Protect the Common Wombat

In 193 parishes in Eastern Victoria (east of the Hume Highway, which is the main distribution of wombats in Victoria) Common Wombats have been declared unprotected wildlife. In these parishes, a farmer can kill wombats without the need to obtain a permit. Real or perceived wombat problems are generally not investigated by the authorities. There are no records kept of the number of wombats killed. There have been no reviews of population numbers and wombat populations are declining as a result of the declaration of unprotected status since 1984. This means that Gippsland wombats are being shot without knowledge, without notice and without consideration.

If you are interested in volunteering for the Wombat Campaign then contact us. If you wish to donate to this campaign then go to donations.

Objectives

• To make it illegal anywhere in Victoria to trap, shoot or to kill a Common Wombat without a permit.

• To make it a requirement of a wombat culling permit that public notice be given on application in the same manner that planning permit applications are required to give public notice of intent and right of reply.

• To make it a requirement of the applicant for a culling permit to undertake a population and environmental effects analysis to show just cause and to submit a long-term management plan.

• To tighten regulations and checks with regard to the exploitation and the captive containment of wombats so that no wombat is used solely for the purposes of commercial gain or public entertainment.

• To raise the awareness of issues and attitudes relating to the treatment and rights of the Common Wombat and hence all common native animal species.

More Information

Biologists Lance Williams and Peter Menkhorst in their review of the distribution, ecology and conservation of the Common Wombat state, "The long-term effects of this mortality on population structure is unknown" (Williams and Menkhorst, 1995. Common Wombat. In Mammals of Victoria: distribution, ecology and conservation. Ed., Peter W. Menkhorst. Oxford University Press). They also state that wombats have "declined severely in western Victoria".

A stronghold for wombats in western Victoria are the Wombat and Macedon Ranges forests, where they are protected wildlife. However, earlier this year a landholder in Macedon ranges applied for a permit to cull wombats on his property, which is a designated Environmental Zone of Local Significance. He may well have been granted the permit by governing authorities if it were not for the vigilance and persistence of a neighbouring wildlife shelter that won the wombats a reprieve. The given reason for the wombat cull was that the wombat digs and burrows posed a danger to his wife and her horse while she was riding on the property.

Recently a wildlife shelter paid $1100 to liberate a wombat that had been held under licence in a pet shop. It had been kept in a small bird aviary on a cement floor with no access to the outside world for three years. The authorities claimed they could do nothing to improve the wombat's environment.

Recently this year, two men received a good behaviour bond and fined $1000 each for setting a cruel cable tie snare specifically aimed at wombats digging under their farm fence at Woodend (Macedon Ranges).

These examples clearly highlight the cruelty and persecution wombats face throughout their range in Victoria.

Wildlife Victoria believes that all common native animals deserve better treatment than they are often afforded. By raising the public profile of the Common Wombat it will bring to the fore many issues related directly to attitudes towards common native animals that are taken for granted. Wildlife Victoria feels that campaigning for the rights of the Common Wombat is an opportunity to raise the issue of animal rights for all common native animal species that are often considered to be pests and are managed as such. The paradigm, Common-Pest-Cull needs to be challenged. Challenging the paradigm requires protracted effort and long term commitment, which Wildlife Victoria is ready to make. The Common Wombat campaign will be a focal point for this initial commitment and it is a campaign that we feel will elicit a great deal of public support and will have a very good chance of achieving its goals.