| Message from the Chief Conservation Regulator
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Welcome to the September 2024 edition of Conservation Matters.
Recently, we have been reflecting on the challenges and achievements from the last financial year and using them to inform our focus areas going forward.
Over winter, we targeted efforts towards illegal firewood activities and had some great outcomes under Taskforce Ironbark, including several intercepts of firewood thieves in the act, and September brought the chance to celebrate our native Victorian flora and fauna through Biodiversity Month and consider the small, everyday actions that can make a big difference in their survival on Threatened Species Day.
Significant court outcomes for our wildlife investigations continue, with a Magistrate recently fining a man $30,000 for his involvement in a cross-border illegal wildlife trade syndicate. As you’ll read below, it is the first case to resolve in relation to Operation Pike, a major investigation into the illegal import, export, and trade of wildlife in Victoria. Another case involving more than 550 charges, is still before the court.
We recently published our Regulatory Priorities for 2024-25, which outline key areas of environmental risk that reflect both community concern and the trends we are seeing on public land. This year, we have discontinued the illegal commercial timber harvesting priority following the cessation of the industry, while the five other priorities remain unchanged given their ongoing threats to wildlife and forests.
In this edition, we also highlight some threats and worrying trends which are having significant impacts on wildlife welfare and their habitat in forests and backyards across the state, including risks to hooded plovers on beaches, and the tree-dwelling species who are relying on Victorians to collect firewood legally this season.
If you know of anyone who might be interested in hearing from us, please share this edition with them and encourage them to subscribe. For more frequent updates from us between Conservation Matters editions, follow us on Facebook and X.
We hope you enjoy reading!
Kate Gavens
Chief Conservation Regulator
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| Major wildlife cases updates
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Unlawfully shot kangaroos would have felt “a high degree of pain and suffering”
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Recently, there have been developments in several of our major wildlife crime cases, including a conviction over cruel kangaroo deaths in the State’s north, and a court result for one man and substantial charges laid against another man in relation to an alleged illegal wildlife trade syndicate.
Authority to Control Wildlife permit holders have been reminded of their animal welfare responsibilities when managing wildlife, including ensuring any agents acting on their behalf comply with licence conditions after a 65-year-old farmer was convicted and fined $80,000 for his involvement in the unlawful shooting deaths of dozens of kangaroos on his property near Nathalia in 2021.
The man pleaded guilty to four aggravated cruelty charges for causing or likely causing the pain, suffering, and death of 71 eastern grey kangaroos, including two joeys, when shooters he claims to have hired to act on his behalf used inhumane methods, such as non-fatal gunshot wounds, to lethally control kangaroos.
A qualified vet found the adult kangaroos would have experienced “a high degree of pain and suffering” from the non-instantaneous gunshot wounds prior to their death, and both joeys would have experienced “pain and suffering due to slow and lingering deaths” after their mothers were shot.
All Authority to Control Wildlife permits include strict conditions in line with the National Code of Practice to ensure animals are controlled humanely.
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A bearded dragon and knob-tailed gecko found as part of Operation Pike investigations
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Our focus on the illegal wildlife trade in Victoria has also continued as one man is fined and another is charged with hundreds of offences related to the illegal possession and trade of native reptiles, following a thorough investigation by the Conservation Regulator, with assistance from Victoria Police and the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
In August, a Sunshine Magistrate ordered a 21-year-old Caroline Springs man to pay a $30,000 fine after he pleaded guilty to 19 wildlife offences for unlawfully taking reptiles from the wild and possessing illegally sourced wildlife as part of a cross-border illegal wildlife trade syndicate.
In sentencing, presiding Magistrate Robinson said that even though the man’s “involvement was limited”, it helped facilitate more serious offending by others, noting that if not for the man’s early guilty plea, he would have been sent to prison.
In a related case, a 24-year-old Noble Park North man is facing 565 charges for allegedly running a cross-border illegal wildlife trade syndicate, including illegally importing, exporting, and trading wildlife and making and using false documents to facilitate the illegal sales. His case is currently before Sunshine Magistrates’ Court.
Both men were detected as part of Operation Pike, a major investigation into the illegal import, export, and trade of wildlife in Victoria, and charged after Authorised Officers discovered and seized dozens of native reptiles that were allegedly sourced illegally, including shingleback lizards, blue-tongued lizards, and varied species of geckos during two search warrants last year
We take all allegations of wildlife offences seriously. The community can report information about illegal wildlife trade or other wildlife crime to Crime Stoppers Victoria on 1800 333 000.
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| Our priorities for 2024-25
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Each year the Conservation Regulator identifies and implements a set of priorities to focus our regulatory efforts on. These priorities help us ensure our focus is on the greatest environmental risks, and what is most important to the Victorian community.
