http://www.theage.com.au/environment/conservation/2000-birds-die-as-feral-cull-backfires-20111018-1lwg0.html ===============================
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10 responses to “Bad news from Macquarie”
Folks,
listen well to Jenny. The ‘bad news’ item in The Age gives the opinion of an uninformed journalist, typical of the shock, horror news peddlers that infest the media. Feral animals on islands are the bad news, wherever they are encountered. The documented history of their effects is a story of devastated and extirpated avian populations. Seventeen Procellariform species, some 17% of the total, breed on Macquarie, Some of these are critically endangered, and may well be taxonomically distinct from ‘conspecific’ populations on other islands. All petrels are K-selected, having a longlife and late of maturation and the security of their populations is dependent upon 3 parameters, adult annual survival rate (typically 90-97%), breeding success (>60%) and survival of young to breeding age (>40%). Reduce any of these and populations decline. Rabbits cause catastrophic erosion, preventing adults from digging burrows, and causing burrows to collapse and entomb the contents. Rodents eat adults, chicks and eggs. The mortality caused is a potential threat to the survival of any petrel population. On Gough Island in the Indian Ocean, the apparently inoffensive little house mouse kills chicks (of all ages) of the large Tristan Albatross (Diomedea dabbenena). These little stinkers chew their way into the interior of the chicks and eat them alive from the inside. Well documented are the recoveries of petrel populations following the removal of feral mammals from breeding sites. The recovery of Gould’s Petrel on Cabbage Tree Island NSW is a classic example. The Macquarie Island exercise was essential and long overdue. It was well planned and the loss of some individuals of non-target species was recognised and expected. Black ducks on Macquarie Island may be refugees from Victorian shooters, but whatever their provenance, the proximate abundance of this species is very dependent on rainfall. After breeding they disperse to all points of the compass, and those that find Macquarie Island may be just some of the lucky individuals. If they get a dose of poison, then their luck just ran out. Some more will turn up following the next breeding season. For further reading just Google’ rat extermination’, and there is a wealth of information to be found.
Cheers
Harry Battam BE, PhD Institute for Conservation and Environmental Management University of Wollongong Wollongong, NSW, Australia 2522 Mobile +61 429 887 883
________________________________________ Sent: 18 October 2011 17:27
Hi all,
I agree with Jeff Davies on this. Yes, the bird deaths are sad but we I believe we should be looking at the longer term results.
Another thing that is not mentioned in this article is the number of chicks and birds eggs that the rats would have eaten each breeding season. I imagine that could easily have been 2000 bird deaths per year for the last hundred years or so.
As for the rabbits they have been destroying the habitat and thereby limiting breeding habitat for prions etc as well as making the burrows more vulnerable to attack from Skuas. For example an item on the Macquarie Island website recently mentioned that Grey Petrel breeding numbers have increased recently, possibly due to less predation from rats.
Let’s wait and see what the island looks like once the mega herbs regrow and breeding is allowed to occur without predation by rats land clearing by rabbits. Maybe right now our support needs to go to the people doing the eradication, rather than jumping in league with the politicians and newspapers, both of whom love an apparent bad news story.
The ducks in question are Pacific Black and, again, it is sad to see them die, but they are not an endangered species as many of the seabirds that breed on the island are.
cheers
Jenny
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This is just the standard playbook for the liberal party under Abbot, nothing more. Whine about anything and everything the government does regardless of whether there is any basis for it (not that I have any particular affection for the Labour party).
Besides if Abetz cares so much about ducks he should be compelled to speak up for the tens of thousands of ducks and quail that are shot each year for sport. I wouldn’t hold my breath though…
Glenn
PS It is good they are quantifying the bycatch though, having the data is the 1st step to improving programs for next time.
________________________________ Sent: Tuesday, 18 October 2011 5:27 PM
Hi all,
I agree with Jeff Davies on this. Yes, the bird deaths are sad but we I believe we should be looking at the longer term results.
Another thing that is not mentioned in this article is the number of chicks and birds eggs that the rats would have eaten each breeding season. I imagine that could easily have been 2000 bird deaths per year for the last hundred years or so.
