Bribie island and surrounds is very lucky to have wildlife living in our midst. One of the great advantages of not living in a city like Brisbane is that these creatures are amongst us all the time and we must respect them to keep it that way.
Unfortunately there are many instances of kangaroos and wallabies being hit by cars particularly along Sunderland Drive and Pacific Harbour. One kangaroo death left a joey alone which had to be taken to Australia Zoo to be looked after.
The Sunshine Coast Council and the University of the Sunshine Coast began a small trial of virtual road fencing in August 2018, and with community support it has since expanded across the region.
The virtual fencing is based on European technology, and includes a device attached to a pole by the side of the road. The device is triggered by vehicle headlights and emits a buzzing sound and flashing light to warn nearby wildlife of approaching vehicles. Locals say since it was introduced at Mudjimba in January, they had not seen one dead kangaroo.
A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson said the monitoring of all trial sites was "still in progress" and would be reviewed later this year. This is something that the Moreton Bay Council should consider on Bribie.
Jetski and propeller strikes are also common in the passage affecting turtles and a dolphin died last week after being tangled in a crab pot rope. This was despite the best efforts of the SeaWorld team who visited the passage to try to save the animal.
The range of wildlife on and around the island is huge including sea eagles, pelicans, dolphins, dugongs, turtles, whales, wallabies, kangaroos, monitor lizards, snakes, and all the little critters needed to support the food chain. A large proportion of the island is National Park and it’s amazing there is a mainland bridge and suburbs right next to this facility.
If Bribie as a concept was proposed today it would be rejected on environmental grounds and economic grounds also given the infrastructure cost of supporting a relatively small population.
If we all want things to stay the way they are we should make an extra effort to protect our environment including the wildlife otherwise the long arm of the government may decide we need to be regulated even more. Hard to imagine but that’s the trend.
Don’t allow this to happen we are able to self manage this problem by slowing down and avoiding these animals leaving them to enjoy life in peace. Then when we cross paths with animals safely we can remain thankful they are our neighbours.