Invasive Animals-GRAMPIANS
11 outdoor education
In the Grampians National Park there are many introduced species. These animals compete with the native Flora and Fauna, for food water and other resources to live on. These “pests” include Rabbits, foxes and feral cats as well as exotic grazers such as horses, deer, pigs and feral goats. These feral animals are all leading to the downgrade of the Grampians and wider parts of Victoria and Australia. There are many ways that the Government and other parties are trying to solve this major issue.
Foxes and feral cats are the number one problem animal in the park. There are so many different strategies to help eradicate the introduced animals, but a lot of them have not yet been effective. These
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This has particularly had an effect on the Grampians national park. Not only are they competing for food but also the habitat. The warrens that the rabbits call home are spaces where wombats and other animals like snakes could possibly live. This is having a massive effect on the natural soil levels and are possibly the number one problem. There are a number of things to try and solve this conundrum. One of which is warren ripping, and involves a tractor or some other form of medium sized machinery, equipped with a spike to dig into the ground. The vehicle must then travel up and down along the warren, and then change and do the same but facing the other direction. This is called a cross ripping method. A common mistake is that the driver of the machine focuses on the wholes and does not go out away from them. This leads to tunnels not being ripped, and leaving rabbits alive. The aim of this is to break up the warren and make the soil fall on top of them, eventually suffocating or crushing the invasive species. When the ripping method is used correctly it can make a huge dent in the rabbit numbers. It is even more effective when done in summer. This is because the earth is dryer, which allows the soil to crumble, compared to when it is wet and the water gives the soil strength. A secondary effect that helps the rangers …show more content…
Having said that they are still an issue, that is a high priority. This group includes wild goat, horses, deer and pigs. The goat, pig and deer numbers are controlled by organized shootings and, are headed by the government. This tactic is very effective and cheap for the organizers as well. Part of the ecology of deer is that they travel in herds that are some times as large as 30 individuals, which makes them like a hurricane, destroying the vegetation as they pass through. The deer problem is not at the front of the parks mind at the moment, and does not receive huge amounts of funding. This is why the main way of controlling wild deer numbers is to lock down on keeping the legal deer farms secure. The horses are not seen as big of a deal as the other species either. They are often seen as graceful creatures that can be used for recreation, and not as the destructive force that they are. Similar to the deer there is very little being done. However Parks Victoria does implement wild horse control methods within the Alpine National Park. Currently the broad management approach is to contain and minimize the impact of wild horses. Previously a range of techniques including trapping, shooting and roping were used in Victoria to control wild horse populations. Wild boar are controlled by hunting and baiting, which have both been effective in the past. Unlike the rabbit baits, they are quite large,
The current situation today, is that horses and donkeys have exceeded the amount to keep an ecological balance; from 26,600 wildlife to 38,300 wildlife. The horse program enacted by the bill passed in 1971, costs the government approximately $49 million a year. It takes the majority of the budget to manage the already captured horses; taking into account the life of the horses, it has been concluded that the total cost would be closer to $1 billion (Dean Bolstad, Roundup of Wild Horses…). A Federal law, allows the Bureau of Land Management to kill “excess horses to maintain what it calls ‘a thriving natural ecological balance’” (Ginger Kathrens). However, due to retaliation of animal right groups, the BLM has not taken any measures to eliminate
When people talk about deer, they are commonly talking about the North American Whitetail. That is because they are so prevalent in this country. They can be found in every state in the US. The only place where you will not find any whitetails is in parts of Arizona and California. In most states the whitetail is very prevalent, especially in the northeast. They are one of the most hunted animals in this area, particularly in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Despite the amount they are hunted, both in and out of season, you can not drive more than a few miles out of the towns without seeing one that was hit by a car. The deer population in this area just keeps growing. It is unclear what should be done to stop the over population of this beautiful creature. Perhaps different hunting seasons or longer seasons are the answer. Possibly we should focus more on the development of birth control for the female deer, or maybe repopulating wolves into the areas where the deer population is too great. Something has to be done.
Weeks, P., & Packard, J. (2009). Feral hogs: Invasive species or nature. Human Organization, 68(3), 280-292. Retrieved from http://wk4ky4tk9h.scholar.serialssolutions.com.library.esc.edu/?sid=google&auinit=P&aulast=Weeks&atitle=Feral Hogs: Invasive Species or Nature's Bounty?&title=Human organization&volume=68&issue=3&date=2009&spage=280&issn=0018-7259
Snuggled within the natural bush setting of Cleland Conservation Park, and adjacent to Mount Lofty Summit, the park provides 35 hectares of open bushland habitat where visitors can interact with Australian wildlife. The Cleland Wildlife Park has been a major...
Deer overpopulation is a controversial topic. Some believe that deer overpopulation is not a real problem. Some may also believe the high numbers that studies show, is a scheme to give hunters an excuse to hunt without reason. The truth is that deer overpopulation is a true issue. Deer, especially the eastern whitetail deer population in these modern times, is out of control. “There are an estimated 30 million whitetail deer in the United States today. Under optimal conditions, whitetail deer populations will double every two years”(Rooney). As the numbers of whitetail deer rise, the land for them to live on decreases. This may lead to deer walking on roads and causing accidents.
