Feral Herald archives - Invasive Species Council

Feral Herald Archives

Our Blog Archives

Before the Feral Herald became a blog it was a good old-fashioned newsletter. Delve into our archives below:

Issue 29, July 2012

Wildlife corridor planners cautioned
State of the Environment report card
Pacific seastar discovered at the Prom
Fear factor may increase feral damage
Antarctica, the last invasion

Looking Back: Quarantine Act 1909
Meet our new patron, John Landy
Invasives twice as deadly for seabirds

Issue 28, November 2011

Biosecurity: when one size does not fit all
Invasive animals research at a crossroads
No more KTP listings for invasive species?
TAP plan for northern pasture grasses

Pigeon virus outbreak
Managing exotic fish invasions in Australia

Issue 27, June 2011

Overseas incubators
Myrtle rust poses more questions than answers
RIRDC bites the bullet
Deer damage in our sites
Asian honeybees, a national biosecurity risk

Cattle and weed spread
$4 million fox bounty a waste of tax dollars
WA turns up the heat on northern palm squirrels
Exporting misery when plants for aid turn weedy
Frontline stories: Eradicating despoilers of Lord Howe Island

Issue 26, December 2010

Climate crops risk weedy date with destiny
Myrtle rust continues its spread
Australia’s new biodiversity plan
Northern mammals face fire and ferals
Down the rabbit hole with our new CEO
Ombudsman backs ISC complaint

Australian biosecurity should be a team effort
Rinderpest delt mortal blow
QLD deer strategy released
Weed control in Daintree Lowlands

Issue 25, September 2010

Exotic species sold online inherently risky
Australian biosecurity should be a team effort
Kakadu mammals in deadly decline
How many invaders are there?
Asian house gecko love affair needs rethink
How weeds endanger your health

Exotic species sold online inherently risky
Australian biosecurity should be a team effort
Kakadu mammals in deadly decline
How many invaders are there?
Asian house gecko love affair needs rethink
How weeds endanger your health

Issue 24, April 2010

Hawke review warns hefty reforms needed
Monkey business in Darwin cause for alarm
South Australia puts an end to trials of weedy biofuel
ISC ready to build on strong track record
‘Salinity solutions’ sow seeds of destruction
Feral horses run riot in Australian Alps
Weeds a key threatening process

Australia’s track record on pest eradication
Feline threats: Australia caught cat napping
Abbott proposes green army of weeders
Abalone virus threatens Victorian industry
Sambar deer numbers rising
Sometimes it takes a thief to catch a thief

Double Issue 22-23, October 2009

Invasive species blamed for ecological disaster on Christmas Island
Shooters’ Party takes pot shot at NSW national parks
National debate lifts profile of feral deer threat in Australia
QLD declares deer pests
NSW hunting council pits spin against science
Genetic boosters a shot in the arm for super weeds
Invasive species dominate grants
No signs of slowing cane toads
CRC lands $1.5m for rabbit project

Glyphosate resistance spreads
Data shows big pig kills barely pack a punch
ESC pushes biosecurity reforms
QLD eliminates tilapia from private dams
Figures reveal size of agricultural footprint
Phytophthora gets a stranglehold on WA
Draft invasives framework out
Online database of marine pests

Issue 21, April 2009

ISC takes climate change and invasive species warning to the world
“Fox Stop” no barrier to foxes
Hunters, first in conservation?
Senate report deafening on invasives
Jatropha the “blunder crop”
Bushfires spark warning of weedy enemies within
Garden escapees on the run
Too much risk in new ventures
Invasives coalition first task for new team member
Europe – a plodder when it comes to pest species

Foxes confirmed in Tasmania
Exotic species, our new frequent flyers
International Biodiversity Day – turning the spotlight on invasives
Invasives a major threat to Ramsar wetlands
Leaf litter – time to turn over a new leaf
Australian snails cop a shell-lacking from weeds and feral animals
Weeds centre lands $2.5 million for research
States could lose quarantine power

Issue 20, January 2009

Victorian recreational deer hunting mistake
NT gamba ban
No to bumblebees
Hunting deal for new reserves
Crazy ant update
Asian honeybee battle
Quarantine report out
Federal Act weak on invasives
Tilapia threat to Gulf of Carpentaria

Mosquitofish or Plague Minnow?
Invasives threaten a third of rare birds
Worms away
Overview of marine invasives
High invasion rates
Weeds keep going… & going
New federal money for control

Issue 19, September 2008

Savannah cat ban
ISC weed book
Crazy ants
Grant givers
ISC alone
Qld biosecurity review
Federal EPBC review
Salinity project
Asian honeybees
What deer do

