Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Baby Possums being Killed!

Baby brushtail possums still in their mother’s pouch are being killed as part of a possum cull by the Sydney Botanic Gardens Trust. The Trust is licenced by the NSW Department of Environment to trap and cull the possums to prevent overcrowding, with 400 possums killed by lethal injection since culling began in 2002. Central can reveal that joeys caught along with their mothers in the gardens have been taken to a veterinary clinic in Kingsford and put down. Wildlife carers have criticised the Trust for killing the babies as well as the parents, saying they should be handed over to licenced wildlife foster carers.

Linda Wilson, a volunteer with Sydney Metropolitan Wildlife Services, has been rescuing injured possums in the Botanic Gardens for many years and says she is shocked at the Trust’s attitude towards the possums. “I’m really angry because I approached them a number of times and wrote to them about this, because there are ways we can help them out, such as taking the mothers until the baby’s are old enough to be raised on their own,” she said. A spokeswoman for the Trust said it was standard practice to euthanase mother and baby. “Of the possums euthanased approximately 50 per cent have been female, with about 40 per cent of these females carrying young that would be unable to survive on their own,” she said. “Frequency of trapping varies but over the last year it has averaged once a fortnight.”


Ms Wilson questioned the Trust’s claim that possums were trapped just once a fortnight. “Its eight to 12 traps a week according to people at the Trust I have spoken to,” Ms Wilson said. “That’s a hell of a lot of possums.” The Trust spokeswoman said a recent policy change meant possums with joeys were now being released back into the gardens and a contraceptive trial was being considered to control overpopulation. This follows an article in Central last month revealing wildlife organisations were calling on the Trust to sterilise some adult possums as a way of reducing numbers without killing the animals. Ms Wilson said the Trust had resisted sterilisation and passing on joeys to foster care for the last seven years, because killing them was “an easier, cheaper, option.”

The Trust spokeswoman said overpopulation caused damage to the gardens and to the possums which fought amongst themselves, causing injuries. She said illegal dumping of possums in the gardens had exacerbated this. “The overpopulation of Brush-tailed Possums is caused by a lack of predators and apparent use of the gardens and Domain as a dumping ground for captured possums,” she said. * Central News, Story by Robert Burton-Bradley

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Sydney Botanic Gardens killing Possums!

Almost 400 brush-tailed possums have been culled by the Royal Botanic Gardens Trust since 2002, but environmentalists are now arguing that alternatives should be sought. The Trust receives a licence from the National Parks and Wildlife Service through the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, which allows the animals to be trapped and taken to a vet to be euthanased. Representatives of the Trust said culling was necessary to deal with overcrowding and damage caused to plants as well as injuries caused by territorial behaviour among possums. Under National Parks guidelines, it is illegal to relocate possums more than 50 metres from where they were caught, because their territorial nature makes survival rates among relocated animals very low.

Some environmentalists suggest a more humane approach to population control should be considered. One environmentalist, who did not wish to be named, said sterilisation of the animals would be a better alternative to culling. This has not been taken up by the Trust, which maintains that culling is the best option. In internal correspondence obtained by Central, a Botanic Gardens Director Mark Savio wrote: “When trapping first started in the Gardens, the possums found were in horrific condition - covered in injuries from fights with other possums and stress dermatitis from overcrowding.’’ According to Mr Savio, at the time of writing, 394 brush-tailed possums had been culled since permission was granted by National Parks in July 2002, an average of 55 a year.

Mr Savio said Botanic Garden’s staff found the overall health of the brush-tailed population improved after culling began. “Because we are managing the population at a sustainable level, such injuries and stress-related illnesses are rare in the trapped possums. Due to our trapping program, our possum population is now much healthier than it used to be,” he wrote. Animal activists have also expressed concern that there had been an increase in the culling in recent weeks. Mr Savio wrote that trapping occurred only “when horticulturalists are having problems with possums damaging plants in a particular area, but no more than once a week”. *SMH
Story by Robert Burton-Bradley