White tailed deer are the largest game animal in North America. This is due to their over abundance and annoyance to farmers. An average of 300000 deer are hunted down each year. A tragedy has been another 3000 are hit by cars every year. Many human efforts have been made to prevent these accidents, such as fencing and deer repellents near freeways, but many seem to think that hunting and controlling the population is the best way.
Because of this, the average herd can double in size every two to three years (3). Deer are also adaptable to the changing ecosystem around them. The growing suburbs provide open lawns, the summer gardens, varieties of shrubs, and patches of forest cover. The population cannot be controlled naturally because natural predators, such as mountain lions, wolves, black bear, and native people, are absent.... ...
Since its creation in 1916, the National Park Service (NPS) has had to balance between its two goals, which are to preserve wilderness and nature and to provide the public with access to these wonders in a monitored environment. These two goals tend to create a conflict for the NPS because as soon as one goal is given more priority than the other, the administration of national parks is harshly criticized by the public. The accusation that by allowing people to experience the wilderness, the NPS is corrupting the natural environment is very common, as well, as the criticism towards the lack of government funding to preserve nature and history. However, regardless of arguable criticism and a certain need for improvement, after one hundred years,
The most popular form of deer control is hunting. Hunting is a helpful management tool for keeping deer from becoming overpopulated. When European settlers arrived, the deer were hunted for meat and hide without thinking of management. After 100 years, deer were threatened with extinction in N.C. Today deer populations are 1.25 million in NC. Hunting can help regulate this population if done correctly. (Hartiganand Osbourne). Hunting helps the deer population by decreasing the likelihood of overpopulation. Without hunting, deer would overpopulate an area and they would be forced to go elsewhere for food. This could lead to them wondering into cities and highways causing car accidents. Without some type of deer control, they multiply. Since deer have lost some land areas due to cities growing, they do not have enough food and start to slowly starve. Thus hunting is a good choice for deer management.
Saunders, Glen. 2006. Foxes in Tasmania-A Report of an Incursion by an Invasive Species. Invasive Animals Co-operative Research Centre.
In the last decade, from the Rockies to New England and the Deep South, rural and suburban areas have been beset by white-tailed deer gnawing shrubbery and crops, spreading disease and causing hundreds of thousands of auto wrecks. But the deer problem has proved even more profound, biologists say. Fast-multiplying herds are altering the ecology of forests, stripping them of native vegetation and eliminating niches for other wildlife. ' 'I don 't want to paint deer as Eastern devils, ' ' said Dr. McShea, a wildlife biologist associated with the National Zoo in Washington, ' 'but this is indicative of what happens when an ecosystem is out of whack. ' ' The damage is worse than anyone expected, he and other scientists say. Higher deer densities have affected growth, survival, and reproduction of many plant species which have aesthetic, economic or ecological value. In some cases, many species of trees have also been shown to have reduced growth as a result of high deer density (Environmental Benefits of Hunting, 1). Deer prefer certain plant species over others and frequently feed on economically valuable tree species. For example, they prefer oak and sugar maple seedlings, as well as acorns, over less palatable species like American Beech and striped maple. Thus, less marketable species are more likely to survive to maturity,
Zipkin, Elise F., Kraft, Clifford E., Cooch, Evan G., and Sullivan, Patrick J., “When Can Efforts to Control Nuisance and Invasive Species Backfire?,” Ecological Applications, Vol. 19, No. 6 (2009): 1585-1595, accessed October 11, 2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40346271.
The problem is that people do not know that they exist or even why they do. As mentioned earlier, hunters defend their actions by saying that they are controlling the animal population, but have they ever taken the time to think about why there are some areas that are overpopulated? One reason that causes some places to be overpopulated by deer is by damaging their habitat. By destroying forests, they really have nowhere else to go. Eventually, some species just cannot survive and they die off. Deforestation is a major environmental issue. It results in a great loss of different species. An environmentalist named John Muir was very passionate about preserving trees, and helping to prevent deforestation. In his essay “Save the Redwoods,” Muir tells us that “we cannot escape responsibility as their guardians.” We can help decrease the number of trees that are cut down by recycling materials and using recycled products. Sure, this will not completely stop deforestation, but it helps. What is important is that people become informed of what is going on with the environment. Being informed about issues can help encourage people to do something about
Introduction • The reintroduction of dingoes to the natural environment has been a highly debated and controversial topic. Dingoes in the south-eastern part of Australia have been controlled via various methods to reduce their impact on the environment and farmer’s livestock. Reintroduction could result in strengthening and repairing ecosystem diversity, however it could also compromise endangered lower end species and deplete farmer livestock. • There are both positive and negative impacts the reintroduction of dingoes could have on the native flora and fauna of the ecosystem. (Cooke and Soriguer, 2016) • This essay will discuss the possible advantages of dingo reintroduction and consequences, and aim to highlight the compromise that will
One of the big causes of extinction or the endangerment of species is foreign species entering a habitat. This species that are not native to the land can disrupt the food web in that community. These species take control of the food web and endanger some of the other species. The native species become endangered and over the course of many years they either adapt to their new way or life, the foreign predator leaves or is killed off due to the different environment, or the species is killed off and becomes extinct. Organizations like the “World Wild Li...