Feral Thoughts

PASTEUR'S GAMBIT - Louis Pasteur, The Australasian Rabbit Plague and a Ten Million Dollar Prize

Rabbits were present on the First Fleet, but they were domesticated and never became feral.  It was on Christmas Day 1859 that a couple of dozen wild European rabbits were off loaded from the Brig Lightning, destined for Thomas Austins' property near Geelong.  Within a remarkably short time, the descendants of these rabbits were over-running Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales, fast on their way to Queensland and Western Australia.  Separate releases meant Tasmania and New Zealand were battling their own rabbit plagues.

Less than half a century later, the colonies were desperate for a solution.  Bounties on the rabbits was not working and the problem was growing to the extent that graziers threatened to walk off the land.  The colonial governments, dependent on the funds from grazing leases, were nervous.  So the Premier of New South Wales, Sir Henry Parkes proposed an international competition, with a prize equivalent to $10 million today, for anyone that could come up with a biological solution. 

The Inter-colonial Rabbit Commission formed to judge the 1500 entries was the forerunner of the constitutional conferences that resulted in the formation of the Australian nation.

Author Stephen Dando-Collins has unearthed the extraordinary story of the bid by the world's most famous scientist, Louis Pasteur, to capture the $10 million prize.  By 1887, Pasteur had a remarkable history of achievement: he had given birth to the science of microbiology by debunking the theory of spontaneous generation; developed a vaccine for rabies; uncovered the basis of beer and wine fermentation and laid the foundation of modern experimental methods.  His legacy, the Pasteur Institute was not yet a reality, with a public subscription falling short of the target to commence building.

Recovering from a stroke brought on by the financial worry of completing his Institute, Pasteur's wife read him an advertisement for the rabbit competition placed by the NSW government. A eureka moment (or a voilà one?) followed as the famed scientist was convinced he had the solution to the plague: fowl cholera.  He'd previously worked on the disease and knew it killed rabbits in a matter of hours.  He immediately made plans to capture the $10 million prize.

Pasteur’s 24-year-old nephew, Adrien Loir, was his assistant-cum-emissary having worked at his right hand for six years and represented the famed scientist to the Czar of Russia and the beer brewer's of Holland.  Loir was sent to test the fowl cholera technique on a rabbit-infested enclosure at the Pommery Champagne Estate and following that success was packed off to Sydney at the head of a small team.

What follows is nothing short of extraordinary.  Only hours into the trip, Loir finds that his English interpreter is a fraud, speaking less French than Loir had English.  This is the first of a long series of hurdles put in the way of the young scientist in his quest to win the prize and cement his uncle's legacy.  Dando-Collins unfolds political and scientific intrigue, sabotage attempts and much more as the dashing Loir becomes a favourite to the colony's social elite.  The legendary French actress Sarah Bernhardt even plays a part as she takes him under her wing (and more...) during the Sydney season of her world tour.

Stephen Dando-Collins last book was Bligh's Other Mutiny in which he told the story of Bligh's lesser-known second mutiny, losing the Governorship of New South Wales, effectively leaving the colony a republic for two years.  That book combined excellent research and a tale that made it hard to put down.  Pasteur's Gambit is told at an equivalent pace so I found myself thinking "just one more chapter before bed".  Dando-Collins does an excellent job of describing the science and the historical context without ever becoming tedious and the book is certainly not just for scientists or people interested in the rabbit story.  The purists may pick up that the author transposes viruses and bacteria a few times and - heaven forbid - refers once to the rabbit as a rodent (it is of cause a lagomorph).

Pasteur's Gambit is a fantastic story made better by the fact that it is true.  Dando-Collins has uncovered a story very few people knew anything about, gone on to research rich untapped material, and skillfully laid it out.  The result is part science, part history, sprinklings of drama and ultimately a real adventure.  

Australia Zoo impresses

With an animal-mad 10-year old son, my family and I took the opportunity to visit Australia Zoo north of Brisbane, ahead of the International Animal Welfare meeting on the Gold Coast.  We were all incredibly impressed.

