Questions have been raised around how recommendations appeared in a draft technical report to look at re-classifying bare-nosed wombats as a controlled native species.
The suggestion to create a Controlled Native Species Management Plan (similar to what exists for eastern grey kangaroos) has drawn ire from conservation groups and led to fears there will come a day that wombats can be legally shot and killed in the Territory.
Now documents released under Freedom of Information requests by Kurrajong independent MLA Thomas Emerson have shown creating such a plan for wombats was not originally recommended.
He questioned how such a move appeared in the documents.
“[The documents state] ‘currently there is not enough information on the abundance or distribution of wombats within the ACT on which to base [such a] management decision’,” Mr Emerson said.
“There was no explicit mention of a culling program in the [early version’s] concluding recommendations.”
Read the article here: https://region.com.au/controlling-wombats-not-canvassed-in-early-versions-of-species-management-plan/969666/#comments