Deer eradication within sight on Kangaroo Island
Often described as Australia’s Galapagos, Kangaroo Island could soon see the day when it is free of feral deer.
Our ebulletin the Feral Herald covers conservation news and actions to help you protect Australia's native plants and wildlife from invasive species.
Often described as Australia’s Galapagos, Kangaroo Island could soon see the day when it is free of feral deer.
Join us from 6pm on Tuesday 20 March at Monash University’s Clayton Campus in Victoria for a fiery Q&A debate about invasive ants, bugs and other insects.
Join us from 6pm on Tuesday 20 March at Monash University’s Clayton Campus in Victoria for a fiery Q&A debate about invasive ants, bugs and other insects.
Bulldoze trees, and you wipe out plants and animals. Introduce a new predator, competitor or disease or let a weed take over can just as effectively send species on the road to extinction.
The wily fox has made it to two of Australia’s favourite holiday destinations – Fraser and South Stradbroke islands. It’s time to launch fully funded eradication programs before the fox becomes entrenched.
The wily fox has made it to two of Australia’s favourite holiday destinations – Fraser and South Stradbroke islands. It’s time to launch fully funded eradication programs before the fox becomes entrenched.
The fifth Island Arks Symposium had many important take-home messages, but the one that stood out for our CEO Andrew Cox was that invasive species issues on Pacific islands are becoming ‘agonisingly important’.
Along with land clearing, invasive species are the major threat to wildlife in Queensland. Yet biosecurity has been missing from Queensland election headlines.
Australia should seize the opportunity to better protect itself from dangerous new invasive species by adopting the recommendations of an independent review of the biosecurity system.
A campaign to fix the country’s leaky environmental borders and keep dangerous new environmental pests and diseases out. Send your message to the Deputy Prime Minister today.
The release of our report Norfolk Island: Protecting an Ocean Jewel, sets a path for reversing the decline of many threatened species on the island and eradicating harmful invaders.
After exhaustive research, one of Australia’s most cherished island sanctuaries Lord Howe Island is about to hit go on its rat eradication project.
The terrible destructive force of Hurricane Harvey made headlines not just for its human toll, but also for forcing fire ants out of their nests. Brisbane expat Jennifer Singfield tells us what it’s like living with fire ants.
The introduction of new crops or livestock can go spectacularly wrong. Question is, are those responsible for promoting new crops and livestock in Australia showing enough caution?
A review of Australia’s biosecurity arrangements has highlighted the need for much greater focus on protecting the natural environment from invasive species.
The 3rd Australian Biosecurity Symposium is making waves! The Symposium will be held at SeaWorld Resort on the Gold Coast from 27-29 August 2024.Our symposium
Lyall Grieve is Conservation and Biosecurity Analyst for the Invasive Species Council. A closing window of opportunity Australian environmental protection has reached the moment of
Update: This article has been amended to improve accuracy. On a recent visit to Barrington Tops National Park, Tim Low and Carol Booth experienced the
Rampant invasive species and thriving Country cannot coexist. It’s one or the other. And we can’t have a healthy Indigenous culture without healthy Country. Invasive
Reece Pianta is the Advocacy Manager at the Invasive Species Council. I had heard about the fire ant fields in Texas – no-go zones where
Northern Queensland’s delicate ecosystems hang in the balance – their future under threat from ravenous supercolonies of yellow crazy ants. To deal with the problem, we first need to identify any locations the ants have spread to. You can help! Join the Bug Hunt and help our bug-ologists track invasive and at-risk native insects in Australia.
The Gondwanan Galaxiidae fish family has managed to survive millions of years in the freshwater ecosystems of Australia. Now, their existence hangs by a thread as ten of the species, including the critically endangered Kosciuszko galaxias have been listed as threatened under our national environmental law.
Fire ants are on the march across Australia. Here are 8 facts about them you should know.
Cats have contributed to the extinction of 27 of Australia’s native animals, including the Yallara (lesser bilby) and the paradise parrot. Both species are now lost from our memories forever. Now, ISC is working with Thylation — the group behind the Felixer to supply local land managers with innovative new devices that use artificial intelligence to control feral cats and save Australia’s threatened species.
“For modern Australia to say no, I think that’s their loss. I feel sorry for them. But I mostly feel sorry for Country and our future generations.”
Voice of Country program lead and ISC Indigenous Ambassador, Richard Swain reflects on the referendum outcome and the journey to heal Country.
Unfortunately the lofty promise of the National Biosecurity Strategy is at risk.
On 18 October the Decade of Biosecurity (DoB) project partners came together to launch the Parliamentary Friends of Biosecurity group at Parliament House in Canberra. The group will elevate biosecurity issues and highlight the importance of a strong well-resourced biosecurity system.
We celebrated a huge win for nature last month, with aerial culling of feral horses finally allowed in Kosciuszko National Park. But how did the ban come about and what’s next for the Reclaim Kosci campaign?
The flowers of a rubber vine are annoyingly pretty. But its vanity is also the secret to its downfall along the Fitzroy River in Western Australia.
Australia needs an ongoing, sustainable source of funding to improve our biosecurity system so it can protect our environment.
The Weeds Australia website is designed to help us all wrangle weeds better and its creators want your feedback on how to take it to the next level.
Snowy 2.0 could put native endangered fish at greater risk of extinction.
The coronavirus pandemic has shown the need to act hard and fast when new diseases emerge, the same approach has to be taken on invasive species.
Fast action to eradicate yellow crazy ants from Lismore has been recognised at this year’s Australian Biosecurity Awards.
Australian Senate inquiry told feral deer are a destructive, invasive feral pest species that are multiplying out of control.
Australia has to be ready to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic and a jobs-rich conservation and land management program could be just the ticket.
Global efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus are disrupting everybody’s lives but, despite the challenges, we are determined to continue with our important work.
After the bushfires predation and competition from feral pests and invasion by weeds now pose some of the biggest threats to our struggling wildlife.
Some of the biggest threats to wildlife recovering from the Australian bushfires will come from feral animals, including foxes and cats thriving in the aftermath of the fires.
The Invasive Species Council acknowledges the Traditional Custodians throughout Australia and their connections to land and sea. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. The Invasive Species Council supports voting ‘YES’ for a Voice to Parliament.
Dear Project Team,
[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.]
I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.
The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.
The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.
This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.
Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.
Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.
Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.
I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.
Dear Project Team,
[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.]
I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.
The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.
The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.
This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.
Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.
Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.
Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.
I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.