Feral Thoughts

If you ever get the chance: visit Tasmania.

  
I visit Tasmania regularly for work because the Invasive Animals CRC funds a bunch of research down there.  CSIRO has perhaps the best position of any research lab anywhere in Hobart and, although it is a marine division, they undertake lots of work for us on common carp control.  The fox incursion also takes some time and generally the meetings are in Hobart as well. I rarely get any opportunity to see outside the capital, the second city established in Australia. So this year, our family decided to do a pre-Christmas tour of the Island, moving counter-clockwise after arriving at Launceston in the north. A week and a half wasn't nearly enough to even sample everything on offer.

Three-quarters of the family is wildlife-obsessed and Tasmania is known as one of Australia's wildlife hot spots. Twelve-going-on-twenty-four boy can take or leave the wildlife and landscapes and is more into fast-moving machinery. So jet-boating the King River on the west coast was probably the highlight: stomach churning spins then a walk through a Huon pine forest to an incredible lookout to mountains named for the protagonists of the evolution debate. The convict history of the west is fascinating - I knew the cannibal escapee story of Alexander Pierce to a degree (recently played by the CRC's Chair's son, Oscar Reading in Van Dieman's Land). But I had no knowledge of the ship-stealing convicts that made it to Chile depicted in The Ship That Never Was, Australia's longest-running play, showing every night in Strachan.

Another highlight was the penguin tour at Bicheno on the east coast. It takes a lot of people to organise night-time tours to see little penguins come into nests for the night: the tour guide, the bus-driver, the ticket-seller, the three or four people organising the movement of people. This is one of the industries that would be most affected if the red fox establishes in Tasmania.  Bicheno is one of many places in the State where penguins can be seen in a relatively undisturbed environment. But unfortunately they can't co-exist with foxes - we see that in Phillip Island in Victoria where only one colony remains of about a dozen originally (apparently worth something like $80 million to that State's economy).

A Parliamentary Accounts Committee has recently reported on the fox issue in Tasmania and concluded that the cost of the program is insignificant compared with the cost foxes would incur if they establish.  A couple of dozen species could disappear, which makes the fox issue one for anyone with an interest in biodiversity, not just for Tasmanians.

Tasmania is proud of its position on the edge of the world (there is even a place named Edge of the World). We need to preserve its biodiversity values - but it is much more than a museum or wildlife park - it's a vibrant, fun place to visit if you ever get the chance.

The old dingo joke - apparently NOT an urban myth

I must admit I was in the camp that believed the old dingo joke was an urban myth.  You'll know the one when it's repeated below.

When the joke was featured in a recent newsletter, dog researchers around the country started an email exchange questioning its validity. Too many had heard it attributed to too many politicians. However, Queensland researcher Lee Allen has demonstrated the truth (once again!). He has supplied the Hansard record showing that legendary Queensland politician Russ Hinze gave the response. The record shows:

Mr BURNS: Listen closely to this. In the Government party room, during a debate about dingoes killing sheep, the former Liberal member for Salisbury, Rosemary Kyburz, suggested that dingoes should be castrated. Hinze's response—and I have cleaned it up a bit—was, "They're killing the sheep, love, not stuffing them."

There's still some room for doubt as this is a second hand account, but it is given with sufficient authority that I think we'll chalk the comment down to Mr Hinze. Russ Hinze of course was a very large man, whose neck had disappeared over the years. I remember the joke (which I kind of doubt is true) of the young veterinarian trying to give an injection to a turtle which had drawn all its limbs into its shell. A guy in the waiting room offered to help and came round the counter and immediately inserted a digit into the turtle's bum. The turtle stuck his head right out in total surprise and the young vet gave the injection.  "Gee you must have worked with animals before" she said to the man.  "No" he replied, "I was once Russ Hinze' valet and it was the only way to get his bow tie on".

I'm still not convinced on Private Game Reserves

The Shooter's Party in New South Wales has promoted an amendment to the Game and Feral Animal Act in that State. The proposal would essentially allow for three things:

• Hunting in National Parks under the same provision as currently happens for State Forests, administered by a statutory body, the Game Council;
  
• Changes to classification of some species to make them "game" animals under the Act, including some native species in certain circumstances, as well as changing the rules on what can happen with native animals in a cull operation (e.g. allow people to use culled kangaroos as food rather than having to leave them lie); and
• allow for the set up of Private Game Reserves in the State.

I've been outspoken on the last point, because the science points to the fact that private game reserves as proposed in the amendment are likely to become sources of new invasive animals. We know that a major risk factor in establishment of feral populations is the number of times the animals are released into the environment, so I think it is irresponsible to set up systems that allow for repeated release.

I've left comment on the other issues associated with the legislation to other people because these are more about judgement calls, rather than science.

Head of the Shooter's Party in NSW, Robert Brown MLC, has written to me and his comments can be seen in the comments section of the previous post. At the Australasian Wildlife Management Society Conference over the past few days, I also listened to a symposium on Game management, including advocacy for this legislative change from Game Council of NSW Councillor Stephen Larsson. I'm still not convinced.

Robert Brown of the NSW Shooter's Party responded to my response as follows. I've posted on the issue again today.



Hi Tony. Yes I see your point. But I don't agree with some of your

logic.

IRT the pygmy Hippo, I'm sure you aren't suggesting that similar ( say,

African/Asian) animals would be introduced into Private Game Reserves in NSW. The animals ( and birds) that are commonly found

in PGRs in other States, are all currently resident in Oz. Are you

suggesting that PGRs would present a bigger risk (than zoos )as far as

escapes are concerned? I'm guessing at your reference to "extreme" risk

of establishment being Bobwhite Quail?

If you have any data or evidence on threats to biodiversity or

biosecurity that have resulted as a result of escapes from Private Game

Reserves in other States, I'd be keen to hear from you.

