Updated
A North Queensland cattle station is being accused of
illegally logging about 60 hectares of forest in the Great Barrier Reef
catchment, an area thought to be home to koalas and other endangered
species.
ABC News understands Wombinoo Station, south west of Cairns, is under federal investigation for clearing land without approval.Drone footage and satellite images show clearing that occurred last month, allegedly in areas that the pastoral company had not yet approved to clear under federal law.
"None of this has been approved under the Federal Government's EPBC Act, so matters of national environmental significance have not even been considered," said Gemma Plesman from the Wilderness Society.
"In this particular instance, [it's] clearing of habitat for koalas, for gliders and clearing that's occurred in the Great Barrier Reef catchment," she said.
Wombinoo Station initially applied to clear more than 500 hectares of land, but is still awaiting approval after an environmental assessment that was completed in 2016.
Photo:
Landholders burn the felled logs, endangering animals who hide in the log piles. (Supplied: Wilderness Society)
That assessment found the area was home to a population of Greater Gliders, had a high chance of being a koala habitat and was home to other threatened or endangered species.
The assessment also listed as a consideration that Wombinoo Station is in the Great Barrier Reef catchment.
The station made a further application this year to clear more than 2,700 hectares, and is yet to receive approval.
A spokesman for Federal Environment Minister, Josh Frydenberg, said he could not comment while the matter was being investigated.
In a statement, the minister confirmed land clearing was a Federal Government responsibility in instances "where land clearing is likely to significantly impact defined matters of national environmental significance such as listed threatened species or the Great Barrier Reef."
Lawyers acting for the Wilderness Society have written to the Federal Government about the clearing on Wombinoo Station.
"We have asked the state and federal authorities to undertake an urgent investigation to look into whether or not there has been a breach of Federal Environmental Law, we do suspect there has been," Ms Plesman said.
ABC News contacted the owner of Wombinoo Station but they refused to be interviewed or quoted.
'The injuries tend to be fairly horrific'
Photo:
Dr Jon Hanger says logging can have horrific effects on animals, leaving them crushed and with torn limbs. (ABC News)
Dr Jon Hanger, a wildlife vet of more than 30 years, said widespread land clearing has devastating effects on koalas and other animals that cannot run or fly away when the bulldozers plough through.
It is common for farmers to use bulldozers to clear large tracts of trees, often by dragging a huge chain between two machines in order to knock the trees over.
Dr Hanger said the method gave wildlife little chance of escaping.
"The injuries tend to be fairly horrific. They're major traumas, where there's massive crushing injuries, tearing of limbs [and] intestines ruptured out," he said.
Dr Hanger said even more damage was done when landholders burnt the felled logs, as seen in the footage of Wombinoo Station, because animals often sought shelter in the log piles.
He said widespread clearing needed to stop.
"When governments permit this broad-scale clearing without knowing how many koalas are there and what the risks are going to be, that's really getting to a level where we say 'that's unacceptable in this day in age'."
He said he had operated on one koala maimed in land clearing that had its arm torn off.
"If you did that to your cattle dog you'd end up in jail, there's no doubt about it."
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