Newsroom

Whale migration season has come again to the East Coast with the first sightings being reported. Every year at this time, humpback whales migrate from feeding grounds in the Southern Ocean to the warm waters of the Coral Sea to breed and give birth to their young.    Tragically, Queensland...

The Australian Government has finally determined that extreme wildfires are a key threat to nature – 13 years after the threat was nominated. Five national conservation groups, today launching a report called Averting Extinctions, point to this very welcome, but long-delayed listing as symptomatic of the dysfunction in Australia’s federal...

On Tuesday afternoon, beachgoers at Sunrise Beach in Noosa were put in danger by a dislodged drumline, part of the state's Shark Control Program, wash up into the surf with a small shark hooked on the apparatus.   Lawrence Chlebeck, Marine Biologist for Humane Society International, said, "Shark culling has...

A decade-long program to protect Australian sea lions from a damaging fishing method known as gillnetting has borne fruit off South Australia with new research revealing captures in a Commonwealth fishery have been reduced by 98%.   The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) and Humane Society International (HSI) worked with government, scientists and fishers to instigate...

Flood-impacted wildlife carers and sanctuaries in Northern NSW and QLD have received more than $40,000 in recovery grants from conservation and animal welfare organisation Humane Society International (HSI) during the weeks following March's severe flooding event.  The funds have provided supplies for farm animals, companion animals and native animals in care,...

Environment Minister Sussan Ley has today announced that Australia plans to further safeguard 127 protected reptile species by listing them under Appendix III of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). All 127 species have been identified as being at risk from illegal export...

Today New South Wales Minister for Agriculture, Dugald Saunders, promoted an $85 million investment in shark bite risk mitigation methods over the next four years. As a result NSW will see additional instalments of SMART drumlines, more drone surveillance, listening stations, and tags for when large sharks are caught on...

A unanimous resolution passed today by Local Government NSW has requested that the NSW Government phases out the use of shark nets. The historic motion also asks that the shark nets are replaced with a combination of alternatives that protect swimmers more effectively and do not harm marine wildlife. Local...

Humpback whales have had their threatened status removed under Australia's national environment legislation today, following their strong recovery since commercial whaling ended in the mid 20th century.  Significant conservation effort has gone into humpback whale population recovery, and successive Australian governments can take credit for their leadership role in stopping...

The decision to list koalas as an endangered species on Australia’s east coast is a grim but important outcome that requires urgent action, according to animal welfare and conservation groups. Today’s announcement by Environment Minister Sussan Ley follows a joint nomination by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Humane...

Iceland’s fisheries minister, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, has signalled plans to end commercial whaling by 2024 saying there is little economic justification to continue once current quotas expire in 2023.  Humane Society International (HSI) has campaigned for decades to bring an end to commercial whaling. With the news from Iceland, only Japan...

The federal government has announced on Saturday that it will allocate $50 million in funding for koala habitat protection and recovery. The news is welcomed by conservation group Humane Society International (HSI), who has jointly nominated east coast koala populations for an uplisting to Endangered status along with WWF Australia...