Eighty ‘healthy’ sheep drop dead on export flight from Australia to Indonesia
Investigations are still ongoing into how 80 sheep died during air transport to Indonesia.
According to the Australian Livestock Exporters Council, the breeding sheep died on Saturday night after the animals, which had flown from Sydney, were checked and found to be healthy.
The Ministry of Agriculture, which oversees the export of live animals, is investigating.
“It is too early to comment on the incident or speculate on a possible cause,” a ministry spokesman said.
The sheep, who were Dorpers, were on their way to Jakarta.
According to government data, 11 sheep died during export by air between 2019 and 2023, while 132,499 sheep were exported by air during that period.
The Council, LiveAir, the exporter and the air freight carrier are cooperating with the regulator during the investigation.
The RSPCA has long campaigned against the export of live animals by sea, saying the industry is ‘irreparable’.
Investigations continue into how 80 sheep died during air transport to Indonesia (archive image)
“We expect the exporter and the government as regulator to be open and transparent with the Australian community about what happened, what went wrong and what steps are being taken to prevent this happening to Australian sheep in the future,” an RSPCA spokesman said.
The export of live sheep by sea will be banned from May 2028 after legislation passed the Senate in July. Air freight, however, will be allowed to continue.
The unions vowed to end the seaborne trade amid animal rights concerns after thousands of sheep died from heat stress during the crossing to the Middle East.
The federal government has made available a $107 million transition package for affected farmers.
Last-minute lobbying by Western Australian farmers and exporters was not enough to block the legislation.
Farmers have warned that a number of Western Australian towns will go under if the law comes into effect and have vowed to target Labor’s marginal seats.