It hit my inbox at 3.20pm AEST and I finished my first read just before posting here. Re-reading more slowly now. No real surprises so far - they tend to come after the public consultation period if they are going to come at all.
Im curious to read it. But it will probably have to wait a few weeks until I have time. Im wondering if any zoochaters will comment on it. The public inquiry, most people wouldn't even know its there.
There is quite a long list of stakeholders who receive all of these documents that are put out for public comment - some Zoochatters are on that list. So are a significant number of activists. Surprisingly, I received a call from ABC Radio Queensland this morning about the review and ended up doing an interview with them about it. Hadn't realised that they were a stakeholder!
I love that ABC radio is a stakeholder. Its very left of field, however probably good to build up some momentum.
ABC rural and regional radio in many areas is quite balanced. They wouldn't have an audience if they followed the lead of some of their more urban stations!
ABC is probably our closest thing to balanced media, realistically. I was more using left of field, as when one thinks of stake holders for a hippo import. ABC radio doesn't pop into the top ten people/types of people I would think of . If anything id be less surprised if landline was a stakeholder.
Hippopotamus IRA Progress I came across this process map of publishing an IRA from start to finish (specifically with regards to Hippopotamus). I thought it’d be of interest to anyone wanting a brief overview of the process or wanting to see what stage we’re at. As you can see, there’s a long way to go, but exciting progress nonetheless. Source: Importation of zoo hippopotamuses and their semen from approved countries to Australia - DAFF
I don’t know the exact date it started but believe it was not long after the Bovine IRA was published in 2021,
Do the people completing it have a 0.2 contract? Man they are slow at their job! (Apologies if you are on these threads )
I would say that assessing the biosecurity risks is a not insignificant part of the process, as I wouldn't be surprised to know that every possibility needed to be canvassed. A relative of mine is responsible for risk assessments as part of her job (in another industry) and it's a very arduous process. Hopefully the next stages will be quicker, although I suppose that will depend on whether the feedback is largely agreeable or whether there are areas of conflict over the best path forward.
There would have been considerable risk assessment with regards to the Australian agricultural industry as even though this species has been held in the country for over a century, any new organisms coming in have the potential to cause risk. Personally I believe the chances of a feral population establishing itself is nil to zipper within our accredited zoos; but nonetheless it has to be accounted for and historically we have recorded incidents from private owners such as Tipperary of animals escaping (namely a Pygmy hippopotamus), which means it can’t be fully discounted no matter how unlikely.
