Over this time frame there has been no obvious decline in specimen numbers that would pose a threat to the viability of the future wallaby population. A new overseas market for Tasmania wallaby will be developed with this WTO. However, due to the high numbers of wallaby harvested by the non-commercial sector (approximately 600,000), the reducing of 1080 poisoning and the closing of a major part of the private forestry industries there will be no significant impact to the wallaby population with this WTO being in place. In fact it will help the wallaby population by maintaining a sustainable number of animals to ensure there is not an over population issue in the future. With the monitoring systems in place by DPIPWE for this WTO, if the wallaby population proves to be dropping or faces any real threat, then the overseas exporting market will decrease in numbers or crease immediately. 5. Monitoring and Assessment of the wallaby population 5. a. How the wallaby populations are monitored. It is impossible to know what the exact numbers of wallaby are living in Tasmania. However a technique has been developed by Hocking and Driessen in 1992 where a Density Trend for wallaby is formulated, and calculates the average number of wallabies per square kilometer. To keep the figures as accurate as possible a line transect sampling was created. This is where an observer follows the same track every year and takes notes of the number of wallaby sighted, the distance of each wallaby from each other and where the wallaby are on the transect line being followed e.g. close to line, 50metres from line. When the observer has finished their line transects they then can work out an approximate number of wallaby for that per square kilometer. This monitoring is conducted yearly by DPIPWE, and is done at night by spotlighting surveys. This type of monitoring follows the code set out in the Tasmanian Spotlight Survey Manual (Hocking and Driessen 1992). The monitoring of wallaby using this system has been operating since 1975, and was upgraded in
Over this time frame there has been no obvious decline in specimen numbers that would pose a threat to the viability of the future wallaby population. A new overseas market for Tasmania wallaby will be developed with this WTO. However, due to the high numbers of wallaby harvested by the non-commercial sector (approximately 600,000), the reducing of 1080 poisoning and the closing of a major part of the private forestry industries there will be no significant impact to the wallaby population with this WTO being in place. In fact it will help the wallaby population by maintaining a sustainable number of animals to ensure there is not an over population issue in the future. With the monitoring systems in place by DPIPWE for this WTO, if the wallaby population proves to be dropping or faces any real threat, then the overseas exporting market will decrease in numbers or crease immediately. 5. Monitoring and Assessment of the wallaby population 5. a. How the wallaby populations are monitored. It is impossible to know what the exact numbers of wallaby are living in Tasmania. However a technique has been developed by Hocking and Driessen in 1992 where a Density Trend for wallaby is formulated, and calculates the average number of wallabies per square kilometer. To keep the figures as accurate as possible a line transect sampling was created. This is where an observer follows the same track every year and takes notes of the number of wallaby sighted, the distance of each wallaby from each other and where the wallaby are on the transect line being followed e.g. close to line, 50metres from line. When the observer has finished their line transects they then can work out an approximate number of wallaby for that per square kilometer. This monitoring is conducted yearly by DPIPWE, and is done at night by spotlighting surveys. This type of monitoring follows the code set out in the Tasmanian Spotlight Survey Manual (Hocking and Driessen 1992). The monitoring of wallaby using this system has been operating since 1975, and was upgraded in
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