The Conservation Regulator’s Regulatory Priorities for 2024-25 are:
- Illegal campfires
- Illegal take of firewood
- Illegal vehicle use
- Protection of threatened species
- Cruelty to wildlife
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| Time to give hooded plovers room to grow
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Vulnerable hooded plovers need help this breeding season
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Plover Appreciation Day was marked on 16 September and is a timely reminder for all coastal visitors about safely sharing our shores with vulnerable, nesting hooded plovers over the coming months, and how the best way to show your appreciation is to stay alert and keep your distance.
The special day also coincides with the start of our spring/summertime initiative, Operation Save our Hoodies (SoHo)! With Parks Victoria and Birdlife Australia, we’ll be educating beachgoers about the presence and importance of hooded plovers on Victorian beaches, and where we need to, enforcing the laws in place to protect the species during their crucial breeding season.
Hooded plovers are tiny, native birds which lay eggs in shallow sand scrapes and raise their chicks on beaches between August and March, overlapping with the warmer months when beaches are at their busiest. These beach-nesting birds have a high rate of nest failure, with the species facing significant threats from people trampling nests or scaring adult birds away from their nests – leaving eggs vulnerable to the weather and predators – and from dogs chasing, catching, and/or killing vulnerable chicks.
The public can help protect our plovers by:
- looking out for their nests and avoiding fenced-off sites,
- giving the birds plenty of space, and
- only taking dogs to permitted beaches and keeping them leashed and under control.
Protection efforts will be ramping up as beaches get busier, with Authorised Officers conducting patrols right along the Victorian coast from Mallacoota in Gippsland to Nelson in the south-west, and BirdLife Australia monitoring plover pairs, installing signage, and fencing-off nesting sites.
This year there will be more on-ground presence, education, and infrastructure through Operation SoHo thanks to a funding boost through the federal Saving Native Species Program.
In promising news, authorities found more beachgoers doing the right thing last breeding season. From September 2023 to April 2024, they issued only 32 fines – down from 83 in 2022-23 – to people for various offences, including disturbing birds and dog owners not complying with rules near plover habitat.
We’re hoping Victorians can continue the trend this season by knowing and following local beach rules to protect our hoodies!
If you see hooded plovers nesting in unmarked areas, please alert BirdLife Australia on (03) 9347 0757 or beachnestingbirds@birdlife.org.au, and if you see someone or their dog harassing, disturbing, or harming hooded plovers please make a report to Crime Stoppers Victoria on 1800 333 000.
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| Be a good wood collector this spring firewood season
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Following firewood collection laws helps protect critical wildlife habitat
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With the winter chill still fresh in people’s minds, many Victorians will be thinking about their firewood stocks for next year. From 1 September to 30 November, Victorians can collect free firewood for personal use from designated firewood collection areas in state forests. But it’s crucial to know where, when, and what you’re allowed to collect to ensure the protection of vital wildlife habitat, natural resources, and the community.
- Stick to the limit: you can take up to two cubic metres of firewood per person per day and a maximum of 16 cubic metres per household per financial year.
- Take the right wood: only collect fallen timber without moss, fungi, and hollows. Do not cut down or damage any standing trees (even if they’re dead).
- Use the right equipment: chainsaws and trailers are fine, but no heavy vehicles or machinery is allowed in collection areas.
- Follow all other public land laws: drive only on formed legal roads and take all rubbish home.
The Conservation Regulator is targeting firewood thieves through Taskforce Ironbark, a joint state-wide operation with Parks Victoria, utilising education and enforcement activities to prevent and reduce environmental harm caused by firewood theft.
Authorised Officers regularly patrol forests and collection areas to make sure everyone is doing the right thing. Those caught breaking firewood collection rule face fines of more than $750 and up to $9,879 and/or one year in prison for more serious offences.
Community help is crucial to stopping illegal firewood activities. If you witness anyone cutting down or damaging trees, or collecting timber outside designated areas, please report it to 136 186.
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| Focus Species program: growing the next generation of wildlife protectors
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In August, we visited Flemington Primary School with Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos and launched a new education program focused on supporting young people to establish and foster fauna-friendly behaviours.
The Conservation Regulator’s Focus Species program is a new initiative promoting wildlife protection at home and in the wild by exploring the connections between species survival and our everyday lives and teaching the community about the small, but important actions they can take to safeguard all Victorian native species.
The program features six native animals – the hooded plover, southern right whale, red-tailed black cockatoo, bearded dragon, brush-tailed phascogale, and Murray-Darling carpet python – that were chosen because they face serious threats from sharing their habitats with humans and from people illegally sourcing and keeping them as pets.
The program includes a range of interactive learning materials designed to help children understand why Victoria’s environmental regulations exist and how following them into adulthood will protect native species for generations to come. We’ve already produced factsheets, activity pages, and national curriculum-aligned lesson plans – and there’s more to come!
