LAWS to protect wildlife from getting caught up in backyard fruit tree netting are being called for in the ACT.

Greens MLA Jo Ms Clay will move a motion in the ACT Legislative Assembly calling on the ACT government to phase out wide-gauge fruit tree netting by January 2023.

Ms Clay says wide-gauge nets are known to trap and injure grey-headed flying foxes, possums, snakes, birds and other wildlife, with many animals not surviving the experience.

“Last year 71 flying foxes were retrieved from netting in people’s backyards,” Ms Clay says.

“The grey-headed flying fox is a threatened native species that goes searching for food at night time. If one is caught, it can be hours or days until the flying fox is discovered. It causes unnecessary pain and suffering for the animals and it’s upsetting for wildlife carers and residents.”

Ms Clay’s motion calls on the ACT government to mirror steps taken in Victoria, earlier this year, to ensure only animal-friendly tree netting is used and sold.

“The animal-friendly netting has a narrower gauge of no more than 5mm x 5mm, which means wildlife is much less likely to be trapped,” Ms Clay says.

“We also want to make sure that the old netting is properly disposed of so it doesn’t cause more problems out in the environment.”