Category Archives: Invasive species

Climate protesters arrested at Port of Newcastle blockade – as it happened

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‘The biggest transformation in our country’s history’

Chris Bowen has been talking about Labor’s plans for reducing emissions, but he’s pressed on the fact that the government has been approving new coalmines and gas projects, which add to global emissions.

The way I see this, David, you can enter into a discussion with your international counterparts which we are doing which is us saying to them, “We will continue to be a reliable energy supplier but we want to work with you on your decarbonisation because we have advantages that you don’t have. We can provide renewable energy.” That is an important conversation to have.

Frankly the approach of others is more a slogan than a policy. We are making the biggest transformation in our country’s history and that involves both domestic policies and strong international engagements, as I will be doing over the next couple of weeks and we have been doing all the way through.

It will be treated in the budget statement of risks and liabilities in the normal fashion. But this is the right policy for the right times to ensure emissions come down and reliability goes up.

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‘Urgent’ calls for biosecurity funding after fire ants cross Queensland border into NSW

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Authorities working to chemically eradicate three nests after ‘one of world’s worst super pests’ found in South Murwillumbah

Authorities are rushing to contain the spread of fire ants after the invasive species crossed the Queensland border into New South Wales for the first time since the infestation began in 2001.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries confirmed on Saturday that three red imported fire ant nests had been found in South Murwillumbah, 13km from the Queensland border in the state’s north-east.

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Put ‘pest’ animal species on the pill, don’t cull them, says scientist

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Humane alternatives to killing rampant creatures such as wild boar, deer and grey squirrels are being developed

Conflicts between humans and wildlife are triggering growing numbers of disease outbreaks, road accidents and crop damage. And the problem is likely to get worse unless new, humane measures to curtail animal numbers are developed in the near future, say scientists.

It is a critical environmental issue that will be debated this week at a major conference in Italy where experts will discuss how best to limit numbers of grey squirrels, wild boar, deer, feral goats, pigeons, parakeets and other creatures that are causing widespread ecological damage in many countries.

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Australian effort to contain fire ants hampered by funding shortfall, documents show

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Invasive Species Council releases material showing contrast between original $133m plan to fully eradicate the ants and $89m ‘revised work plan’

Lack of proper funding is hindering efforts to contain the spread of invasive fire ants by Australian authorities, according to documents obtained by the Invasive Species Council.

The documents show a stark contrast between the original $133m plan to fully eradicate the ants and an $89m “revised work plan” to continue for the next 12 months. This revised plan would only treat half the area needed, even as the ants continue their southward march towards New South Wales.

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Fire ants breach Queensland containment zones six times as authorities try to stop march to NSW border

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Experts say pest eradication program is underfunded and it is a ‘matter of time’ before ants move beyond Queensland

Fire ants have breached containment zones in south-east Queensland six times in the past six weeks, triggering the expansion of biosecurity controls at the New South Wales border.

The imported red fire ants – considered one of the world’s worst invasive species – were detected at a site at Tallebudgera last week, about 5.5km from the NSW border. The find was the farthest south the pest has been detected in Queensland.

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NSW at ‘extreme risk’ of fire ant invasion after nest discovered 5.5km from border

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Federal agriculture minister says ‘additional effort’ needed after new infestation found on the Gold Coast

The discovery of a nest of red fire ants just 5.5km from New South Wales’ northern border has prompted calls for urgent action to stop the spread of the destructive invasive insect.

The nest, found at Tallebudgera on the Gold Coast, is the farthest south the pest has been detected, prompting accusations that governments have been dragging their feet on properly funding eradication programs.

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Invasive snake wrestled into submission by hunters is Florida’s longest

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Video of capture of Burmese python measured at 19ft – as long as an adult giraffe is tall – was posted on Instagram

A snake believed to be the longest invasive Burmese python ever recorded was captured by two Florida hunters after a mighty struggle.

Stephen Gauta and Jake Waleri caught the humungous reptile in Big Cypress national preserve near the Everglades in southern Florida earlier this week after it lunged at Waleri, 22, who then wrestled it back to the ground.

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Cane toads’ spread through Western Australia’s Kimberley revealed by motion sensor cameras

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Cane toads first crossed into WA from the Northern Territory 15 years ago and have slowly spread through the Kimberley

Motion sensor cameras have revealed the confronting spread of cane toads across Western Australia’s eastern Kimberley region.

Supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia, the Nyaliga Rangers deployed cameras at 141 locations between August 2020 and October 2022.

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March of the fire ants could reach Sydney’s outskirts by 2035, costing economy up to $1.2bn a year

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Exclusive: Study finds pests could damage crops, and households would incur costs for pesticides, veterinary bills and electrical faults

Failure to stop the spread of an outbreak of invasive fire ants in south-east Queensland could cost the Australian economy more than $1bn a year, including damage to high-value crops, infrastructure and homes.

A previously unreleased cost-benefit analysis, commissioned by a steering committee managing the outbreak of red fire ants and obtained by Guardian Australia, says that eradication of the species provides “much higher returns” than suppression measures that simply limit its spread.

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Feral horses an ‘imminent threat’ that could cause extinction of several endangered Australian species, inquiry warned

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Scientific committee calls for ‘urgent action’ from the Albanese government to address damage caused to sensitive alpine ecosystems

Feral horses in the Australian alps pose an imminent threat to the Albanese government’s zero extinctions target, a scientific committee that advises the government on endangered species has told a parliamentary inquiry.

