Calls to cull Claremont corellas

At a Claremont Council meeting last Tuesday, Kevin Maitland urged the Town to cull the birds.

He said he and many neighbours were woken up repeatedly throughout the night by the screaming birds and were often forced to start their day at 3am.

Mr Maitland also said the corellas were creating a health hazard outside Claremont library, requiring frequent clean-ups.

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He asked the council several questions, including what was being done to involve WALGA, how would a cull be funded and where would culling occur.

Outgoing chief executive Stephen Goode answered some of the questions, taking the rest on notice.

“The council can’t and will not ever on its own be able to control the corellas… the State Government abandoned its role in this area,” he said.

Mr Goode said the Government had approached local councils years ago asking for funding but only Claremont and one other council was prepared to fund a cull.

“WALGA can only co-ordinate those who are willing, it can’t compel,” he said, noting that only the western suburbs, Armadale and Stirling councils were prepared to work on addressing a “metropolitan area-wide problem”.

A Department of Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman said the State Government “supports a co-ordinated approach to controlling corellas and rainbow lorikeets”.

“The department and the WA Local Government Association, together with some local government authorities, are currently implementing co-ordinated corella management in parts of the Perth metropolitan area.

“Control of nuisance birds such as corellas and rainbow lorikeets is the responsibility of the land manager… Experience has shown that lethal culling is the most effective mechanism of reducing numbers of these birds, and effective management requires co-ordination among local governments,” she said.

“Parks and Wildlife is providing support and resources to WALGA and affected local governments to facilitate an effective and targeted approach to management of corellas,” the spokeswoman added.

Acting Claremont chief executive Liz Ledger told Western Suburbs Weekly the Town has “taken a leadership role, through WALGA, to try to co-ordinate a collaborative approach”.