Feral Thoughts

China eager for our cane toads | News.com.au

Charleville meat processor John Burey is hoping the cane toad's medicinal qualities will help him secure a huge export deal when he travels to Beijing for trade talks next month.  "At this stage, it would seem the demand for our cane toads is quite substantial," he said. The Chinese have used toad poison as an expectorant, heart stimulant and as a diuretic. It has also been used as a remedy for toothache and sinusitis.Mr Burey said cane toad meat was also popular.

"The skin, organs and gut are also used for traditional medicines," he said.It could help rid the state of a population believed to have exceeded more than 200 million since its infamous introduction to control the sugar cane beetle in 1935.

Mr Burey said an export deal could result in collection depots being established up and down the Queensland coast." It would be like collecting aluminium cans, people could bring them to us and we would pay per animal or per kilo," he said. Mr Burey said his company, United Game Processors, already processed kangaroo, pig, camel, donkey and buffalo meat, but wanted to come up with something different. He has met with Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries staff about paperwork needed to export the animals. He said the toad toxin was considered a class one drug - like heroin - and he needed a special permit to send it overseas.

via www.news.com.au

Deja vu...

Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'

Australia Day Honours for vertebrate pest researcher

Congratulations to Dr. Glen Saunders of the New South Wales Department of Industry and Investment and head of the Vertebrate Pest Unit based at Orange. Glen was made a Member of the Order of Australia ("AM") in yesterday's Honours list. Glen is well known in the agricultural community for his three decades of work on pest animals and biodiversity. He has worked on a wide range of species, but mainly on mouse plagues, feral pigs and foxes.  He is the program leader for the Invasive Animals CRC's Terrestrial Program.

Another "pest person", Nicholas Newland of South Australia was honoured yesterday with an AM. Nicholas has formerly headed Rabbit Free Australia but has been involved in many environmental programs and issues, with a particular history and interest in rabbit control. Congratulations Nicholas.

It's fantastic to see scientists and environmentalists getting honours. Our newest Australian Nobel Laureate, Professor Elizabeth Blackburn was duly honoured, as was well-known marsupial researcher at the Australian National University, Professor Jenny Graves as well as many others. I don't think the criticism that used to be leveled that sport was over-recognised in the award system is valid any more (if it ever was).  This year's Australian of the Year, Professor Patrick McGorry is a researcher and advocate in mental health and my rough count makes him the 12th scientist/medical researcher since the beginning of the awards to be Australian of the Year, with around 14 sportsmen or women receiving the same honour.  Overall, more academics have received the award than sports people.

The top award isn't the issue anyway, in my view. I like that we have a system that can recognise those people that "put in" year after year volunteering at a local charity or club, helping clear a waterway of weeds or ensuring a home for those that need it. 

Given the importance of feral animals on our environment and agriculture, it's great to see Glen Saunders and Nicholas Newland get recognised. Well done.

Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'

15th Australasian Vertebrate Pest Conference

The Australasian Vertebrate Pest Conference, to be held in Sydney 20-23 June 2011, will be the 14th in a series recommended by the Vertebrate Pests Committee (VPC). The conference is held triennially, with the last conference convened in Darwin in June 2008. The 2011 AVPC is being organised in conjunction with the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre and Industry and Investment, New South Wales.

via www.avpc.net.au

Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'

Scientific Seminar | RSPCA Australia | For all creatures, great & small.

The RSPCA Australia Scientific Seminar is a key national event for the RSPCA. The Seminar brings together leading experts in animal industries to explore the latest developments in animal welfare research, knowledge and practices.

via www.rspca.org.au

Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'

Three million domestic cats...

Louise Greenaway has written an interesting, and rather disturbing, article on the impact of domestic cats on wildlife.  She has provided a helpful update on current Australian laws on cat keeping, which vary considerably between States. Queensland, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory are all trying new things.  The article is at the Australian Landcare Magazine (follow the prompt at "protecting fauna").

The article also highlights the lack of decent data on domestic cat impacts. I see all sorts of figures quoted, and there are relatively few studies. There are some calls in Australia for "trap, neuter, release" (TNR) programs (I don't know of any serious programs underway here) but I think they would be a waste of money and very unlikely to succeed. The impact of cats in an environment that didn't have them until a century or two ago is much naturally much greater than in environments where cats (or similar) predators have been for much longer.  TNR Reality Check gives good information. 

Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'

Feathers fly over bird cull - Story from the Central Western Daily

One person's pest is another person's "natural" species, a this story from the Central Western Daily shows.

A PROPOSAL to cull local myna bird populations goes against the natural pecking order for one Orange resident. After working with wildlife in Africa and Canada for several years, Terese Kerr says she’s learned human intervention is not the answer even if a species is considered a predator.

“I just believe it’s wrong to kill off any bird, even if you believe it’s a pest,” she said.“I’m anti-hunting and I’ve seen the impact those sorts of things can have.”

The Orange Field Naturalist and Conservation Society hopes to begin culling common myna birds which are nesting in the areas around Mackies Cafe, Waratah Hills Estate and Lone Pine Avenue. Known for their aggression, the introduced species is already out of control in parts of eastern NSW, threatening native birds and wildlife. But Mrs Kerr said it was wrong to refer to certain species as “bullies” when they were simply trying to survive. She said she welcomed all birdlife into her own garden and wouldn’t consider feeding certain species and not others.