As for the rabbits they have been destroying the habitat and thereby limiting breeding habitat for prions etc as well as making the burrows more vulnerable to attack from Skuas. For example an item on the Macquarie Island website recently mentioned that Grey Petrel breeding numbers have increased recently, possibly due to less predation from rats.
Let’s wait and see what the island looks like once the mega herbs regrow and breeding is allowed to occur without predation by rats land clearing by rabbits. Maybe right now our support needs to go to the people doing the eradication, rather than jumping in league with the politicians and newspapers, both of whom love an apparent bad news story.
The ducks in question are Pacific Black and, again, it is sad to see them die, but they are not an endangered species as many of the seabirds that breed on the island are.
cheers
Jenny
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Hi all,
I agree with Jeff Davies on this. Yes, the bird deaths are sad but we I believe we should be looking at the longer term results.
Another thing that is not mentioned in this article is the number of chicks and birds eggs that the rats would have eaten each breeding season. I imagine that could easily have been 2000 bird deaths per year for the last hundred years or so.
As for the rabbits they have been destroying the habitat and thereby limiting breeding habitat for prions etc as well as making the burrows more vulnerable to attack from Skuas. For example an item on the Macquarie Island website recently mentioned that Grey Petrel breeding numbers have increased recently, possibly due to less predation from rats.
Let’s wait and see what the island looks like once the mega herbs regrow and breeding is allowed to occur without predation by rats land clearing by rabbits. Maybe right now our support needs to go to the people doing the eradication, rather than jumping in league with the politicians and newspapers, both of whom love an apparent bad news story.
The ducks in question are Pacific Black and, again, it is sad to see them die, but they are not an endangered species as many of the seabirds that breed on the island are.
cheers
Jenny
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Regarding the ‘ducks’ mentioned in the report.
After reading this, http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/file.aspx?id=20987 it seems they predicted bycatch deaths (to what extent I don’t know).
But the deaths seem like they are most likely, Northern Gian Petrels, Kelp Gulls and Skuas.
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A question of whether the costs out weigh the benefits. How many eggs and chicks are taken each year as a result of mice/rat predation and the associated impact of rabbit grazing? 2000 birds does sound like a lot but without knowing the full details it’s hard to make a informed judgement.
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It’s possible that the number of animals killed from the impact of the feral animals would have been much more significant than the 2,000.
the article linked to has been updated with addtional information
Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings said the pest eradication effort was worthwhile.
“Nobody wants to see wildlife hurt or damaged by programs,” she told reporters in Hobart.
“However, what is Eric Abetz’s alternative? Those same birds were being threatened by destruction of the natural habitat on Macquarie Island because of rabbits grazing.”
Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke said in a statement that the bird deaths were inevitable.
“When you do baiting, the fact is you will lose some of the birds you are wanting to protect,” he said.
“But if you don’t do baiting, feral animals like rabbits and rodents will keep wiping everything out.”
On the plus side, rabbit numbers are believed to have dropped from a whopping 150,000 to less than 30 since the program was implemented.
Mr Burke said the impact on fauna were continually monitored, adding he had moved to tighten the program’s regulations in November.
He said up to 24 bird species ultimately stood to benefit from the eradication program.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/2000-birds-die-as-feral-cull-backfires-20111018-1lwg0.html#ixzz1b6uwum1f [1]
G’day Dave,
I think you need to put all this into perspective, is a one off hit like this worse than doing nothing? Let’s revisit this in ten years time or earlier and see what the improved situation is going to look like without the ferals eating and digging the place into oblivion. Since when has Eric Abetz ever been a voice worth listening to on the conservation front.
Cheers Jeff.
Read a bit about the personal side of extirpating rabbits & rodents from Macquarie island here: http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=15267 Andrew ===============================
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Indeed – you can’t expect 100% accuracy from a newspaper! But it is disturbing that something that was supposed to be protecting the birds seems to have the opposite effect – especially as the total kill seems likely to be somewhat higher.
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What sort of ducks? And what percentage of the total is 2000.
There seems to be some confusion about how they were poisoned.
Peter Shute