Here’s Why Stores Are Ditching Platypus-Killing Yabby Traps
Companies are pulling yabby traps from their shelves, and it’s great news for platypuses. In the past year, 14 have been found dead after having drowned in such traps in Victoria’s public waters. So far, Anglers Warehouse, Aussie Disposals, CH Marine Smith and Kmart have agreed to stop selling these traps, meanwhile Anaconda and BCF have removed them from their online stores.
Leaving opera house–style yabby traps in public waters is illegal in Victoria, and PETA has offered a reward of $5,000 for information leading to the identification and conviction of those responsible for leaving these death traps unmonitored. The traps are used during the summer months, when female platypuses are foraging for food for their babies. If a mother is caught in a trap, her young will starve to death.
Stores are ending sales of the traps after hearing from PETA, the Victorian Alliance for Platypus-Safe Yabby Traps, and almost 10,000 PETA supporters who signed our online action. Sickeningly, they’re still being sold by Fishing Wholesalers. Please join us in asking them to take these cruel traps off their shelves.
Anyone with information about unmonitored traps in Victorian waterways is encouraged to call the Victorian Fisheries Authority on 13FISH (13 3474). To report crimes against wildlife, call Crime Stoppers on 1 800 333 000. Reporting is confidential – authorities need only your information to solve crimes, not your name.
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