Brine shrimp
New weed guide
Phythphthora dieback
Aquatic invasions & climate
Trade & invasives
Botanic gardens
Wildlife research special

Issue 18, July 2008

QLD bans gamba
Quarantine enquiry
Savannah cats
Fodder follies
Climate change and invasive species report
Northern Territory failings
Queensland state of invasives
Victoria avoids reforms
Weeds CRC
Flora database

Drought weed
Australian mammals
Weed costs
Christmas Island plan
Indian ringnecks
Global strategy
New bee
New bird list
Fire ants

Issue 17, February 2008

Biofuels in the spotlight
Jatropha plans revealed
Gamba grass update
Horses for courses
Crazy ant hopes rise
Weeds CRC future
Arowana rejected
Climate change and weeds

Cane toads
Ant nomination
Deer threat listing
Threatening our trees
Climate change and allergenic weeds

Issue 16, September 2007

Gamba grass, a looming national disaster?
Annual General Meeting
Crazy ant progress
President moves on
Introducing Steve Mathews
Warning about biofuels
The weedy truth about biofuels

Invasive fungus
A focus on banteng
Know your ant
Pest or guest
Macquarie Island success
Asian honeybees
Aussie moth in California

Issue 15, April 2007

ISC begins tramp ant campaign
Biosecurity mergers
Macquarie Island rabbits
Weeds after the Tsunami
Camels in NSW
Objecting to Asian arowana

Shipping containers
Ants on Ashmore
Rock snot
Quarantine on Mars
Turbina goes wild in Qld

Issue 14, January 2007

Peak weed body killed
Weed Risk Assessment loophole closed
State of the Environment Report
Christmas Island crazy ant update
Pastures as weeds
Weeds and catchments

Bitou bush research
Weed Society seminar
Biosecurity Queensland
Pests and birds
Bumblebees
Biofuels

Issue 13, August 2006

Tramp ants – our worst pests?
Director’s report
2006 ISC award
Biofuels: not so green
Bumblebees update

Argentinian bumblebees
Sika deer
Cecropia felled
Genetic engineered weed

Issue 11-12, May 2006

Bumblebee action call
ISC CD launch
Tropical grassy weeds
Aid for ailing frogs
Qld campaigning
Collared doves rejected
Starfish ousted

Precautionary principle
Hymenachne
Ferret fears
Aconophora

Issue 10, August 2005

New ISC director
Annual General Meeting 2005
Siam weed national survey
National hymenachne management group
Tiger mosquito

Global Warming and pests
Flies ousted from Antarctica
Collared doves

Issue 9, March 2005

Win on weed risk assessment
Cecropia to be banned
ISC wins funding for campaigner
Garden weeds jumping the fence
Senate inquiry report
Feral antelope

ISC Froggatt Award 2004 – Seastar Team
Invasive species forum
Marine threat
Precautionary principle project

Issue 8, September 2004

SPECIAL ISSUE on Weed Risk Assessment and the failure of the national import quarantine process

Issue 7, August 2004

Senate submission
Fire ant update
Tilapia win
Pests are costly
How many weeds?
Attack of the pines!

Aconophora update
Ferrets in Queensland
Invading turtles
Review of email information services

Issue 6, March 2004

Spotlight on cecropia
Inaugural ISC awards
Lantana bug escapes
Ballast invaders

Senate inquiry
New Bird Atlas

Issue 5, December 2003

The year in review
Escapes from zoos
Marine invaders

Protecting the Subantarctic
Global biodiversity forum

Issue 4, July 2003

Bumblebees and native bees
Democrats invasive species bill
Weed risk assessment update
Court action over olive hymenachne

Tramp ants
Bushland friendly nurseries

Issue 3, April 2003

Gaping holes in weed screen
Tilapia
New shrew
Ballast
Fouled hulls

Marine database
Weed alert
Sandbox tree
National weeds conference

Issue 2, April 2003

New salt-tolerant grass proposed
Tilapia in the Gulf
Foxes in Tassie

Prolific flowers equals prolific weeds
13th annual weeds festival

Issue 1, September 2002

What is the ISC?
Profiles of committee members

New toad intercepted
Wet tropics weeds top 500

Hear from us when it matters

Your support to protect critically endangered and vulnerable species from extinction is vital. Together, we can ensure governments prioritise action on invasive species and protect our wildlife and iconic places.

The Invasive Species Council was formed in 2002 to seek stronger laws, policies and programs to protect nature from harmful pests, weeds and diseases.

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.

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.

Kind regards,

[Your name]

[Your email address]
[Your postcode]

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.

Kind regards,

[Your name]

[Your email address]
[Your postcode]