Kangaroo Island families say their children’s health is being put at risk by droppings from huge flocks of little corellas that constantly splash on school eating areas and play equipment.
Farmer Rodney Bell, who has four grandchildren at Kangaroo Island Community Education’s Kingscote campus, said school management was in favour of trying to solve the problem but the Department of Eduation would not allow culling.
“It’s an utter disgrace, in my view, that nothing has been done,” he told ABC Adelaide.
Mr Bell said places where the children ate were “covered in corella poo”, as was playground equipment, and he believed there was a significant health risk to children.
According to information published online by the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, corellas and other flocking cockatoos can carry bacteria and viruses such as psittacosis and chlamydia which can be passed onto humans through bites, scratches, contact with faeces, and inhalation of feather dust.
Play equipment at the Kangaroo Island school covered in droppings from little corellas. (Supplied: Rodney Bell)
According to Mr Bell the island’s feral animal control officer had previously culled some of the birds but believed the practice was stopped because it was not considered a good image for the school.
“[But] it’s not a good image with the sight of everything covered in poo,”
he said.
“Also, it won’t be a good image if disease breaks out.”
Rodney Bell believes the birds pose a risk to his grandchildren and their schoolmates. (Supplied: Judie Bell)
Fellow Kangaroo Island resident Shane Cater said he had been battling destruction and droppings from the little corellas for years.
He said he had made a complaint to SafeWork SA, a deputation to council, and organised petitions to get the issue addressed.
“Its going to take someone to get sick or even worse before any government department stands up to take any onus on this,”
Mr Cater said.
“I’ve been battling this for over five years now.”
Local parent Shane Carter says a complaint to Safework SA was dismissed within hours of being lodged. (Supplied: Rodney Bell)
Approval not given for targeted shooting
A spokesperson for the state’s Department for Education said it was working with local stakeholders, including the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board, to discuss potential solutions.
The general manager of the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board, Will Durack, said his organisation had approached the school for permission to undertake targeting shooting.
The department’s approval, however, had not been given.
“That does really limit our ability to be part of the solution,”
Mr Durack said.
He said it was a difficult issue for the department as there were many different perspectives about the use of lethal control methods.
Mr Durack said his children, who also attend the school, reported to him every day about the noise and the mess the corellas were causing.
Little corellas are not protected in South Australia. (Supplied: Rodney Bell)
“There’s definitely extreme densities of corellas,” he said.
He said a number of parents were beginning to express concerns and to speculate about sickness in their children being linked to the droppings.
Mr Durack said there were also concerns about the continued distraction from learning due to the noise of the birds.
Kangaroo Island Community Education is the only school on the island.
Statewide issues
When the issue of the large numbers of little corellas was raised on ABC Radio Adelaide earlier this week, the station fielded callers from around the state including Wilmington, Mount Gambier, and Younghusband.
Hanna Law from Yankalilla, who provided a video showing how loud the birds were in her town, said it was the worst year she had experienced in terms of the numbers of little corellas.
She said she was concerned about the damage being done to local trees and the displacement of other birds.
“We can’t have the windows and doors open because you cannot stand the noise. It’s just incredible,” she said.
“It’s just constant. There are thousands and thousands of them.
“It’s a huge problem that really needs to be addressed on a statewide front.”
Dry conditions exacerbating the problem
Principal ecologist with the Department for Environment and Water (DEWR), Karl Hilyard, said corellas often caused concerns within communities at this time of the year.
“I suspect that it’s exacerbated this year by the dry, drought-like conditions that we’re going through currently,”
he said.
Mr Hilyard said little corellas were an unprotected species, which meant, unlike most native animals, they could be lethally controlled by shooting without a permit.
He said extensive advice was available on the DEWR website about ways to try and control the numbers of birds.
“We recognise that little corellas are a genuine challenge to manage,” he said.
Mr Hilyard said the department suggested trying a range of options to control the birds including scaring the corellas and modifying habitat.