WRT which particular animals and birds would be authorised under the

proposed licencing system,

you would be aware that the G&FAC Act is administered in NSW by the same Minister that administers the Non Indigenous Animals Act, the Rural Lands Protection Act, the Deer Act, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

The same Minister, whilst not having carriage of Zoos, has carriage of

the Acts binding most animal husbandry in NSW.

Thus the type/number etc. of animals and birds, and the conditions under

which they may be released or hunted, will be prescribed in Regulations

to the Act, in the same fashion as the farm animal industries are

Regulated.

This ( use of Regulation) is of course normal for all jurisdictions (

Federal, State, and Local Government).

Kind Regards,

Robert

Pygmy hippo shooting shows stupidity of advocating live game reserves

The mistaken shooting of a pygmy hippopotamus in the Northern Territory highlights the sheer dopiness of those advocating live game reserves in Australia. The animal in question was probably living alone in the wild for years before its demise, most likely left over following a game park failure. Advocates falsely claim a conservation benefit for African species from keeping breeding herds in order to shoot the offspring for fun. I don't buy it.

The key to conserving African animals is preserving African habitat. The argument that live game reserves outside Africa can contribute to conservation is nothing more than a thin veil to allow hunters the opportunity to hunt exotic wildlife nearer to home.  Nothing more. I don't think the public is fooled by these silly claims, but let's have a look at them anyway:

• It's an exceptionally expensive way of conserving a species. Private game parks have a notorious habit of going broke. It's usually the animals that end up paying the price of the folly, but sometimes taxpayers pick up the scraps or the environment is left with a new invader. The business model of charging for shooting the surplus exotics never measures up - especially in Australia where lots of free ferals are available to shoot. 
• It "conserves" the wrong species. It doesn't make sense to only conserve species that make good targets. Conservation is about much more than that. I'm always reminded of the Gary Larson cartoon of of the unfortunate deer with a target on him: "Bummer of a birthmark, Hal" says his mate.
• Animals escape and have an impact on the environment. Exotic animals have almost zero chance of repatriation to their native landscapes. But they do end up discarded or escaping and causing environmental problems in their new environment. In legislation before the NSW Parliament at the moment, there is not even any penalty for the live game reserve operator if (read "when") birds escape the reserve. This is a recipe for new invasive species establishing and has many precedents.

I'm neither anti-hunting or anti-gun. I think the hunting lobby is much better off to stop making outlandish claims about the possible conservation benefits of hunting and simply be more upfront. Hunting is a necessary part of managing a number of feral species, particularly herbivores where there are few, if any, alternatives. But spouting conservation outcomes from canned hunting operations erodes credibility very quickly.

Hippo shot in outback

A pygmy hippopotamus. A pygmy hippopotamus has been shot dead during a pig hunting expedition in the Northern Territory. A pygmy hippopotamus has been shot dead during a pig hunting expedition in the Northern Territory.Nico Courtney, 27, was out spot-lighting for pigs with mates in the Douglas Daly region on Saturday night when he accidentally shot the vulnerable African rainforest dweller.Stories about sightings of African wildlife wandering the NT outback have long been shared among locals.But it wasn't until Mr Courtney stumbled on the dead hippopotamus, after shooting what he believed to be a wild pig, that he realised the campfire yarns about free-roaming exotic animals were true."From the tail end it looked just like a big pig," Mr Courtney said."We got out and had a look at it and thought: that's not a pig, it's a hippo."Then we thought: you don't get hippos in Australia."Mr Courtney went to bed hoping to reassess the situation in the daylight, but woke to find it was, in fact, still a pygmy hippo.The station hand's boss, Gordon Coward said he suspected the animal had come from what was formerly known as Tipperary Sanctuary."I heard all sorts of funny stories of breakouts and people kept saying, 'look out for giraffes in the paddock', but I didn't think much of them," he said.If the hippo did come from the sanctuary, it has survived in the NT outback without the help of humans for several years.Tipperary Station, near Douglas Daly about 200 kilometres south of Darwin, was turned into an exotic wildlife sanctuary by its former owner.Warren Anderson, a millionaire property developer, eventually tried to sell the animals after being wrongly accused by the state government of animal cruelty in 2003.Some of the animal transfers were reportedly delayed and confused by the legal battle which ensued between Mr Anderson and the NT government in 2006.A spokesman for the Douglas Daly Research Farm, where the hippo's body was stored on Sunday in a cold room, said the Darwin Museum had expressed an interest in the animal.It was sent to the taxidermist on Monday.However, it is believed that the carcass may have been left unrefrigerated for too long and, as a result, may be unsuitable for display.The hippo, whose species is not far from being classified as extinct, is normally native to the swamps of west Africa, in Liberia.Mr Courtney told ABC Radio on Monday he would never have shot the hippo had he known what it was."It is not really a trophy or something you would brag about, it makes me feel sick," he said.AAP

via www.theage.com.au

Most people seem to have seen this story but I keep getting asked about it - the dopiness of live game reserves in my view.

Feral pigs a major concern to domestic pig producers

Pork producers in Australia face a tough task just to survive in the business.  It's a competitive environment with low pork prices and high feed costs characterizing the industry.  

The presence of feral pigs that might transmit an exotic disease in the event of an outbreak can be yet another stress in the management of a piggery. Recently I gave a talk to some Queensland pork producers who were concerned about the possible involvement of feral pigs in outbreaks of pneumonia, which can cost a piggery a tonne of money.  Following outbreaks of pneumonia in several commercial piggeries in the State, local feral pigs were found to be carrying the disease as well.  This doesn't mean the disease came from the feral pigs, mind you: it's possible they got it from the commercial pigs.  But it can't be a good thing.