Seven rare eggs removed from secret nesting site

Updated: Seven coastal emu eggs were removed and placed in an incubator after logging workers discovered them in an Australian forest.

Michael Dahlstrom
·Environment Editor
Updated ·4-min read
A logged state forest on the NSW North Coast. Coastal Emu eggs inset.
Logging operations at a secret site on the NSW North Coast have ceased after the discovery of a rare coastal emu egg nest. Source: Mark Graham

More than a week after an announcement that a clutch of the world’s rarest bird eggs had been discovered, the NSW government has voluntarily ceased its logging operations around the now empty nesting site.

The reason for the decision remains unclear, but it follows a public outcry about the operation’s impact on the state’s last remaining coastal emus, of which fewer than 50 survive in the wild.

Before the decision, state-owned Forestry Corporation had created a 100-metre buffer zone around the "miracle" nest that fulfilled its legal obligations, but conservationists derided it as a “woefully inadequate” protection measure. “Forestry Corp has voluntarily ceased the nearby timber harvesting operation as of this afternoon, 10 September 2024,” a spokesperson told Yahoo News on Wednesday.

North Coast conservationist Mark Graham welcomed the decision but said logging should have stopped as soon as eggs from the endangered emu population were discovered.

“The fact that no stop-work order or cessation of logging was implemented earlier goes to the heart of the problem. The very rarest vertebrate in northern NSW has been pushed much closer to extinction by these industrial logging operations. The moment coastal emus were discovered in that landscape all industrial logging should have ceased immediately,” he said.

Left: Logged forest on the NSW North Coast. Right: Close up of a coastal emu.
Sue Higginson is concerned about the impact of logging on endangered coastal emus. Source: Daniel McKeon/Clarence Valley Council/Mark Graham

The eggs were discovered by forestry workers as they scanned the forest prior to harvesting. Yesterday the Corporation told Yahoo the find confirms its practices are “effective in identifying and protecting habitat”.

However Greens MP Sue Higginson responded by accusing Forestry Corporation of attempting to “spin this story as a good news moment”. “But it couldn't be further from the truth. I've seen the on-ground photos and videos of the logging, and the landscape is absolutely devastated," she said.

"I don't use the word miracle lightly, but it is a miracle that any coastal emu remained close enough to the nests despite the loud and disruptive logging nearby."

Forestry Corporation's operations were conducted approximately 4.6 kilometres from the coastal emu nesting site this week, prior to it voluntarily halting work.

A spokesperson told Yahoo News, "The nest was found in a regrowth forest that is designated for multiple uses including timber production and has been harvested multiple times and regrown in the past."

"Recent operations in the forest where the nest was found commenced in December 2023 and approximately 400 hectares have been selectively harvested. Prior to these operations, timber harvesting has taken place within one kilometre of where this nest was found in 2020, 2010, 2007 and 2002, and the area was also harvested and regrown multiple times in the previous century."

The Department of Environment’s Save Our Species (SoS) program worked with the Corporation to examine the eggs. A spokesperson confirmed there are no longer any eggs left at the site. And Yahoo understands there are two other coastal emu nests which have been found on privately owned land.

Seven eggs were removed from the original nest and of these two hatched. Sadly one of the chicks died from a yet to be determined cause, and tests will now be undertaken. Five remain in the incubator and their status remains unknown.

Just three eggs were left at the nesting site, and the male stayed nearby. “Two eggs hatched, and the male left the nest with chicks once they were mobile. One egg was unviable, which is not uncommon, and has been collected for testing. It is not considered abandoning a nest to move on after the majority of chicks have hatched” a Department spokesman said.

The emu eggs discovered on the NSW North Coast by the Forestry Corporation.
Forestry Corporation maintains the discovery of the emu eggs demonstrates its methods are effective at protecting the environment. Source: Forestry Corporation

The Department told Yahoo News the eggs were not removed because of specific threats but rather so they could be used as part of its SoS captive breeding program.

"The captive breeding program is considered the best and potentially only way to recover this endangered population," a spokesperson for the Department said.

After the emu eggs were discovered, Higginson repeatedly called for the logging to stop. Because of the delay, she has warned the remaining coastal emu population is now more vulnerable to threats including invasive species and bushfires. With more severe and frequent bushfires expected because of climate change, she is concerned they could be “catastrophic” for the species.

"This forest is critical habitat for a species that is on the brink of extinction, the fact that the Minns Labor Government allowed the logging to occur here speaks volumes about their disregard for genuine nature repair."

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