Hundreds of native animals killed in bungled South Australian science experiments
HUNDREDS of native animals — including endangered species — have been eaten alive, crushed, drowned, and killed by fright, starvation or dehydration during scientific experiments.
HUNDREDS of native animals — including endangered and threatened species — have been eaten alive, crushed, drowned, and killed by fright, starvation or dehydration during scientific experiments.
A mandatory notification system in the Environment Department makes scientists account for the death toll from any experiments in SA, whether by government agencies or other bodies, such as universities.
But attempts by The Advertiser to obtain details of the deaths have been met with extended delays, obfuscation and outright refusals to release information.
Up to 290 animals were killed between mid 2013 and mid 2015. They included between 107 and 177 mammals, including the Warru — also known as the black-footed wallaby, which is endangered in SA. Five rare native mice were also killed — three Bolam’s Mouse, a Bush Mouse and a Forrest’s Mouse.
The death toll also included 35 lizards, 44 birds, some of them endangered, and 25 nests of abandoned eggs.
In the worst incident, between 80-150 “small mammals and reptiles” died across an six-year period when they were caught in an unsecured and abandoned pit trap.
The department’s “rare rodent” study was responsible for the deaths, recorded at Wire Creek Bore, where trapping ended in 2007.
In another case, researchers killed 18 “endangered” burrowing bettongs by dropping them or separating them from their mothers.
At Lake Callabonna, 25 banded stilt nests were abandoned, possibly as a result of being disturbed by researchers.
The embarrassing information has been buried under multiple layers of bureaucratic secrecy.
Freedom of Information applications are usually processed in 30 days, but the Environment Department held on to documents for one year, before releasing them to Greens MLC Tammy Franks with an “apology” for the delay.
Ms Franks said it was clear massive funding cuts of 40 per cent to the department’s budget with 110 staff losses were affecting its efforts.
“We want trust and transparency in government departments but it is no wonder that this department is no longer able to comply given the sustained budget cuts year after year under this government,’’ she said.
“I have sympathy that they are trying to do it on a shoestring.’’
Bungles included animals being eaten alive when prey species were caught in traps with predators: “Unfortunately the two lizards were trapped in the pitfall with an active venomous snake.”
A department spokeswoman defended the one-year delay in releasing the information to Ms Franks, saying her FOI application was “complicated”.
Previously, the departmental media unit had refused to release the information to The Advertiser, arguing: “I’m afraid the reports aren’t actually ours to provide. You’ll need to ask the individual (animal welfare) committees for their reports, or, alternatively, put in an FOI request to DEWNR’’.
And in a separate request by The Advertiser this month, the department refused to release the information, despite being required to do so by a State Government information policy, because it had not developed a policy about that policy.
This has since been contradicted by the department which said there was actually, no policy being developed about the policy.
And despite the ongoing death toll, the department has refused to release information about more recent deaths which have been reported following the June 2015 cut-off date of Ms Franks’ FOI application.
