Duizenden bedreigde diersoorten in West-Australië wegens gasproject verplaatst naar radioactief eiland en natuurgebied vol roofdieren

Mammals moved to radioactive island

22-02-2010 Narelle Towie, Environment Reporter, Perth Now, Australia


THOUSANDS of threatened native WA mammals, being relocated as part of the $50 billion Gorgon gas project, may be doomed, the Greens warn. The animals have been taken to a radioactive island and a national park which is roamed by cats, foxes and rats from their predator-free haven at Barrow Island.

Greens MP Giz Watson has warned that the mammals are destined to become expensive cat food after the first lot of animals were airlifted to three new locations last week.

So far, up to 245 golden bandicoots, 41 boodies, 84 spectacled hare wallabies and 88 possums out of 1000 animals have been moved.

Two of the locations, Lorna Glen a former pastoral lease in the northern Goldfields and Cape Range National Park in Exmouth are home to cats, foxes and rats, while the third location, the Montebello islands, was the site of atomic weapons testing in the1950s.

Sands on the biggest of the Montebello Islands, Hermit Island, where the animals have been taken to, are radioactive.

Those animals most prone to predication are being housed in a large ‘acclimatisation’, predator-free compound at Lorna Glen, while bigger mammals more able to survive attack, such as the brush tailed possum, landed at Cape Range.

The controversial project has cost Chevron $1.38 million and was part of environmental approval ministerial conditions imposed on the company by Environment Minister Donna Faragher.

Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) scientists, who are overseeing the project, say they have done all they can to ensure the animals will survive and not suffer the same grizzly fate that plagued past projects of similar nature.

“We have virtually eradicated foxes at Lorna Glen, we barely see a fox there and in terms of feral cats we have reduced their densities to about 85 per cent,” DEC’s director of science Neil Burrows said.

“We have thinned them out but we haven’t eradicated them.”

Mr Burrows admitted the department does not know how the animals will respond to low densities of cats.

But Ms Watson says one or two feral cats can eat a hell of a lot of small marsupials in a short space of time.

“I’m not criticising DEC that the operation hasn’t been done with the welfare of the animals in mind and to the best practice, but it’s all been a bit of a photo opportunity for the Minister and the company.”

“The suggestion has been put to me that why can’t they test if the predators have been wiped out of these places without using endangered animals.”

(Bron: http://www.perthnow.com.au/)