MP calls for Federal Government to step in and help state’s wombat populations

LYONS Labor MHR Brian Mitchell has told Federal Parliament it is time for Canberra to step in and help save wild wombat populations.

Wildlife carer Stephen Jones with a juvenile wombat recovering from mange at Kelso. Picture: CHRIS KIDD

IT may be too late for the wombats of Narawntapu National Park but Lyons Labor MHR Brian Mitchell has told Federal Parliament it is time for Canberra to step in and help save other wild wombat populations.

The wombats at the national park, in the state’s North, have long attracted tourists but wombat numbers have plummeted from several hundred to less than 10 as the spread of sarcoptic mange causes animals to die a slow and painful death.

University of Tasmania researcher Scott Carver said this week the local extinction of wombats in Narawntapu was probably unpreventable.

MORE: MANGE CONTINUES TO DECIMATE WOMBAT POPULATIONS

But he said work had begun to treat wombats in other parts of Tasmania and teach landowners how to help those on their properties while getting a clearer picture of other mange hot spots.

At Kelso, on the border of the national park, locals are being hamstrung by red tape in their efforts to treat infected wombats.

Mr Mitchell told Federal Parliament it was vital the Australian Veterinary Medicines Authority quickly issued permits so the Kelso group could treat wombats infected with mange with the drench Cydectin.

“The wombats in the national park were a wonderful tourism drawcard but there are now less than 10 left alive,” Mr Mitchell said.

“Volunteers are trying to treat wombats in their local areas but are being held up by the authority ... they are trying their hearts out to save these animals and it is time for the Federal Government to get involved and help them out.”

The State Government says it is already supporting those trying to get permits.

Environment Minister Matthew Groom said his department was issuing a limited number of permits for a “pole and scoop” application method, which involves catching infected wombats and treating them, rather than targeting the drench at wombat burrows.