Australia Zoo is of course "home of the Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin who passed away two years ago.  It is continuing to expand at an extraordinary pace.   The whole experience was brilliant, but a few things stood out:

• Australia Zoo aims to promote conservation through "exciting education".  That means close, hands on experience with the animals where possible.  It is also the area where many wildlife people and conservationists express reservations about the Irwin style - many people feel the handling of the wildlife in the Crocodile Hunter series to go over the top.  This visit convinced me that there is a heck of a lot of merit in the Irwin approach.  Kids and adults alike are absolutely captivated by the keeper talks and the animal shows.  The signage and display designs are as good as I've seen (and I was at San Diego Zoo earlier this year) and did fulfil the goal of "exciting education".
• The Keepers and in fact all staff, are extraordinary.  I don't know if their attitude and enthusiasm flows from Steve and Terri Irwin's passion - whatever Australia Zoo is doing, it is working.  We thought the positive attitude seemed to come through in the animals, and after attending the various sessions at the International Animal Welfare Conference afterwards, I'm convinced that's true.
• The grounds are incredibly clean and neat.  The rainforest walk-through aviary would be a world-class showpiece simply for its gardens, let alone the bird life.  Even though the Zoo is expanding, there was no construction interfering with current displays.  The investment going into the place must be massive (no small task given it is an entirely privately funded Zoo).

The Irwins have a very strong view against native animal harvesting.  That view is in contrast to many conservationists who see kangaroo and crocodile harvesting as a positive for the environment.  There are strong arguments that kangaroo harvesting can reduce the carbon footprint and impact on soils if it replaces sheep or cattle farming.  Certainly my 10-year old Sam quickly formed the opinion that the Irwins were on the right side of the argument: earlier this year he visited a commercial crocodile farm near Darwin and came away thinking the farming was simply too intensive, given the obvious injuries some of the animals were carrying.  He much preferred the maximum two to a pen at Australia Zoo.

Finally, I was encouraged by the display and talks on feral animals.  The camel and red fox information was completely correct, interesting and given in a manner sympathetic to the individual animals and balanced with the environmental consequences.

I thoroughly recommend a day (two would be better) at Australia Zoo.  Even if you are cynical about Steve Irwin's presentation of wildlife, or the Irwin's views on some aspects of conservation, park those concerns for a day and see for yourself the amazing promotion of conservation going on up there. 

Australian Wildlife Conservancy - doing some amazing stuff

Australian Wildlife Conservancy continues to amaze everyone.  They announced in the last couple of days that they've purchased Marion Downs in the Kimberly, next to their Mornington Sanctuary.  A couple of weeks ago, AWC's founder Martin Copley was listed as one of Australia's "most inspiring" by a national paper and a couple of years ago the organisation won the Prime Minister's Environmentalist of the Year Prize.

So what's the secret of this private conservation group?

Last week, I was privileged to tour their Scotia Sanctuary in far west New South Wales and get a peak into the group. (Better declare a conflict on interest - AWC's Chief Executive Atticus Fleming is on my Board).  It was immediately apparent to me that AWC has some fantastic things going for it:

• Committed staff that are knowledgeable and feel part of something important.  I'm not sure who selects AWC staff, but they shouldn't change a thing.  Pest Animal Control Officer at Scotia, Tony Cathcart addressed my Board and is one of those guys with a rare combination of field skills (we got a brilliant account of the 187 traps days to get the last cat on Scotia), record keeping, scientific knowledge and an ability to relate the whole package to others.
• A business approach to wildlife.  I'm not sure that I'm describing things correctly but the largely business-skilled Board at AWC obviously requires high levels of monitoring and performance review.  The measurement of performance goes past what is normally possible on public lands.  But the business model is a not-for-profit one (Scotia and a few of the other Sanctuaries were bought after the collapse of the for-profit Earth Sanctuaries) - so it is business-like with a view to costs and performance but with the purpose of conserving wildlife, not making money.
• Good sanctuary selection.  AWC has gone for large sanctuaries, usually in fairly good condition on purchase and usually with key species for conservation.  Many of their sanctuaries link national parks.

I got to see my first Bilbie's in the wild, as well as boodies (Burrowing Bettong) and mala (Rufous hare-wallaby). I missed seeing the woylies (Brush-tailed Bettongs) and only saw the nest of the Stick-Nest rat, which was surprisingly large.  As horrible as it sounds, I can understand an exhausted explorer or drover being grateful to find a stick-nest at the end of the day and building a fire on it - it really looks like someone has got the kindling together.

Australian Wildlife Conservancy is funded by private donations.  Having visited and seen their work first-hand, I feel terrific about my small monthly donation.  Scotia is not open for public visits, but some of AWC's other sanctuaries are - see their website www.awc.org.au/

Carp on the move - and into traps!

