Feral Thoughts

... a second Stateline report - carp in Tasmania

Tasmanian Stateline had a report last Friday on pest animals as well. This one on the common carp in Lakes Cresent and Sorrell. The excellent work of Tasmanian Inland Fisheries wasn't enough to stop some breeding last spring. See the report here.

Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'

Bounties raised: foxes in Victoria; toads in the Northern Territory

The issue of bounties has come up again, as it often does in pest animal management. I've blogged before on why groups like the Australasian Wildlife Management Society don't support bounties. But there is no doubt it tends to be a polarizing debate - farmers like and support bounties but scientists in the field don't. Why such a difference of views? In my experience, farmers tend to know what's best on their farm and it is hard to find a farmer that doesn't support bounties. On the other hand, it would be hard to find a scientist that does support bounties.

ABC's Stateline program in Victoria did a story on the issue last Friday night, following a pledge from the Victorian Opposition to reinstate a bounty on both foxes and wild dogs in that State if they win the upcoming election. The story shows some of the complicating factors: for example, dogs are a major concern around baiting programs. The labour shortage on farms means that working dogs are critical and they can have a very high dollar value as well as the obvious other values to farmers. Another reason is probably that when you shoot foxes, you see the immediate result whereas baiting doesn't provide that satisfaction.

Wild dog killing spree

Keva Gocher from ABC South East New South Wales has done an excellent job compiling stories she has done on wild dogs. Her page wild dog killing spree shows some of the emotional as well as the economic strain.

Keva most recent interview shows one of the problems that should be most simply fixed: the expensive and time consuming need for farmers to undergo Chemcert chemical use training to undertake baiting. They have to pay $300 and take the time to do a training program that doesn't even address baiting - they come away will more knowledge about boom spraying!

Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'

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Feral cats, and their control, stir the passions

 Caller "Ross" on yesterday's Feral Talkback (ABC 666 every second Wednesday at 10.05am)  complained about a story last Monday in the Canberra Times by Nyssa Skilton. Ross didn't like our CRC's commercial links; the fact that three photos of a stuffed cat were used by the Canberra Times but only acknowledged as a stuffed animal once but mainly that leghold traps had been used by ACT Environment Rangers to remove feral cats from the Mulligan's Flat Woodlands Sanctuary. I think there were a total of eight cats inhabiting the 450ha enclosed sanctuary.

We had just started a competition for a listener to name a feral animal product to match the marketing skills of our New Zealand cousins in selling "Kiwi Bear" (possum) into Malaysia, so I was surprised that the first caller was upset about cat control and our CRC. Here's how Media Monitors heard it:

Possum and rabbits on and off the menu

Apparently New Zealand exporters are selling brushtail possum meat into Malaysia as "Kiwi bear" and it is considered a delicacy. Those New Zealanders are pretty canny marketers, having successfully turned the Chinese gooseberry into their own Kiwifruit. Maybe this is the start of a big trend?

Now Tasmania is looking to get in on the act, proposing a commercial harvest of brushtail possums which are in abundance in the State. According to a report in The Hobart Mercury, the Australian Government is  considering whether to issue export licenses for possum meat or skins. Possums are currently culled in Tasmania to reduce crop and forestry damage and this proposal would allow for the use of the carcasses rather than leaving them to waste. Poisoning of native animals in Tasmania has been controversial for many years and a commercial harvest is one of the ways proposed to move away from using toxins.

Reading some on-line comments about the proposal, it has certainly stirred the passions. Some people are appalled that a native animal could be sold commercially whereas others are delighted at the prospect of using the animals rather than wasting them. The difference to New Zealand is that possums are native to Tasmania whereas they are introduced to New Zealand and are that country's biggest vertebrate pest problem. I think the debate has a long way to run yet.

Also in the news over the past week is this comment from commercial rabbit processor Steve Johnson of Hillston in NSW "Farmed rabbit has no taste". Mr Johnson processes from several hundred to several thousand wild rabbits weekly, but he sees no future in farming rabbits in Australia. He reckons it is impossible to cover the cost of production and he got out of the industry for that reason. But he says he told the ABC that if he could get a few thousand wild rabbits every week, he'd have a market for them.

Personally, I'd rather see a culled animal used than wasted, but  long-term I don't want to see industries based on pests. To me this is treating the symptoms rather than the cause and I'd prefer to get to the root of the problem. But I'm willing to admit we are a long-way off finding "cures" for many animal overabundance issues - whether native or introduced.

Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'