Manage, control or destroy wildlife
Most native animal species are protected by state laws. This means that generally it is an offence to catch, restrain, injure, take, kill, hunt, interfere with, harass, or molest a protected animal, or attempt to do so, without a permit.
In the first instance, any human-wildlife conflict should consider a Living with Wildlife approach. However there are some situations where protected animals may need to be managed, such as if they are, or are likely to:
- damage the environment or property (including crops or built structures)
- cause a safety risk or hazard to people or industry
- be impacted by development or habitat disturbance.
Management activities may include control, such as trapping and releasing an animal, or the humane destruction of an animal.
If you want to control or destroy wildlife you must obtain a permit to do so. Please see the information below.
Alternatively, if you intend to recreationally hunt animals, please refer to the Hunting page.
What permit do I need?
There are different permits available to:
- provide wildlife control services (e.g. snake catching, possum removal, spotter/catcher services)
- trap and release wildlife on private land (e.g. remove possums from your roof)
- destroy wildlife on private land (e.g. kangaroos damaging commercial crops)
The department will consider a variety of factors when assessing a permit application for the control or destruction of wildlife. This is to ensure the activity is legal, well planned, considers non-lethal management approaches and is in line with the department’s principles for managing wildlife.
If your application for a permit is successful, you must abide by the permit conditions, relevant codes of practice and the Animal Welfare Act 1985.
Wildlife controllers
You need a permit to be a wildlife control service operator (whether commercial or non-profit), which enables the catch, release, relocation or destruction of protected animals.
Wildlife Management (Controller) Permits are available to allow ongoing services on commercial and residential properties as required, or for services on specific project sites for a specified duration.
How do I apply?
See below to determine the service type you would like to provide which will direct you to the correct method for applying for a permit.
Service type | Application method | |
1 | Snake catching services on an ongoing basis (e.g. capture and release of snakes impacting safety) | |
2 | Possum pest control services on an ongoing basis (e.g. trap and release of possums causing damage or impacting safety) | |
3 | Wildlife control services on an ongoing basis for impact causing species other than possums or snakes (e.g. birds trapped in an office, kangaroo on a residential property) | Request application form by email |
4 | Wildlife spotter catcher services on a project specific basis for animals likely to be impacted by development or habitat disturbance (e.g. capture and relocate wildlife for an infrastructure development project) | Request application form by email |
If your application for a permit is successful you must abide by the permit conditions and requirements of the relevant legislation, including guidelines for activities involving possums and venomous snakes.
Trap or catch and release wildlife
You need a Trap and Release Protected Animals Permit to trap or catch and release any wildlife.
This permit is most commonly required for possum species causing impacts. In these cases a permit may be granted if one or more possums are occupying a residential or business premises (e.g. roof space), are causing impacts and alternative methods to solve the problem have not succeeded.
If you would like to trap and release a species other than possums, please email the Wildlife Management Unit for an application form.
How do I apply to trap and release possums?
Before you apply for a permit to trap and release possums read our information on Living with Wildlife - Possums.
Download the Trap and Release Protected Animals Permit application form and follow the instructions.
If your application for a permit is successful you must comply with the permit conditions, and requirements of the relevant legislation.
To help guide and inform your trap and release activities, see our guidelines for trapping possums.
Destroy wildlife causing impacts
You need a Permit to Destroy Wildlife to kill protected animals or to remove or destroy the eggs of protected animals.
The purpose of this permit is to allow people to reduce the impacts caused by wildlife, not reduce the wildlife populations.
Before you apply to destroy native animals or eggs, consider how you could live with or manage the wildlife in some other way. For more information see Living with Wildlife.
This permit may be granted when non-lethal methods to reduce the impacts have been considered and where appropriate used.
If you’re unsure if you can destroy impact causing wildlife on your property, check out the decision tree below.
For more information see the Permit to Destroy Wildlife factsheet.
How do I apply?
The process to apply for a permit differs depending on whether the wildlife on your property is considered protected or unprotected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972.
Unprotected animals
Generally you do not need a permit to destroy animals listed as unprotected, however the destruction of any animal must abide by the Animal Welfare Act 1985. If you are destroying unprotected birds by shooting you should familiarise yourself with the requirements of the Code of Practice for the humane destruction of birds by shooting.
A permit is required if you intend to destroy unprotected birds by a method other than shooting, such as to trap and use carbon dioxide narcosis to destroy galahs or little corellas.
Before this type of permit can be approved you must have completed the department’s training on trapping and gassing. Please email the Wildlife Management Unit to discuss your requirements.
To apply for this permit, download the Permit to Destroy Flocking Birds application form and follow the instructions.
If your application for a permit is successful, you must comply with the permit conditions, requirements of the regulations and the Code of Practice for the Humane Destruction of Flocking Birds by Trapping and Carbon Dioxide Narcosis.
Protected animals
You must have a permit to destroy any native animal not listed as unprotected, this includes animals such as kangaroos, wallabies, birds or wombats.
To apply for this permit, download the Permit to Destroy Wildlife application form and follow the instructions.
Property owners or occupiers can nominate other persons to destroy wildlife on their behalf on their application. Where a firearm is the proposed method of destruction, the department requires those listed on the permit to hold a valid and current firearms license.
Other persons undertaking destruction on the property must be listed on the permit and have written permission from the landholder to be on their land for the purpose of wildlife destruction. This permission to enter land templatemay be completed by a landowner to provide the written permission.
If your application for a permit is successful, wildlife must be destroyed using the most humane method to minimise the animals suffering. There are codes of practice to help you with this. You must also comply with the permit conditions and requirements of the regulations.
