under treatment.

i) the adequacy of existing monitoring practices in relation to the threatened fauna assessment and adaptive management responses;

The only monitoring of wombat numbers that has occurred prior to 2017 was by DPIPWE’s spotlighting surveys. The Department apparently did not document mange before that time despite mange outbreaks occurring over recent decades (anecdotal reports). DPIPWE’s mange prevalence monitoring program and website information was only established in 2017 after the public media campaign by WRT and the lobby group Wombat Warriors. The Government had not publicly enacted any response during the Narawntapu wombat population collapse. WRT believes that nothing at all would have been done by the Government since then if it hadn’t been for the continuous media interest and raising public awareness by the community. In March 2017, WRT contacted other National Parks to check the level of mange readiness. Cradle Mountain, a premier tourist destination and well-known wombat region, did not have burrows mapped, nor any burrow flaps, or

4 any signage in place to alert the public to report mange if it got into the park. WRT was able to supply the flaps and help document burrows on the edge of the park as a strategy.

WRT asserts that DPIPWE monitoring is inadequate: a) the counts of wombats have been done only as ’incidental’ to the primary goal of counting targeted harvested species. b) the method relied on a driver holding a spotlight while driving along roadsides where wildlife was attracted to grass during dry spells c) the counts failed to pick up mange in wombats at Narawantapu NP and on private properties d) the validity of the methodology is contradicted by DPIPWE’s own disclaimer on every p.3 of their reports (DPIPWE Spotlighting Report, 2015, p. 3):

Due to the inherent biases of surveying from roads, this estimate is intended as an index of density to monitor population trends. It is used to provide an indication of changes in relative abundance but should not be used for calculating estimates of population size. A more detailed description of survey methodology can be found in the Tasmanian Spotlight Survey Manual. This report summarises the survey results for the three abundant harvested species, the Bennett’s , Tasmanian and the from the 2017 surveys. Population trends are also shown since distance sampling methodology was first used in 2002.

Despite this disclaimer, the State Government is relying on these spotlighting counts to argue that wombat numbers are steady, and even increasing slightly (pers. comm). However, when you look at the numbers of wombats found on 132 transects (each 10km in length), it only varies from approximately 250 -350 wombats. This does not seem to be a lot of wombats to base trends on. A slight increase in numbers in 2015 has resulted in the repeated justifications that wombats are not vulnerable, and therefore, not to list Sarcoptic Mange as a notifiable disease. There is no acknowledgement that it is likely to threaten the long term viability of the wombat species.

Bruce Englefield’s comments on Hansard for the passing of Kerry Finch’s motion, also support the view that the more credible and scientific methods of monitoring and data collection of wombats and mange prevalence needs to be conducted. Bruce Englefield’s work on saving and breeding Tasmanian Devils is well-known.

Contrary to this, the number of public sightings reported to Wombat Rescue Tasmania indicates that mange is widespread and seriously decimating wombat numbers (see records). Wombat Rescue Tasmania Inc. has supplied over 550 burrow flap frames and treatment kits to many parts of the state: North, Northeast, Northwest, Central Highlands, East coast, South and Southeast, which indicates the extent of mange. WomSat.org also highlights where mange-affected wombats have been sighted and recorded on a map. In addition, our evidence of the treatment programs we have undertaken are evidence of mange as a key threat to wombat numbers. Kelso: Regular cycles of treatment in place to keep on top of the mange outbreak. Up to 80 burrows have been flapped and approximately 20 individual wombats treated in 2017-2018, and prior to that many more wombats and burrows were treated by the local community. Local wombat carers have rescued and cared for orphaned joeys with mange, and continue to do so.

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Musselroe Windfarm (MRWF) at Cape Portland requested assistance from WRT due to an outbreak of mange, with many cases of suffering wombats reported by workers on the farm. On site induction and treatment commenced on 30 May 2017 and continued weekly in five zones with a total of 150 burrow flaps in two cycles of 24 weeks in total. Since November 2017, regular monitoring and spotlighting continues to be conducted to assess the health of the wombat population. Follow up monitoring, revealed only 3 cases of mange out of more than two hundred wombats counted on one night. This is a success story and Hydro staff were pleased with WRT’s work. Lost Farm /Barnbougle and Evandale/Longford areas WRT were contacted by the Golf Course after tourists were distressed by mangy wombats. Approximately 37 burrow flaps located in surrounding areas of the golf course. In Evandale, over twenty flaps deployed on a large private property in partnership with the farm’s environmental officer. Southern/ East coast/ Central Highlands, numerous community members have been trained in these regions to treat wombats.

j) the adequacy of existing assessment processes for identifying threatened fauna conservation status;

As outlined above, WRT believes that poor methodology by DPIPWE as highlighted above, has resulted in the denial of declining numbers, and the denial that mange is seriously impacting wombat populations.

The spotlighting method cannot be a reliable indicator of healthy populations. One of the transects that provided data for Narawntapu where the population of wombats was being decimated by mange.

In correspondence with Government ministers, they argue that the data collected on wombats is based on science. Thus, a steady trend in wombat population numbers as reported by DPIPWE is used as justification for not acting on mange.

In summary, a lack of adequate monitoring, not heeding the key threats of disease that are proven to cause rapid collapse of wombat populations, and the reluctance to follow a precautionary principle in enacting better protections before the situation becomes critical are all indicators of inadequate mechanisms for identifying threatened species.

If the Commonwealth and State Governments continue to take a non-interventionist approach to the obvious threats of mange, it will lead to the end of the wombat species. Already populations are silently and slowly disappearing as they succumb to ravages of mange.

Yours sincerely,

Lauren Faulkner Secretary Wombat Rescue Tasmania Inc.

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References

DPIPWE 2015, DPIPWE Spotlighting Report

EDO Tasmania Report, 2018, Wombat Protection Options: Summary of Advice for Wombat Rescue Tasmania, EDO Tasmania, 22 January 2018.

Martin, A M, Burridge, CP, Ingram J, Fraser TA, Carver, S 2017, ‘Invasive pathogen drives host population collapse: Effects of a travelling wave of sarcoptic mange on bare‐nosed wombats, Journal of Applied Ecology, .

O’Sullivan, J 2018, National Mange Report: Australia’s Response to Sarcoptic Mange in Wombats, Version 2.0 Final, 5 October 2018.

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