Developing exhibited animal management plans

When applying to exhibit or deal with animals in Queensland, you must develop a management plan that identifies the relevant risks and adverse effects associated with dealing with, or exhibiting, the animal. The Exhibited Animals Act 2015 outlines when a management plan is required.

To help you develop a management plan, we've developed the following template and a guideline:

• Management plan template (with guidelines) (DOCX, 70KB)
• Guideline for completing management plans (PDF, 1.2MB).

You do not have to use the management template, but you have to ensure that you provide the information that will fulfil Section 37 of the Exhibited Animals Act 2015.

Proposed management plans need to be submitted when you submit an application to apply to become an exhibition licence or interstate exhibitors permit holder.

• Application for exhibition licence
• Application for interstate exhibitors permit

You will also need to submit a management plan to amend an existing licence or permit. Licence amendments may include applying for a special exhibition approval or adding an additional species to an exhibition licence or interstate exhibitors permit. Some examples of management plans are below, these examples do not prescribe how animals must be exhibited or dealt with, they are a guide to help you understand the type of information the Department requires to assess an application:

• Example category A management plan (Aspidites) (DOCX, 73KB)
• Example category A management plan (Elapides) (DOCX, 73KB)
• Example category B management plan (Barn owl) (DOCX, 73KB)
• Example category B management plan (Estuarine and freshwater crocodile) (DOCX, 74KB)
• Example category B management plan (European rabbit) (DOCX, 71KB)
• Example category B management plan (Koala) (DOCX, 73KB)
• Example category B management plan (Macropod species) (DOCX, 70KB)
• Example category C management plan (Meerkat) (DOCX, 48KB)
• Example category C2 management plan (Boa constrictor) (DOCX, 68KB)
• Example category C2 management plan (Callitrichidae family – Common and Pygmy) (DOCX, 69B).

Proposed activities to be recorded on the licence or permit

A management plan must detail relevant activities you propose to undertake with a species or an individual of a species. You must identify what activities you propose to conduct and include details of how you intend to exhibit and deal with the animals.

As well as exhibiting an animal in a regular enclosure at the regular enclosure site for education purposes, you may also propose to display the animal in a controlled area outside the regular enclosure or in a controlled area off the regular enclosure site. Information addressing the risks associated with each of these activities, including whether or not there will be public interaction and how you will mitigate the associated risks, must be included in your management plan.

If an activity is approved it will be recorded on the licence. The approval is based on the information contained in the management plan submitted with your application for the licence, which must detail associated risks and how the activity is to be carried out. To defer from the approved activities without a reasonable excuse and without an amendment to the original management plan may result in a licence holder breaching the conditions of the licence or permit.

Management plans for more than 1 species

A management plan may cover more than 1 species within a category, depending on the risks associated with each species and how similar they are.

Management plans for category A species

Some category A species (such as native turtles) may potentially be managed similarly with regards to animal welfare, biosecurity or health and safety. They may have similar requirements for housing, daily care, exhibit on and off the regular enclosure site and transportation enclosures.

For example, you may choose to address the relevant risks associated with enclosure size by identifying a number of different types of enclosures by size and structure which are allocated to various species and a maximum number of individual animals for each enclosure dependent on their carapace size.

Management plans for category B and C species

Category B and C species may have similar risks regarding animal welfare and how they are managed on a daily basis. However, these risks would be managed separately for different species in each category. Risks such as enclosures and their specifications, diet, handling and transportation enclosures are very different and therefore a separate management plan for species within these separate categories will be required.

Creating standard operating procedures

If you manage the risks of dealing with a number of species in the same way (e.g. with routine management systems which do not change), you may submit an overarching policy, such as a standard operating procedure (SOP), of how you propose to deal with that situation.

The SOP could potentially cover information for species in more than one management plan, provided the risks for all animals recorded in the SOP are managed in the same way. The creation of SOPs assists the authority holder, or a relevant person operating under the authority, to understand the steps they need to undertake to complete actions relevant to specific situations.

As well as detailing what to do in the event of an escape for a particular animal or species of animal, SOPs may also be created for routine management systems such as:

• enclosure cleaning
• animal diets and feeding
• feeding of dangerous snakes or dangerous mammals which are fed in a similar manner
• animal handling for species which are handled similarly.

The management plan would still need to refer to the information specific to animals or species of animal in the SOPs, however you will not need to detail the same information in each management plan.