Focus Species drawing competition
If you have a kid aged between 5-10 years, now is their time to put pens (or pencils, texters, and crayons) to paper, bring one of these species to life with their artistic skills, and go in the running to win a one-year family membership to Zoos Victoria!
All you have to do is pick one of our six Focus Species, have fun drawing it, and enter it in our competition! All skill levels welcome!
This drawing competition is all about fun, while learning about and protecting Victoria’s native wildlife. We can't wait to see all your wonderful drawings of our beautiful Australian animals.
Happy drawing, future guardians of nature!
How to enter:
- Pick one of the six Focus Species
- Draw a picture of the animal – either on its own or in its environment
- Send a high-quality photo of the drawing (and one holding it if you like), along with the young artist’s name, age, and post code to conservationregulator@deeca.vic.gov.au
The competition closes at 5pm on 8 November 2024 and the winner will be chosen and notified by 15 November 2024. By submitting an entry, you are confirming that you have read and accepted the full Terms and Conditions.
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Untangling the illegal fruit netting issue to save native bats
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A small change to your netting can protect both native wildlife and household fruit trees
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Our native grey-headed flying-foxes are being seriously injured and killed by entanglements in illegal fruit nets on residential properties across Victoria, and as we head deeper into spring growing season, this important threatened species is counting on you to net better!
In the first six months of 2024, Wildlife Victoria received more reports of flying-foxes caught in illegal household netting than in all of 2023, recording more than 110 entanglements and hundreds of pups needing rescue and care.
The Conservation Regulator, Zoos Victoria, RSPCA Victoria, Wildlife Victoria, and Animal Welfare Victoria have partnered to address the dangers illegal household netting poses to wildlife and their welfare, and remind household growers to use safe, compliant fruit tree netting.
Since 1 September 2021, it has been illegal in Victoria to use or sell household fruit tree netting with a mesh size bigger than 5x5mm, as larger mesh netting is more likely to entangle, distress, and seriously injure or kill animals. To help check if netting is compliant, try poking a finger through the mesh and if it can pass through, then it’s too big.
If you or your family members are using non-compliant netting, please remove it immediately. Consider alternatives like fruit bags, rather than netting the whole tree.
If you find a flying-fox trapped in fruit tree netting, call an experienced, vaccinated wildlife rescuer to assist. Do not attempt to touch or handle it yourself. To find a rescuer, call 136 186 or use the Help for Injured Wildlife Tool.
In Victoria, all wildlife is protected by law, and there are penalties for anyone caught using or selling non-compliant household fruit netting.
The community should report wildlife crime, including sightings of non-compliant fruit netting, to Crime Stoppers Victoria on 1800 333 000.
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Wildlife offences
- A 65-year-old man was convicted and fined $80,000 after he pleaded guilty to four aggravated cruelty charges for his involvement in unlawful shooting of eastern grey kangaroos on his property near Nathalia in the State’s north which caused or likely caused the pain, suffering, and death of 71 kangaroos, including two joeys.
- A 21-year-old Caroline Springs man was fined $30,000 after he pleaded guilty to 19 offences under the Wildlife Act 1975 and Wildlife Regulations 2013 related to unlawfully taking reptiles from the wild and possessing illegally sourced wildlife as part of a cross-border illegal wildlife trade syndicate.
- A 26-year-old Coldstream woman was sentenced to a six-month good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to 12 animal cruelty offences for failing to provide sufficient food, water, shelter, and veterinary attention to several varieties of native reptiles in her care.
- A 24-year-old Noble Park North man is facing 565 charges under the Wildlife Act 1975, Wildlife Regulations 2013, and Crimes Act 1958 for allegedly running a cross-border illegal wildlife trade syndicate, including illegally importing, exporting, and trading wildlife and making and using false documents to facilitate the illegal sales.
- The matter involving an 83-year-old Violet Town woman who was found guilty of 73 offences for poisoning dozens of native birds, mostly wedge-tailed eagles, and illegally keeping protected wildlife remains at her property in 2019 was finalised without a sentence being imposed following the woman’s death.
Public land offences
- A 68-year-old man and 75-year-old man were sentenced to a 12-month good behaviour bond and ordered to pay a combined total of $5,000 compensation to the Department after pleading guilty to offences related to the illegal removal gravel from the Moyhu Timber Reserve in 2023.
Firewood offences
- A 62-year-old man was fined $2,400 after pleading guilty to three charges for illegally cutting and taking away two cubic metres or less of fallen or felled trees and for illegally driving off-road in the Otway Forest Park.
To learn more about these cases and other Conservation Regulator news, visit our Latest News page.
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Thank you for reading this edition of Conservation Matters. We hope you found it interesting and relevant. The next newsletter will come your way in three months’ time.
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