On yesterday's ABC 666 spot, Dr. Ben Smith of the South Australian Research and Development Institute reported that carp have begun to move in the Murray River, maybe signalling the end of the Australian winter.  Ben is monitoring carp behaviour on Banrock Station in South Australia.  Last year, the Station's wetlands were drained and tens of thousands of European Carp were left stranded - very few carp left the wetlands with the flow of water.  Australian native fish, however, took the opposite decision, leaving with the draining water.

This phenonmenon probably results from different evolutionary responses of native fish compared to carp.  Native fish in a place as dry as Australia probably equate lowering water levels with coming drought and so swim with the flow.  Carp might be associating the water flow with wetlands flooding, which is more in line with their native Asia ("European" carp are actually Asian originally).  Hence, the carp swam against the water flow, into the draining wetland.

Pictured behind Ben in the picture is a carp separation cage.  These cages rely on carp behaviour of jumping over a barrier, whereas Australian natives don't generally jump.  This behaviour is being exploited to separate carp from the rest of the fish population.  Because the Murray-Darling Basin Commission have built fishways from the Hume Dame to the sea, these separation cages are a brilliant development in practical carp control.  The one behind Ben is actually also fitted with a push-trap device to exploit pushing behaviour as well.

Over the past few months, this trap on the inlet to the Banrock wetlands would not contain carp because they are not active at this time of year.  Ben said in the interview that on the drive from Adelaide he noticed Almond trees coming into bloom - a sign of the turning season.  On getting to Banrock he was presented with this haul of carp.

This is another example of the "Achilles' Heel" approach to pest management - exploiting some physical or behavioural feature of the pest to isolate it in some way from the native population.  It's also an example of one of the many, many great things happening on our river system - the lack of water obviously dominates the headlines and we forget that goods things are happening as well.

Maryland Savannah causing concern

Amongst all the attention this week in Australia regarding the banning of the Savannah cat, a parallel story has been running in the United States. Students at the University of Maryland reported sighting of a cougar, causing a nationwide burst of attention. It turns out not to be a cougar at all but a Savannah cat (probably). It has now been captured on film, but continues to roam the campus. It hasn't caused any problems, and is most likely someone's escaped pet.

Savannah Cats banned from Australia

Brilliant news today with the announcement by Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, that Savannah Cats will not be allowed into Australia.

The Minister has used his powers under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 to amend the definition of domestic cat to rule out cats with genes from the Serval.  Good on him.  I'm not sure of the details yet, but that should be enough to discourage others contemplating bringing exotic "pets" with wild genes into the country to think again.  The potential cost to Australia's environment is simply too high.

Apparently, the Department considered 549 submissions, and 526 of these supported a ban - that's an extraordinary response to a wildlife issue.  It shows people value our unique environment and don't want it put at further risk.

What's on the menu?

Imagine a line of trucks from Sydney to Grafton on the New South Wales north coast.  More than five hours driving at the speed limit hurtling past truck after truck lined up bumper to bumper.

Now fill the back of every one of those trucks with wildlife.  Feathertail gliders, Mountain Pygmy Possums, dunnarts and New Holland mice.  Wonga pigeons and little penguins.  Green tree frogs and frill-necked lizards.  Fill those trucks to the top. (Yes, they'd be rabbits and black rats and a few Indian mynahs too).

A line of trucks from Sydney almost to Queensland filled with wildlife.  Unique wildlife.  Wildlife you don't really get anywhere else on earth.

That's the diet of Australia's feral cat population.  For one year.

It's hard to believe but there may be as many as 18 million feral cats in the country, each eating about a hundred and twenty five grams of food each day.  For a single cat eating only Mountain Pygmy Possums, that would be almost 800 possums a year.  If each cat eats 125 grams a day, that's a daily diet of 2250 tonnes, or 820,000 tonnes a year.  At an average payload of 25 tonnes, that's close to 33,000 truck-fulls.  And at 19 metres a truck (I rang the Australian Trucking Association), bumper-to-bumper they'd run for 622,440 metres.  Sydney to Grafton.  My goodness.

Of course those figures are based on a 3.8 kg average feral cat size.  If cats get bigger with new genes into the population (as we now know dogs have), they'll need to eat more.  The convoy of trucks would then be on the outskirts of Brisbane.

Thanks to Tony Buckmaster, PhD student with the CRC and Sydney University, for helping with these figures.