The threatened species scientific committee (TSSC) says feral horses “may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction” of six critically endangered animals and at least two critically endangered plants.

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Victorian agencies accused of failing to consult traditional owners over feeding of stranded brumbies in national park

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Feral horses trapped on high ground in Barmah national park during floods were fed by helicopter hay drops

Peak environmental groups have accused Parks Victoria and other agencies of failing to consult traditional owners before facilitating hay drops in the Barmah national park to feed feral horses stranded in floods last year.

The Barmah national park is jointly managed by Parks Victoria and the traditional owners, the Yorta Yorta nation.

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‘It’s over’: five-year hunt for Rambo the feral fox paves way for greater bilby to roam free

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Conservationists are confident invasive predator is dead allowing native creatures to flourish again in NSW’s Pilliga Scrub once more

He was the fantastic fox that derailed a multi-million dollar plan to reintroduce endangered native species into one of Australia’s largest forests. But after a five-year hunt that involved 10,400 traps, 3,500 baits, 73 stakeouts, 55 days of scent-tracking dogs and 97 infrared cameras filming 40-hours a week, the red fox nicknamed “Rambo” is officially “no longer”.

It means, for the first time in a century, greater bilbies are running wild in north-west New South Wales.

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Carp spawning event fills Murray-Darling flood waters with masses of flailing fish

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Experts say while boom in invasive species is not good news for some native fish, there will be winners – including water birds

In creeks, rivers and flood waters across the Murray-Darling Basin, an uncountable and unfathomable number of invasive carp are turning waters into bubbling masses of flapping and flailing fish.

“It’s quite a sight,” said Dr Matt Herring, an environment consultant. “I walked through one of the schools of carp a few days ago and it’s the first time I’ve trodden on fish with every step.”

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Feral deer will become Australia’s ‘next rabbit plague’ without a containment zone, experts say

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Populations have increased tenfold in the past two decades, leading to a new national strategy to halt the rapid spread

Populations of feral deer have increased tenfold in the past two decades with numbers now too high to be managed by recreational hunting or other recent control measures.

Numbers of the invasive species are now so large in some parts of the east coast that a new national strategy by federal and state governments proposes establishing a “containment zone” to stop the spread of the animals westward across the country.

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NSW on alert after more than a dozen cane toads found an hour north of Sydney

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Agriculture minister says size of colony in Mandalong indicates there could be many more of the toxic intruders in the area

New South Wales is on alert after more than a dozen cane toads were found on a private property an hour’s drive north of Sydney.

The state’s Department of Primary Industries (DPI) biosecurity helpline confirmed a report had been made by a member of the public on 19 September after a “number” of cane toads were found at a property in the rural town of Mandalong, west of Lake Macquarie.

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‘It’s a murder scene’: feral pigs torment residents in New Zealand capital

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Farm just minutes from centre of Wellington estimates it has lost about 60 kid goats in past few months

Marauding feral pigs have blighted a central suburb in New Zealand’s capital, killing kid goats at an urban farm, intimidating dogs and turning up in residents’ gardens.

The owners of a goat milk farm in the hills of the suburb of Brooklyn, 10 minutes from the centre of Wellington, has lost about 60 kid goats to pigs in the past few months. Often, all that is left of them are gnawed bone fragments and parts of the hooves or head.

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Dead or alive: can bounty plan solve Miami Beach’s invasive iguana problem?

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City commissioner proposes paying per reptile to ramp up efforts to curb numbers of non-native species

A city commissioner in Miami Beach is proposing a novel solution to tackle an invasion of non-native iguanas overwhelming the popular tourist city: paying a bounty for the head of each reptile brought in dead or alive.

Commissioners have agreed to look into the iguana problem and the suggestion by council member Kristen Rosen Gonzalez to offer payments to hunters, which she says would offer an incentive for locals to take an active role.

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Australia’s rabbit invasion traced back to single importation of 24 animals in 1859, study finds

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Population then exploded in what researches say was ‘the fastest colonisation rate for an introduced mammal ever recorded’

The Australia-wide rabbit invasion resulted from a single introduction of just 24 animals in 1859, new research has confirmed.

Using historical and genetic data, scientists have pinpointed the origins of what they call “the fastest colonisation rate for an introduced mammal ever recorded”.

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Portly python: heaviest-ever snake captured in Florida tips scales at 215lbs

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Biologists used male ‘scout’ snakes to find the female Burmese which was nearly 18ft long and had 122 developing eggs

A team of biologists recently hauled in the heaviest Burmese python ever captured in Florida, officials said. The discovery was part of the state’s python removal program.

The female python weighed in at 215 pounds (98 kg), was nearly 18ft long (5 metres) and had 122 developing eggs, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida said in a news release.

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Shiny but deadly – don’t throw goldfish in rivers, pet owners told

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Unwanted lockdown goldfish pose a triple threat to native species in UK waterways, study reveals

If that lockdown goldfish is starting to lose its lustre, think twice before throwing it in the river or canal – the creatures may look innocent but their voracious appetite, tolerance for cold and have-a-go habits compared with native species can be catastrophic for local wildlife.

New research shows that goldfish consume much more than comparable fish in UK waters, eat more than other invasive fish and are also much more willing to aggressively take on other competing species.

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