New South Wales authorities are calling for the public’s help as it investigates the suspected poisoning and mass deaths of more than 200 little corellas across multiple Newcastle suburbs.
The NSW Environment Protection Authority said it was interrogating pesticide misuse as the possible cause of the “serious incident”, based on its observations and advice from local veterinarians.
Jason Gordon, the EPA’s executive director of regulatory operations, said it was a distressing situation with affected birds exhibiting symptoms such as bleeding, staggering, paralysis and an inability to fly.
“The misuse of pesticides, whether deliberate or unintentional, is completely unacceptable and carries heavy penalties,” he said. Penalties reach up to $500,000 for an individual and $2m for a corporation.
Kate Randolph, the acting president of Hunter Wildlife Rescue, described the incident as “extremely confronting” and said volunteers and local vets were doing everything they could to rescue surviving, severely sick birds.
“Everyone’s working together. It’s a heartbreaking situation.”
Randolph said affected birds involved large numbers of corellas, as well as a few sulphur-crested cockatoos.
Volunteer Kerry Walker said Hunter Wildlife Rescue started receiving numerous reports of sick and dead birds on Monday morning, centred on the suburbs of Hamilton and Carrington, which were continuing on Tuesday.
According to the EPA, bird deaths had now been reported across multiple Newcastle suburbs, including Hamilton, Carrington, Waratah, Broadmeadow, Lambton and near the University of Newcastle.
Usually a playful, social bird, corellas often flocked together in their hundreds in Carrington, the suburb where the highest density of reports were coming from, Walker said.
“They’re usually feeding on the open grass. They’re a very playful bird. They love to play around all the boats at the marina, and they’ll perch on the masts and play with all the gear. They’re very loud and raucous.”
Some birds were still alive, she said, but clearly unwell. “When you approach them they can’t fly, they can barely move.
“They try to spread their wings, and they just literally topple forward.”
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More severe cases were drooling or had bloody diarrhoea. It was distressing for volunteers, she said.
Dr Tania Bishop, a vet with wildlife rescue group Wires, said poisoning was a likely explanation, although whenever a group of animals died, authorities would also be checking for potential diseases and biosecurity risks such as avian influenza.
Such poisonings, whether malicious or caused by contamination, were usually sporadic. But Bishop said there had been a particularly high number of mass wildlife poisonings in the greater Sydney area during the past year.
Bishop said the results of toxicology studies identifying potential poisons or toxins could take weeks.
She said the incident was a reminder that feeding birds came with risks, encouraging the birds to trust humans, which made them more vulnerable to deliberate poisoning.
The EPA had already collected samples for testing and was seeking further assistance from the public.
“Anyone who thinks they may have information on how the birds have died or on potential pesticides misuse is strongly encouraged to call the EPA on 131 555,” Gordon said.