Battle of the petitions

The snake people started a petition to the Minister for the Environment calling on him to review the import of Savannah cats (which he has done, presumably before receiving the petition).  The importers of the cats started one a few days later.

It's running 10 or 11 to 1 against the cats at the moment.  However, I'm giving my award for the best comment to a lady that is pro-Savannahs  She reckoned it was all a storm in a tea cup and concludes that it "is people I'd be more worried about.  And wicked kids" (my emphasis).

I reckon there has to be a story in that.  Bet it involves rock-throwing.

Anyway, the link to the petitions are below:

This one if you don't want the cats:

http://www.gopetition.com.au/petitions/savannah-cats/signatures.html

And so I don't get accused of one-sided bias; this one if you want the cats:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-savannah-cat-breed/signatures.html

The comments are interesting.

Thank you Minister!

Australian Government Minister for the Environment, Peter Garrett, has announced a review of the import of Savannah cats.  This is a terrific outcome.  Our main concern was that these animals could simply come in as "domestic" cats with no risk assessment of their potential impact on the environment.  This is exactly the outcome we asked the Minister to ensure occurs.  Good on him for acting so quickly.  His media release is reproduced below.

IMPORTATION OF SAVANNAH CATS UNDER REVIEW

Environment Minister Peter Garrett has initiated a review of the potential impacts of hybrid Savannah cats, which could see the cats banned in Australia.

Mr Garrett said a draft assessment report had been released to assist considerations about the potential impacts of the cats on the Australian environment and whether they should be prohibited from import, under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

“I’m really concerned about the potential threat to the environment from the importation of the Savannah cat and we will be looking very closely at this.  That’s why I have asked my department to undertake the proper assessment process as quickly as possible,” Mr Garrett said.

“Savannah cats are a cross between a Serval, which is an African wildcat, and a domestic cat and they can grow much larger than normal domestic cats.

“This report looks at the risk of Savannah cats becoming feral if not properly contained, and notes that there is potential for these cats to easily adapt to the Australian environment.  Estimates suggest there could already be up to 12 million feral cats across Australia and they are already one of single biggest killers of Australian native animals.

“This report suggests that the potential breeding-in of wildcat genes to existing feral cat populations could see them develop even better hunting skills.

“I will not hesitate to use the powers available to me under the EPBC Act to prohibit the import of Savannah cats if it is necessary to protect the environment.”

The draft assessment report is available for public comment for 20 business days, closing on 17 July 2008.  Details of the invitation to comment and how to respond are available on the DEWHA website at:

http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/trade-use/invitecomment/index.html

“I encourage interested parties to provide comment on the report so I can ensure I take all relevant information into account,” Mr Garrett said.

The department will review all comments received and any additional information provided in preparing the report.  It will then be provided to the Minister for consideration.

Vets, RSPCA and Rural Lands Boards lead the way

Australia's peak group for animal welfare, the RSPCA; the Australian Veterinary Association and the NSW  Rural Lands Protections Boards have all come out saying we don't need hybrid dogs and cats in Australia.  These are people that know animals.  They all believe the risk of allowing wild-domestic cross animals into Australia is too high.

It really doesn't matter that the hybrids will be fifth generation away from their wild ancestors.  It is the new genes that matter.  At yesterday's State-wide Conference of Rural Lands Protection Boards in NSW, I showed data from CRC scientists that Australia's wild dog population is getting bigger.  Wild dogs in Southern Australia are 24% bigger than they were prior to 1970.  This implies that the genetic phenomenon of heterosis, or hybrid vigour, is occurring already in Australian wild dogs.  The delegates immediately passed a unanimous resolution to support the Invasive Animals CRC seeking changes to our importation rules.  The system that makes it legal for people to bring wolf-dog hybrids needs to change.  Maybe as many as half a million Americans own a wolf-dog hybrid for example, and we don't want them coming here.

http://www.rspca.org.au/mediareleases/MRShow.asp?ID=146

http://www.ava.com.au/news.php?action=show&news_id=325&c=0

An African Serval, the most efficient wild cat hunter in Africa.  Australia's quarantine regulations make it legal for a cat that is only five generations away from a purebred serval to come into the country.

In a 2007 paper in Science, Carlos Driscoll of Oxford University showed that domestication of the cat probably began 12,000 years ago and was completed 8,000 years ago.  New designer breeds of cat didn't exist 25 years ago.