wildlifefriendlyfencing, wildlife friendly fencing

The wildlife friendly fencing project is raising awareness of the impact of barbed wire and netting on Australian wildlife, especially bats, birds and gliders, and developing guidelines for good practice. More than 70 wildlife species have been identified in Australia as occasional or regular victims of barbed wire fences. Each year thousands of these animals face a cruel death or permanent injuries from entanglement. Many of the survivors are euthanased as they are unreleasable. Barbed wire is both an animal welfare and conservation issue, as it is now being recognised as a threatening process in the draft / recovery plans for a number of species. These include the Yellow-bellied glider (Petaurus australis), the Magogany glider (Petaurus gracilis), the Spectacled flying fox (Pteropus conspicillatus) and Grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalis).

Many people have sought local solutions to the problem, but the issues are too big to tackle alone. There is now an opportunity to make a difference, with a grant from the Threatened Species Network of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). With this funding assured, other organizations have been approached to boost the support base and breadth of the project. To date (August 07), our co-sponsors are Bat Conservation International, Australasian Bat Society, Australian Ethical Investments, RSPCA Queensland and the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland.

The project will continue well beyond April 2008 when the WWF funding is acquitted. The outcomes we seek require a fundamental change in approaches to fencing; a change that considers the welfare of wildlife in the landscape. The WWF funding was granted to Tolga Bat Hospital, who are currently leading the project. Bat Rescue Inc will introduce the project into south-east Queensland, and we hope that others (eg NRM groups, conservation groups, wildlife rescue groups etc) will introduce it to rest of Australia. We expect to have communications materials ready for distribution by August 2007.

We need your help

1. Familiarise yourself with the project through this website. Tell others.

2. Each time you rescue an animal from a barbed wire fence, go to the website and submit a rescue form. Send us photos.

3. Give us your ideas on wildlife friendly fencing, especially if you are landowners with fencing responsibilities.

4. Help introduce wildlife friendly fencing into your community through appropriate channels eg Landcare or NRM groups.

5. Support us by making a donation, or purchasing merchandise in the future. (merchandise not yet available)