Our ebulletin the Feral Herald covers conservation news and actions to help you protect Australia's native plants and wildlife from invasive species.
In mid-September, in response to allegations aired by a shock-jock on Sydney radio, the NSW environment minister announced a ban on all shooting operations in Kosciuszko National Park.
Some academics have claimed that Indigenous people welcome introduced species and do not want them controlled. The Indigenous chapter of the 2021 State of the Environment Report can’t be reconciled with these comments.
Australia’s Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has pledged to stop new extinctions. But which species are most at risk of going extinct and what will it take to keep them safe?
Australia has an urgent invasive species problem. Invasive species pose the greatest threat to our native plants and animals – even greater than climate change.
A visit to New Zealand is to witness a growing movement targeting the killing of pest animals and the excitement in seeing the return of birds and their songs.
This video, produced by the Invasive Species Council, tells the frightening story of the rise and rise of feral deer in Victoria.
Our breakdown of the very worst and very best parts of the country’s biggest environment report in five years.
This is a story about two islands, both in Western Australia. One of them, Bernier, on the edge of Shark Bay, stands out as the Australian island that has saved more mammals from extinction than any other.
In August 2021, a member of the public noticed some troubling symptoms on their maple tree in East Fremantle.
A few months ago we put out a call. Over 700 people responded, letting Kosci’s parkies know how much we value their work protecting native wildlife from the damage of feral horses.
Varroa mites were detected in two of six sentinel hives at the Port of Newcastle, NSW, on 22 June. As of the latest official update on 27 July, there are now 43 known infested premises across central-eastern and north-eastern NSW.
Feral and roaming cats have already helped push 27 native animals into extinction, including a long-forgotten mainland parrot.
Yellow crazy ants are one of the world’s worst invasive species. The federal election result could close the door on the invasive ants in northern Queensland.
Sparked by the book Feral Future, the Invasive Species Council is now Australia’s lead organisation dedicated to tackling invasive species.
The 2022 federal election has been labelled a “greenslide”, with Australians turning out to vote for action on climate change and the environment.
In mid-September, in response to allegations aired by a shock-jock on Sydney radio, the NSW environment minister announced a ban on all shooting operations in Kosciuszko National Park.
Some academics have claimed that Indigenous people welcome introduced species and do not want them controlled. The Indigenous chapter of the 2021 State of the Environment Report can’t be reconciled with these comments.
Australia’s Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has pledged to stop new extinctions. But which species are most at risk of going extinct and what will it take to keep them safe?
Australia has an urgent invasive species problem. Invasive species pose the greatest threat to our native plants and animals – even greater than climate change.
A visit to New Zealand is to witness a growing movement targeting the killing of pest animals and the excitement in seeing the return of birds and their songs.
This video, produced by the Invasive Species Council, tells the frightening story of the rise and rise of feral deer in Victoria.
Our breakdown of the very worst and very best parts of the country’s biggest environment report in five years.
This is a story about two islands, both in Western Australia. One of them, Bernier, on the edge of Shark Bay, stands out as the Australian island that has saved more mammals from extinction than any other.
In August 2021, a member of the public noticed some troubling symptoms on their maple tree in East Fremantle.
A few months ago we put out a call. Over 700 people responded, letting Kosci’s parkies know how much we value their work protecting native wildlife from the damage of feral horses.
Varroa mites were detected in two of six sentinel hives at the Port of Newcastle, NSW, on 22 June. As of the latest official update on 27 July, there are now 43 known infested premises across central-eastern and north-eastern NSW.
Feral and roaming cats have already helped push 27 native animals into extinction, including a long-forgotten mainland parrot.
Yellow crazy ants are one of the world’s worst invasive species. The federal election result could close the door on the invasive ants in northern Queensland.
Sparked by the book Feral Future, the Invasive Species Council is now Australia’s lead organisation dedicated to tackling invasive species.
The 2022 federal election has been labelled a “greenslide”, with Australians turning out to vote for action on climate change and the environment.
Environment minister Plibersek has recognised the dismal failings of our national environmental laws. Her commitment to rewrite this law coupled with her commitment to zero new extinctions provides an exciting opportunity to establish a new era in nature conservation.
The agricultural and environmental biosecurity office has had budgets slashed, biosecurity funding is on the table, the National Biosecurity Strategy is moving forward, and the Decade of Biosecurity has a new national coordinator.
Biosecurity is an increasing feature in all our lives. The detection of varroa mites in 2022 saw the emergency destruction of tens of thousands of commercial and feral honey bee hives in NSW; a red fire ant outbreak in Queensland threatens our Aussie way of life forever; and foot-and-mouth disease looms on our border.
With no natural predators and an ability to adapt to almost all environments, feral deer already occupy every state and territory.
Invasive species are one of the biggest threats to biodiversity worldwide and one of Australia’s worst environmental problems. So it’s not a big surprise to learn invasive animals and weeds may also affect carbon emissions.
In mid-September, in response to allegations aired by a shock-jock on Sydney radio, the NSW environment minister announced a ban on all shooting operations in Kosciuszko National Park.
In mid-September, in response to allegations aired by a shock-jock on Sydney radio, the NSW environment minister announced a ban on all shooting operations in Kosciuszko National Park.
Some academics have claimed that Indigenous people welcome introduced species and do not want them controlled. The Indigenous chapter of the 2021 State of the Environment Report can’t be reconciled with these comments.
Australia’s Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has pledged to stop new extinctions. But which species are most at risk of going extinct and what will it take to keep them safe?
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.
