Vet says logging kills wild animals

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

I believe Dr Huber may be right about the fate of the animals in areas

logged

and clear felled. For example, some parrots need trees over 100 years old

to nest in.

Such old trees develop hollows in their branches and trunks where parrots

nest.

Marguerite

 

Logging sparks call to kill wildlife.

*************************************

Hills Gazette

Kalamunda, Western Australia

30/9/2000

A local veterinarian believes native animals and birds

should be shot, gassed or poisoned in areas targeted

for logging.

 

Dr George Huber said such drastic action would be

more humane than leaving native fauna to starve

to death because of timber harvesting.

 

He was speaking out about Department of Conservation and

Land Management plans to harvest wandoo and jarrah

in a Mundaring weir water catchment area near Gorrie.

 

He said habitat loss was the biggest killer of native fauna.

 

Native animals and birds not killed by the initial invasion

of machinery would die later because they could not find food.

 

If they did move on, it put stress on other areas to sustain

population increases.

 

" We are looking at enormous numbers and once they are

displaced they are gone, " he said.

 

CALM director of science Dr Neil Burrows said the suggestion

to kill animals and birds before logging was " absolutely ridiculous. "

 

" The reality is that any logging operation will occassionally cause death

and injury to some animals, but we are concerned about the survival of

populations of animals. "

 

He said independent university studies and CALM research done near

Manjimup since 1994 had shown that logging operations had little impact on

long-term populations of animals and birds. " Within 10 - 15 years things

are back to the way they were, " he said.

 

CALM has a policy of retaining a minimum of four habitat trees per hectare

as nesting places for native fauna.

 

Dr Huber said habitat trees marked for retention when logging started

near Mundaring this summer were " unbelievable. "

 

Pointing to one, he said its trunk was too short and it was suffering from

Jarrah dieback disease.

 

" They call it a habitat tree because it can't be used for anything else, "

he said.

 

Dr Burrows said CALM usually left more than four habitat trees per hectare.

 

Some were young trees, but dead trees were also useful.