Wombat Cull

39 Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (25 March 2020). In relation to the Permit to Destroy Wildlife recently granted to destroy a number of wombats on farmland near Point Pearce, Yorke Peninsula:

(a) What criteria are assessed when determining whether to grant a wombat culling permit?

(b) What criteria did the Permit to Destroy Wildlife application fulfil?

(c) Is there any evidence of mange in the wombats in the population to be culled?

(d) Is there any evidence of malnutrition or starvation in the population to be culled?

(e) Is there any evidence of any human health issues associated with the wombats in the population to be culled?

(f) What is the estimate of the size of the wombat population to be culled?

(g) How was that population estimate arrived at?

(h) Has there been an application for a permit to cull the same population in the past three years?

(i) If there has been an application for a permit to cull the same population previously, what was the permit granted and what were the grounds for the decision?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water): I have been advised:

(a) The following criteria are assessed when an application for a Permit to Destroy Wildlife is received:

Extent of environmental/economic damage being caused or likely to be caused by the wildlife;

The threat posed by the wildlife to human safety;

Whether non-lethal methods have been tried, the success of those methods and whether they were appropriate to manage the impact of the wildlife;

Whether the destruction of some animals would provide an effective method of minimising the impact of wildlife;

Whether the method of destruction is humane and complies with the relevant codes of practice (CoP) or animal welfare legislation (where a CoP does not exist); and

Whether destruction of some animals from a population will detrimentally affect the ecological sustainability and species conservation status.

(b) The application for a Permit to Destroy Wildlife fulfilled each of the criteria set out in (a).

(c) Mange in wombats has been reported in the Point Pearce population, and elsewhere on Yorke Peninsula.

(d) Evidence of malnutrition or starvation of the wildlife was not required to assess the application for a Permit to Destroy Wildlife.

(e) The community have raised concerns over mange being transferred from the wombat population to the local community, via dogs.

(f) & (g) The applicant estimated a population of approximately 2,000 animals across the 5,500 hectare property, which was calculated with reference to local observations, the number of known warrens and recent drone footage of the area.

(i) A previous Permit to Destroy Wildlife has been issued for the same property, which was assessed against the criteria mentioned in (a) above. No wombats were destroyed under this permit.