Island visitors told ‘stay away’ as park rangers prepare for annual animal cull

A tourist island will close for a week while park rangers undertake controlled animal killings, a move that has animal activists outraged.

A wallaby on Maria Island.

MARIA Island will close to the public this week as Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service kills animals on the island.

The East Coast island will be closed to the public for seven days from Friday as the PWS conducts the population control measure on wallabies and other macropods.

Animal Liberation Tasmania president Kristy Alger slammed the cull as shortsighted.

“We’re absolutely fed up with execution as the only measure investigated, where humans go in and they just kill,” Ms Alger said.

The culling operation has been undertaken on the island since 1994.

“If we’re looking at the need to cull animals every single year, then why aren’t we looking at other longer-term solutions,” Ms Alger said. “There has to be a more proactive way to go about it.”

A Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment spokeswoman said population control on Maria Island was an animal welfare issue.

“When the macropod populations are too high, animals become sick and distressed and this is what we are aiming to avoid,” the spokeswoman said.

“PWS has a responsibility to conserve the island’s biodiversity while also maintaining a viable and healthy animal population and has been actively managing the island’s macropod species.

“The decision to remove these animals is based on a scientific monitoring program of three key indicators — pasture condition, animal condition and fecundity; current and predicted rainfall and therefore available food.”

DPIPWE would not confirm how many animals would be killed during the operation or how the animals will be killed and disposed.

Last year about 550 macropod species were targeted by six experienced shooters and wildlife management officers.

Maria Island will reopen for public access on Saturday, July 6.

The Australian Society for Kangaroos has previously criticised the way wallabies are culled on Maria Island.