Wallaby deaths probe
Council inquiry looks at stress on wildlife
ENVIRONMENTAL officials cannot explain why more than a dozen wallabies have been turning up dead on a northern beaches footy oval.
Cairns-based wildlife activists The Agile Project has reported nearly 40 dead agile rock wallabies within the Trinity Beach sporting oval since late last week.
Cairns Regional Council, however, says its officers have only removed 14 mature wallabies from the sporting precinct during this period.
A council spokesman said the council was assisting with the disposal of dead wallabies and also continuing with investigations into the deaths.
“There continues to be no evidence of suspicious circumstances,” he said.
“Early indications suggest that the deaths are stress-related, however, this is yet to be verified.
“Council is continuing to monitor the area.”
A Department of Environment and Science spokesman said departmental wildlife officers had conducted a detailed inspection of the site, but all the wallaby carcasses had been removed.
“They could find no evidence of offences having been committed against Queensland’s nature conservation laws,” he said.
Dr Annabelle Olsson from Boongarry Veterinary Surgery, who specialises in native animal health, said it was possible for the wallabies to have died from stress.
“Generally speaking, wallabies do die from stress, but it’s usually myopathy associated with being stressed,” she said.
“But if you were looking at a lot of animals that were dying in one go, that’s the sort of thing I’d normally associate with a mass roundup of macropods, like they do for culling purposes, out in the bush or out in grazing ground.”
It is not the first time agile wallabies have been found dead at the sporting precinct, with 11 located there at the start of January last year.
Wildlife activists suggested at the time the animals had been shot dead with rifles, but veterinarians did not find any evidence of that.
The maximum fine is more than $30,000. Anyone who has evidence regarding the wallaby deaths is asked to call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000 or DES on 1300 130 372.
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