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Authorities to Control Wildlife: 2020

ATCWs issued between 1 January and 31 December 2020

Published by:
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action
Date:
31 Mar 2022

Native wildlife is protected in Victoria under the Wildlife Act 1975 and it is illegal to kill, trap or disturb wildlife without a permit.

These permits are referred to as Authorities to Control Wildlife (ATCWs) and are issued when wildlife is causing damage to property, poses a risk to human health and safety or is negatively impacting other biodiversity values.

Important information about this data

Number of animals

The data represents the maximum number of animals authorised for control by ATCWs granted between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2020. The actual number of animals that were controlled under each authorisation may be lower.

Non-lethal and lethal control

Wherever possible, the Conservation Regulator advocates non-lethal management of wildlife. Where non-lethal techniques are ineffective or impractical, lethal control may be necessary.

Not all non-lethal controls require an ATCW, for example installing fencing or netting to keep wildlife out of an area where they may be causing damage or removing old nests when there are no eggs or nesting birds present.

However, there are some non-lethal control options which do require an ATCW. Examples include trapping and relocating wildlife, deliberate use of noise, water or smoke to disrupt normal behaviours such as roosting or ushering macropods out of an area.

Threatened species

For species listed as threatened under Victoria’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 or the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999, permits for lethal control are generally not issued unless there is a significant and unavoidable risk to human health and safety and all non-lethal control options have been exhausted.

ATCW applications to disturb or relocate threatened wildlife are given additional consideration to ensure that any negative impact to the conservation status of the species, as well as any significant animal welfare impacts are avoided.

In 2020, no ATCWs were issued for lethal control of any species listed under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act or the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act.

Kangaroo Harvesting Program

Eastern and Western Grey Kangaroos harvested under the Kangaroo Harvesting Program are not included in the data below. Annual quotas for the Kangaroo Harvesting Program takes into account Victoria’s kangaroo population and ATCW data. Further information relating to harvesting of kangaroos under this program can be found on the commercial harvest of kangaroos page.

Table 1: ATCW issued between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2020

Lethal control

Non-lethal control

Species
# of ATCWS issued
Max. # authorised for lethal control
# of ATCWS issued
Max. # authorised for non-lethal control
Australian Kestrel 1 2
Australian Magpie 19 293 5 85
Australian Magpie Lark 1 10 1 3
Australian Raven 81 2073 7 131
Australian Shelduck 18 739
Australian White Ibis 5 145 5 1260
Bell Miner 1 50
Black Kite 1 20
Black Swan 4 50 1 70
Black Wallaby 128 1215 3 36
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike 1 10
Brown Goshawk 1 6
Cape Barren Goose 6 320 2 820
Chestnut Teal 4 215
Common Brushtail Possum 2 15
Common Long-necked Tortoise 2 57
Common Wombat 207 1478 6 12
Crimson Rosella 16 275 1 60
Dusky Moorhen 1 10
Eastern Brown Snake 1 20
Eastern Grey Kangaroo 1591 66 649 18 925
Eastern Rosella 8 170 1 100
Emu 50 624
Fallow Deer 13 2350
Galah 40 2680 6 930
Great Cormorant 1 10
Grey-headed Flying-fox 2 11 399
Grey Teal 3 20
Hog Deer 6 43
Little Black Cormorant 1 10
Little Crow 3 38
Little Corella 29 3015 6 11 120
Little Pied Cormorant 1 10
Little Raven 7 120 4 430
Long-billed Corella 27 3315 10 4430
Lowland Copperhead 1 50
Maned Duck 94 2306 5 450
Masked Lapwing 20 115 3 22
Musk Lorikeet 11 405 3 1500
Noisy Friarbird 7 117
Noisy Miner 12 1020 2 26
Pacific Black Duck 19 435 1 100
Pied Currawong 15 270
Rainbow Lorikeet 14 325 2 1500
Red Deer 8 660
Red Kangaroo 15 6575
Red Wattlebird 8 215 2 124
Red-necked Wallaby 27 324
Rusa Deer 2 48
Sambar 14 9235
Satin Bowerbird 1 2
Silver Gull 13 1106 3 170
Silvereye 8 145
Straw-necked Ibis 5 115
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo 38 1840 5 360
Tiger Snake 2 370
Wedge-tailed Eagle 2 13
Welcome Swallow 5 546
Western Grey Kangaroo 48 3248
White-faced Heron 1 10 1 10
White-winged Chough 2 11
Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo 1 30

Updated