“There’s a pecking order, human beings can’t come in and say I don’t want this bird bullying another bird,” she said. “As long as they’ve got a [natural predator] above them I don’t think any species is going to get out of hand.”

The Orange Field Naturalist and Conservation Society is acquiring traps and wants to eradicate common myna birds within six months. Orange City Council has asked residents who spot the birds, which are chocolate brown with yellow beaks and eye patches, to avoid feeding them and to contact council.

via www.centralwesterndaily.com.au 

Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'

Cruelty allegation on Savannah cat breeding denied

A Feral Thoughts reader has disputed my contention that breeding Savannah cats is a cruel practice.  He says:

I came across one of your articles by accident (see post):

and could not help notice the factual error that could have been remedied if you had read my previous correspondence on this issue. You claim a 10 day difference between Serval and domestic gestation periods

- without checking carefully enough to realize that the outcross is an Egytpian Mau - gestation period typically up to 73 days (vs Serval  up to 77 ) - so there is only a 4 day difference at most. This of course casts doubt onto any further assertions about cruelty.

I'm disappointed that neither you or your team of experts checked your facts here - especially given I had provided a pointer for you in previous email (Oct 2008). It seems to me that if you going to do Savannah bashing you should at least know something about them - up until now everything I have seen from you organization about these cats has been very poorly researched.

Finally this seems to contrast dramatically with your articles on other subjects (e.g feral cats, dogs, cane toads) that seem well researched in general.

regards

Mark

Thanks Mark,  I'm kind of chuffed that you think there is a team of experts behind Feral Thoughts, rather than just me sneaking in posts between what I'm meant to be doing.  I'm equally shocked that the vast research resources of Wikipedia could be called into question! I had read Mark's previous correspondence and in fact replied - I just disagree.

According to the website of the originators of the Savannah "breed", the first Savannahs were Serval x Siamese crosses (after "years" of unsuccessful attempts), and they don't mention the Egyption Mau. This was the source of the proposed imports to Australia and I can only go off what they themselves have put on the public record. It looks like many of the Savannah breeders began with another hybrid breed, the Bengal and moved on because the Savannah came more into fashion (i.e. they could flog the kittens for more money to the overpaid and/or gullible), so I can't see that the Egyptian Mau is necessarily, or even mostly, the cross breed. At best, you might be able to claim it is sometimes the cross, so I'm sticking by my earlier post for now.

After just visiting Mogo Zoo during the break, I was again astounded that anyone, anytime, ever, would have thought it was a reasonable thing to mate a Serval to a domestic cat. A Serval is absolutely huge compared with a domestic cat and is a wild animal - when the keeper talks about the Savannah issue to visitors looking at Servals the almost-universal reaction is astonishment that anyone would do such a thing. I have absolutely no doubt that anyone that tried such a mating in this country would be charged with animal abuse - the RSPCA and the Australian Veterinary Association as well as many others were just as much against the importation of Savannahs into Australia as was our Cooperative Research Centre.

Of course, during the debate, the Savannah importers kept arguing that Savannahs were not an exceptionally large breed. I note the source of the proposed imports is proudly pointing to one of their cats entry into the Guinness Book of Records as the world's tallest cat.  Exactly the genes we would want supplementing the gene pool of Australia's feral cat population!

It was a good decision by Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett to ban the import of Savannah cats. 

Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'

Exotic pets and natural selection

It may be crass to blog quickly on reports of a death ("Tiger advocate mauled to death by pet") but, hey, the Darwin Awards have turned it into an industry. The ABC reports today that Norman Buwalda, 66, of Ontario was mauled to death by his 295-kilogram pet tiger.

I reckon it is dumb to keep large carnivorous animals as pets. My rule of thumb is to resist the temptation to have something living in the backyard that can eat me. 

Mr Buwalda obviously disagreed with my view because he also had two pet lions and a cougar. Moreover, he had apparently fought in the Canadian courts for the right to keep his exotic pets. In 2004, following a tiger attack on a boy who was doing a school report on Mr Buwalda's exotic pets, a ban on keeping wild animals was put in place by local authorities.  But Mr Buwalda succeeded in getting the ban overturned by an Ontario Superior court judge after a lengthy legal battle (which I guess is now looking like a bit of a waste of the legal fees).

What is it about owning large deadly animals that is so attractive to so many people? I don't know anything about the specifics of Mr Buwalda's situation, but in general, society should not allow private citizens to keep exotic animals.  Volunteering at the local zoo is a much better way to sate one's passion for exotic animals in my view.  Keeping them is specialized, dangerous and should be part of an education and/or conservation program.  Personal gratification should not be part of it.

We see the trend in dog and cat breeds as well. Is it just testosterone that leads many young males to need a large, aggressive dog for example? Very often there is a poor animal welfare outcome in these situations and sometimes they can lead to new populations of feral animals, so I think it's entirely reasonable for society to have a say on keeping such animals.  

Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'