The bodies of electrocuted flying foxes hang from the wires of an electric grid in a North Queensland orchard.

Illegally operated electric grids are still killing flying foxes in Queensland orchards. Wildlife Queensland wants you to ask the Queensland Government to ban the existence of electric grids, not just their use.

What to do

Write to the Queensland Government to ask it to:

• amend the Nature Conservation Regulation 1994 to prohibit the possession of an electric grid to kill, injure or deter flying foxes
• list Spectacled flying foxes and Grey-headed flying foxes as vulnerable
• stop issuing permits to kill these threatened species.

Who to write to

1. the Queensland Minister for the Environment, Desley Boyle MP
   Hon. Desley Boyle MP
   Minister for the Environment, Local Government, Planning and Women
   POB 15031 City East QLD 4002
   
   
2. the Premier Peter Beattie
   Hon. Peter Beattie MP
   Premier and Minister for Trade
   POB 185 Brisbane Albert Street
   
   
3. your local Queensland MP.

What to write

When you write, include some or all of these facts in your letter.

• Banning grid use isn't enough, ban the grids. Electrocution was banned as a control method in 2001, but rogue operators still use the grids illegally. This activity is almost impossible to police. Prohibit the existence of the grids and illegal killing will have to stop.
• Grids are cruel and indiscriminate. Electrocuted flying foxes die slowly and painfully. The fruit season coincides with the birth season so orphaned baby flying foxes starve to death. This affects the populations of whole species that are under threat from other sources.
• There are effective alternative ways of protecting crops. Farmers can use non-lethal methods such as lights/sound and nets. The Queensland Government should encourage fruit farmers to use these methods to protect fruit crops rather than killing flying foxes.
• These species are already listed by the federal government. Spectacled flying foxes and Grey-headed flying foxes are both listed as vulnerable by the Commonwealth Government. So State listing should not be a controversial step.

Background information

Flying foxes: vulnerable and valuable

Two threatened species of flying fox are among the potential victims of electrocution and shooting in orchards: Spectacled flying foxes and Grey-headed flying foxes.

These species are already declining. Spectacled flying foxes are already vulnerable to fatal tick paralysis. Grey-headed flying foxes are dying more frequently from heat stress and food shortages caused by drought and loss of habitat. Their numbers will be reduced further by illegal electrocution.
Flying foxes help create and maintain healthy forests. They pollinate and spread seeds of native trees, particularly rainforest trees.

More information about flying foxes.

History of electric death

Electric grids in orchards have killed hundreds of thousands of flying foxes during the last 20 years. Electrocution is painful and injured flying foxes linger for days. Grid use during the fruit season often coincides with the birth season for flying foxes. Lactating mothers die on the grids and their babies die from starvation.

Electric grids were used extensively in orchards before a landmark legal battle in 2000 when Dr Carol Booth used the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) to show that killing so many flying foxes was likely to affect the World Heritage Wet Tropics of North Queensland. In 2001, Dean Wells, then Queensland Minister for the Environment, outlawed the use of these grids.

For more information on Wildlife Queensland's activities, contact us by email or call +61 7 3221 0194.

Wildlife Queensland - February 2005