Fauna by-catch in pipeline trenches: conservation, animal ethics, and current practices in Australia

We use the Eastern Gas Pipeline (EGP) in southeastern Australia as a case study to examine the value of documenting and retrieving entrapped fauna from open pipeline trenches. Daily inspection of nearly 800 km of open pipeline trenches during construction of the EGP (1999-2000) resulted in the identification of 103 vertebrate species (45 reptiles, 24 mammals, 19 frogs, 14 birds, 1 fish). Of 7438 individuals found in the open trenches, 7125 (97%) were found alive and released. Of the 224 dead animals, 29 (13 %) were of two threatened mammal species, most of which drowned in low flooded sections of trenches following rainfall. Nine threatened species were found in trenches, and an additional 5 threatened species were found along the pipeline route. Importantly, most threatened species were found outside of protected areas. Our findings indicate that wildlife conservation should play an important role in pipeline construction, but more emphasis should also be placed within the broader arena of animal ethics,...