Alice and Edmund IngouvilleWilliams are disappointed that a rare wedgetailed eagle was shot near Lysterfield Lake Park.By Rebecca Fraser
AN elderly couple has expressed outrage after a rare wedgetailed eagle was shot dead near Lysterfield Lake Park.
Edmund IngouvilleWilliams, 85, and his wife Alice Elizabeth have spent the past 15 years trying to restore an avenue of honour leading up to Lysterfield Lake Park.
They said they had been disheartened by the news that the rare bird had been shot by the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE).
“We have a real soft spot for Lysterfield,” Mr IngouvilleWilliams said.
“At the same time that we started working on the avenue of honour, a small colony of eagles was establishing itself in the Lysterfield Hills. Each time we were there I would look up and see the eagles soaring in the sky and we thought that’s what this country is all about freedom.
“These eagles were doing what they have been taught and, to me, the eagles hurt nobody, or so I thought, until the day when one of them was shot.
“To us both, the shooting of this magnificent bird was sacrilege to say the least, and entirely unnecessary.
“These eagles have just as much right to be here, along with other wildlife,” he said.
Mr IngouvilleWilliams said the eagles nested in a catchment area of the Lysterfield Dam.
He said he had been told the bird was shot because eagles were attacking young wallabies in a sanctuary located near Lysterfield Park.
But Mr IngouvilleWilliams said that DSE should have looked at other alternatives before shooting the eagle.
“The eagles are doing what they have done for a hundred years, providing food for themselves and their young,” he said.
“If we have to protect our wallabies, let’s do it properly, not start shooting at everything that does not fit.
“Why not try technology?
“The orchards nearby have used shadecloth over apples to protect them, so why not trying putting strips of cloth down or looking into other ways?”
Mr IngouvilleWilliams said more research should have been done before the sanctuary was constructed.
“They should have done their homework properly before putting a sanctuary in.
“They obviously did the homework on the ground and thought about foxes and wires but did not stop and look up ahead and think of the eagles,” he said.
DSE spokesman Mark Winfield said the wedgetailed eagles were killing tammar wallabies that were being used in a research program and efforts to save the critically endangered brushtailed rock wallabies from extinction.
He said that DSE had taken a conservative approach and had first issued a trapandrelease permit for the eagles, with the aim of protecting the tammar wallabies without any culling of their predators.
“When the tammar wallabies continued to be taken by wedgetailed eagles, DSE issued an authority to control wildlife permit at the request of Professor Renfree (who operates the sanctuary) for one eagle to be shot,” he said.
Mr Winfield said another authority to control wildlife permit had been issued after the tammar wallabies continued to be taken, but was never used.
“Wallabies in the wild have a greater level of cover, and therefore better protection from predators such as wedgetailed eagles.
“DSE has directed Professor Renfree to improve the cover on the property,” he said.
