cockie community education

Last week saw the distribution of a flyer throughout the Dandenongs highlighting the importance of keeping wildlife wild.

After a community meeting last year about the extreme gnawing behaviour of the cockatoos in Kallista, I, the shire’s Environment Department and the Department of Sustainability and Environment collaborated to produce the flyer to educate the community about the pitfalls of feeding wildlife, particularly cockatoos.

All of those people who live near sites where cockatoos are fed are aware of the damage to property and the natural environment caused by the ongoing chewing by cockatoos. The flyer is a first step to educating the community and hopefully those people who feed cockatoos will understand the impact they are having in a broader sense.

I was pleased to be able to support this first step in an education and advocacy effort by funding the printing of the flyer through my ward fund. The Shire also picked up distribution costs for the flyers which were delivered across the Dandenongs to all areas where we've received reports of chewing cockatoos in the past.

Already I have been contacted by concerned residents who suffer ongoing property damage from cockatoos because their cockatoo feeding neighbours have not recognised the link between feeding cockatoos and property damage. I hope that people heed the message, it’s lovely to have wildlife in your backyard, but it is important to keep it wild.