![\"Lachlan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/f3f0faa45aeb365d7b6cf06085c41167f1e6b728.png\")
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March 22, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Conservationists fear wildlife poachers have been targeting animals in Darebin Parklands after more than 20 nest boxes were found damaged.<\/p>\n The Darebin Creek Management Committee raised the alarm online last month<\/a> after rangers discovered boxes perched high on trees for sugar gliders and microbats had been dismantled twice in December.<\/p>\n Peter Wiltshire, a Darebin Creek ranger for more than 40 years, said he twice returned to work after weekends to find nest boxes in two concentrated areas had been taken down.<\/p>\n He hadn\u2019t seen anything like it before.<\/p>\n Wiltshire believes the apparently methodical and targeted damage to 29 makeshift animal habitats \u2013 most requiring a ladder or pole to reach \u2013 indicate poachers could be to blame.<\/p>\n Wildlife counts taken after the incidents revealed Darebin Parklands had about 23 fewer gliders.<\/p>\n \u201cI suppose you take it personally because \u2026 it\u2019s like if someone comes into your workplace and just starts smashing up what you\u2019ve been doing,\u201d Wiltshire said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou become a park ranger because you love animals \u2026 so that side of it particularly weighed heaviest on us, knowing that perhaps the animals in those boxes would be stuffed into socks or whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n Wiltshire acknowledged there was no hard evidence yet to confirm his poaching suspicion.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Conservation Regulator said it \u201ccurrently has no evidence suggesting sugar gliders are being targeted for poaching in Victoria\u201d.<\/p>\n But the Banyule and Darebin councils put out alerts as recently as Monday<\/a> to warn locals to stay vigilant for anyone acting suspiciously around nest boxes.<\/p>\n South Australian authorities have previously warned<\/a> that sugar gliders could be targeted in the illegal wildlife trade.<\/p>\n The Darebin Creek Management Committee has pointed out that wildlife habitat disturbance is a crime<\/a>, regardless of whether animals were taken.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have been really horrified to hear that this has happened,\u201d executive officer Annette Salkeld said.<\/p>\n \u201cMany have a very strong connection to this park. They come here frequently, and have all sorts of memories from it. There really is a community sense of ownership or attachment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have volunteers who monitor the nest boxes as well. So people have been really disgusted that something like this would happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Nest boxes were first installed in Darebin Parklands almost 20 years ago<\/a> to support wildlife that otherwise didn\u2019t have a home in the reclaimed reserve, as most trees weren\u2019t mature enough to have hollows.<\/p>\n About 150 nest boxes dot bushland in Alphington today.<\/p>\n Some are created for native birds such as rosellas. Others have been made for small marsupials.<\/p>\n Many have now been redesigned so their backs more easily separate if someone tries to dislodge them, giving animals inside a better chance to escape.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a bit hard to say [gliders] were definitely taken. But everything leads to that,\u201d Salkeld said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got people who seem to know what they were doing. They seemed to know which nest boxes to target, and they targeted sugar gliders in particular.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThey probably would have had to have ladders, or equipment to get the nest boxes down.\u201d<\/p>\n A Conservation Regulator spokesperson said the body had received reports of habitat disturbance at Darebin Parklands in January but found insufficient evidence to proceed.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone with information about wildlife crime is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers Victoria,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Darebin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/95f960a0da92f8f3724ecc2ca6c5679c867e594d.jpeg\")
Darebin Creek Management Committee executive officer Annette Salkeld (left) and ranger Peter Wiltshire with a vandalised wildlife box.Ruby Alexander<\/p>\n![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/c710833d18a5047f28d14973fc7ccf8b58e85b1e.jpeg\")
Peter Wiltshire with a vandalised nest box. The boxes are used to temporarily recreate tree hollow habitat when the surrounding trees aren\u2019t mature enough to have hollows.Ruby Alexander<\/p>\n![\"Annette](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/be22979b4f86e47eb3d464b223f4a8b91cd3abf8.jpeg\")
Annette Salkeld (left) and Peter Wiltshire beneath a nest box in a part of Darebin Parklands that was damaged over summer.Ruby Alexander<\/p>\n![\"Conservationists](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/53e6d1d7f0fb9d2f37c167f7a0305902c5615fd0.jpeg\")
Conservationists fear Australian sugar gliders were taken from Darebin Parklands.James Alcock<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/9a3f8477c9a8c1f4d0fab12a569580ba62396115.jpeg\")
A nest box in Darebin Parklands.Ruby Alexander<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3cb2ccf205bd05f0dac9911100d207566ad646df.jpeg\")
A grey butcherbird in Darebin Parklands.Ruby Alexander<\/p>\n