DT: Reducing Human Impacts on Wildlife

Human-induced wildlife deaths can have a significant impact on a range of fauna species, including birds, reptiles and mammals.  Increasing awareness of wildlife and the ways individuals can help minimise their impacts on them can help reduce wildlife injuries or deaths. 

• Updating road-side signage – using vibrant images of local wildlife with short, catchy phrases could contribute to minimising wildlife deaths on roads.  These types of signs would be more appropriate for the Daintree area, the varied images could be better at grabbing attention and the signs can become tourist attractions in their own right.
• Investigate attachments to cars for reducing road kills – new cars are very quiet and often wildlife don’t hear them coming.  The LED lights on new cars also don’t pick up eye shine from reptiles, making it harder to avoid hitting them. Can devices like Shoo Roo (which attach to cars and emit noise to chase wildlife away from road sides) work well on a range of  animals, including mammals, reptiles and birds?
• Collecting more detailed information from the Daintree region on causes of wildlife deaths and conducting research into how to best mitigate them.
• Better management of domestic and feral animals eg. dogs, pigs to reduce their impact on wildlife, especially cassowaries.

R-PP 4: Supporting Implementation of Threatened Species Recovery Plans
Incorporate priorities and actions identified through Threatened Species Recovery Plans into local projects to facilitate community stewardship of, and action towards, recovery of threatened species.