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Hive mind in Melbourne to war game Australia’s next creepy crawler invader

Global leaders in insect invasion biology are in Melbourne this week to war game Australia’s next alien insect invaders.

They will spend four days mapping out where future insect invasions could come from, and take part in a special Q&A Debate on Tuesday night 20 March at Monash University’s Clayton campus called Ants, Bugs & Biters.

Update: view the video of the Q&A debate >>

“The project led by Monash University’s Professor Melodie McGeoch has brought together some of the world’s leading thinkers to work out how to stop these harmful insect pests,” Invasive Species Council CEO Andrew Cox said today.

“Our hive mind includes Dr Andrew Liebhold from the US, who is part of the battle against an onslaught of invasions in North America by damaging forest pest species such as Dutch elm disease.

“UK ladybird specialist Dr Helen Roy, the first to sound alarm bells about a tiny Asian beetle threatening native English ladybirds, is also joining the team,” said Mr Cox.

This year she was made an MBE for her outstanding service to biodiversity research, citizen science and science communication, including her work on the UK Ladybird Survey.

“This expert gathering will be a key step in delivering a comprehensive new approach to Australia’s pre-border biosecurity risk assessment and prioritisation,” said Professor Melodie McGeoch.

To interview Helen, Andrew or Melodie please contact Andrew Cox on 0438 588 040.

Australia has suffered many of its own dangerous insect invasions in recent years, including yellow crazy ants and red fire ants.

On Christmas Island yellow crazy ants have killed tens of millions of ecologically important red crabs and robber crabs, and invaded more than a quarter of the island’s rainforest before a baiting program was instigated.

In Queensland red fire ants are now the subject of a 10-year, $411 million battle plan to rid the country of the dangerous menace.

Joining Andrew, Helen and Melodie will be Dr Sabrina Kumschick from South Africa’s Centre for Invasion Biology and Associate Professor Treena Burgess from Murdoch University.

The Q&A Debate will be moderated by Associate Professor Andrew Robinson from the University of Melbourne’s Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis.

Update: view the video of the Q&A debate >>

“We don’t know when the next dangerous new invasive insect will land in Australia, or where it will come from, but we do know that unless Australia fixes its leaky environmental borders we will be invaded again and again and again,” said Mr Cox.

Federal and state agricultural ministers meet at the end of April to consider major reforms to Australia’s national biosecurity system. The Invasive Species Council is calling on them to:

  • Create a biosecurity fighting fund, sourced through a levy on air and sea cargo.
  • Appoint a champion for environmental biosecurity based in the federal environment department.
  • Draw up a national priority list of major looming invasive threats to our environment.
  • Give a much greater focus to environmental and social risks posed by dangerous new invasive species.

The gathering is part of a joint project of the Invasive Species Council and Monash University’s School of Biological Sciences, led by the McGeoch Research Group.

Support is provided by the Ian Potter Foundation and the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources.

For comment

  • Invasive Species Council: CEO Andrew Cox – 0438 588 040.

More info

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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,
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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]