Wildlife Officers from the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI) have rescued and released dozens of protected birds which were being kept illegally by a Gympie resident.
In November 2023, DESI received a report about a significant number of native birds being kept on the resident’s property.
Wildlife officers attended the house and confirmed the unauthorised take of 28 wild birds including rainbow lorikeets, pale-headed rosellas and king parrots.
The offender has been fined $2,322 and the confiscated birds were immediately released back into their natural habitat.
DESI Wildlife Officer Chris Heckathorn said all 28 birds were assessed as being in suitable condition for release, and would be able to survive back in the wild.
“It’s quite uncommon for an individual to have caught so many different types of native birds from the wild, in fact this is the largest number that I’ve personally found to have been captured in my 10 years with the department.”
“It’s a great outcome to successfully release every bird back into their natural habitat.”
“As Wildlife Officers we do appreciate the role the public has in being our eyes and ears in detecting and reporting illegal activity, and it really is just a matter of time before people doing the wrong thing are found out and reported.”
All native wildlife is protected by law. The take of protected wildlife without an authority is prohibited under the Nature Conservation Act 1992. The maximum penalty for a Class 2 offence is $154,800 or one year imprisonment.
If a person rescues a protected animal but is not a licensed rehabilitator they must take the animal to a vet, conservation officer or licensed wildlife carer within 72 hours of taking the animal into care.
