‘Huge destructive impact’: Thousands of animals killed or made homeless by Cyclone Jasper and floods

Thousands of reef fish, tropical birds, wallabies, echidnas, and other animals, have tragically washed up dead across Far North Queensland beaches in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Jasper. Warning: Distressing content

Animals have been injured or killed following dual natural disasters in Far North Queensland.

Thousands of reef fish, plus tropical birds, wallabies, echidnas, and other animals washed up dead on Far North Queensland beaches in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Jasper.

Nigel Brothers has worked on albatross conservation for several decades, saying he believed that seabirds were most impacted.

He said the numbers were difficult to estimate, but many of them were killed in the cyclone or flew inland to get away from it.

“We’ve encountered a vast array of dead birds on Wonga Beach,” he said.

“There were at least 20,000 birds in the area trying to get away from the cyclone”.

Thousands of birds were killed in the cyclone and many more were made homeless.

He said the most impacted were birds who nested around the ocean and estimates around the cyclone killed 160,000 Torresian Imperial-Pigeon chicks or unhatched eggs during the event.

“It was a big problem, particularly because the cyclone came early – before hatching time”.

“But many of the other birds succumb at sea, so it’s hard to get a number on how many were killed when they got stuck in the storm.”

Wildlife rescuer Julie Dunn said seabirds had frantically tried to get out of the storm and were now being spotted for the first time in places like Mareeba and Atherton.

“The cyclone has been quite devastating for several areas, particularly habit destruction and loss of food source. We have seen many animals, as well as birds, move to areas we haven’t seem them before.”

Blow dryer being used on a rescued bird.

Ms Dunn said that in one case, a wallaby was found sheltering in a car park, while a freshwater tortoise was recently spotted at Clifton Beach shopping centre.

“Of course, many of them drowned,” she said.

“The cyclone and the floods have had a huge destructive impact”.

Many fish perished because of the mixing of salt and freshwater.

Mr Brothers said he saw an innumerable amount of dead fish across different species, which he believed was due to freshwater mixing with salt water.

“It’s a sad sight,” he said.

Mr Brothers said he is now concerned with the upcoming wet weather that more deaths will come.

A dead echidna washed up on a beach.

Australian Conservation Foundation nature campaigner Peta Bulling told the Cairns Post the mass deaths were a “devastating reminder of the impact of these climate-induced weather events on our amazing wildlife”.

“The lesson for us is that we have to act quickly. We know that we are in a climate crisis and staring down the barrel of these consistent and extreme weather events.”

Originally published as ‘Huge destructive impact’: Thousands of animals killed or made homeless by Cyclone Jasper and floods