by Tim Low
In future, many more animals will be living in our cities. For the most part, we should take some pleasure from this, from knowing that animals like to live among us, that we are not simply a destructive force but also an ecosystem engineer opening opportunities for others. But the prospect of animals living among us becomes ugly if our response is only to kill them. The bat cull in Melbourne happened because of ignorance and intolerance. It’s not good enough to say that bats don’t belong in a city; we can’t assume that animals have somewhere else to go. The grey-headed flying-fox doesn’t have a lot of options. It’s now a people-oriented species, a human commensal.
This is now true for many species, and sure to become truer in future. How we respond to that shift in reliance will test Australia’s reputation for tolerance and caring. We can’t just accept wildlife into cities on our terms. We can’t welcome in birds and butterflies and keep out bats and snakes. That’s neither realistic nor fair. What we can do instead is find better ways of sharing our spaces with nature, and fairer ways of resolving conflicts. Les Hall talks glowingly about bridges in America designed with dark spaces to house small cave-dwelling bats. Similar trials are underway in New South Wales. Our parks and farms offer splendid opportunities for accommodating nature, as the Olympic Authority has shown. At home I’m doing my bit: I share my space with a deadly snake. It’s been very easy to do. To experience wildness so close to home is to live more fully and to understand more deeply. The wilderness, after all, begins here.
1 Other false claims are discussed in the source notes.
An old martin nest under a culvert shelters inland cave bats far from any cave. Australia's bridges and culverts have become ecologically important.
Armed against giant extinct marsupials, this is vicious hairy Mary (Calamus radicalis) in a north Queensland rainforest.
Endangered plants - velvety peppercresses - sprout in a lawn in a park at Oatlands, Tasmania.
The farm of David Amos, invaded by a rare plant, Melaleuca pustulata.
Man-made wilderness: a buttongrass moor near Lake St Clair, Tasmania. Fires are lit inside national parks to stop rainforest invading this artificial habitat.
On Maria Island, Tasmania, grey kangaroos overgraze like sheep, forestalling regeneration by shrubs and trees.
Koalas were taken to Quail Island during the 1930s as an act of kindness.
Tragedy ensued when the koalas freed on Quail Island killed their food trees and starved.
Traditional landowner Herbie Harradine watched koalas kill these trees in Framlingham Forest, Victoria.
A mighty baobab tree in Zimbabwe demolished by African elephants - the world's next most damaging animal after Homo sapiens.
Eroding earth and stunted trees near the Zambesi River, Zimbabwe, characterise a landscape made desolate by elephants. Note the man in the background.
A canny carnivore, the pied currawong is multiplying in Australian cities.
Outback crested pigeons now enjoy coastal urban living.
The noisy miner is arguably the world's most aggressive bird. It does better in gardens than in natural habitats.
Introduced Cape Barren geese keep the pastures short on Maria Island.
Tunbridge rubbish tip: a native grassland of immense significance. Many rare plants grow here.
Stealthy invasion of a forest understorey at Buckley's Reserve near Melbourne by sweet pittosporum, a major native weed. Grasses once grew here.
These are Australian plants that escape regularly from gardens and invade forests. They should not be grown near bushland. Plants tagged with an asterisk are especially invasive. These lists are not comprehensive, especially those for Melbourne, Canberra and Perth.
Sydney
Cedar wattle (Acacia elata)
Cootamundra wattle (Acacia baileyana)*
Queensland silver wattle (Acacia podalyriifolia)*
Golden wreath wattle (Acacia saligna)*
Red-jacket (Alectryon tomentosus)
Flame tree (Brachychiton acerifolius)
Tuckeroo (Cupaniopsis anacardioides)
Silky oak (Grevillea robusta)
Fishbone or sword fern (Nephrolepis cordifolia)*
Umbrella tree (Schefflera actinophylla)
Melbourne
Cootamundra wattle(Acacia baileyana)
Cedar wattle (Acacia elata)
White sallow wattle (Acacia floribunda)
Sallow wattle (Acacia longifolia)*
Golden wreath wattle (Acacia saligna)*
Coast wattle (Acacia sophorae)
Smooth-barked apple (Angophora costata)
Bottlebrushes (Callistemon species)*
Southern mahogany (Eucalyptus saligna subsp. botryoides)
Pincushion hakea (Hakea drupacea)*
Willow hakea (Hakea salicifolia)
Sweet hakea (Hakea suaveolens)
Coast tea-tree (Leptospermum laevigatum)*
Bracelet honey-myrtle (Melaleuca armillaris)*
Totem poles (Melaleuca decussata)*
Cape wattle (Paraserianthes lophantha)
Sweet pittosporum (Pittosporum undulatum)*
Bluebell creeper (Sollya heterophylla)*
Hobart
Cootamundra wattle(Acacia baileyana)
Sallow wattle (Acacia longifolia)
Kangaroo thorn (Acacia paradoxa)
Golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha)*
Rosemary grevillea (Grevillea rosmarinifolia)*
Grevillea hybrids (Grevillea species)*
Cape wattle (Paraserianthes lophantha)*
Sweet pittosporum (Pittosporum undulatum)
Bluebell creeper (Sollya heterophylla)*
Canberra
Cootamundra wattle (Acacia baileyana)*
Western coastal wattle (Acacia cyclops)*
Early black wattle (Acacia decurrens)*
Cedar wattle (Acacia elata)*
Flinders Ranges wattle (Acacia iteaphylla)*
Queensland silver wattle (Acacia podalyriifolia)*
Golden wreath wattle (Acacia saligna)*
Blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus)
Rosemary grevillea (Grevillea rosmarinifolia)
Cape wattle (Paraserianthes lophantha)*
Adelaide
Cootamundra wattle (Acacia baileyana)
Western coastal wattle (Acacia cyclops)*
Golden wreath wattle (Acacia saligna)*
White sallow wattle (Acacia longifolia)
Swamp oak (Casuarina glauca)
Rosemary grevillea (Grevillea rosmarinifolia)
Bushy needlewood (Hakea sericea)
Coast tea-tree (Leptospermum laevigatum)*
Bracelet honey-myrtle (Melaleuca armillaris)
Cape wattle (Paraserianthes lophantha)
Sweet pittosporum (Pittosporum undulatum)*
Bluebell creeper (Sollya heterophylla)*
Perth
Silver wattle (Acacia dealbata)*
Early black wattle (Acacia decurrens)*
Cedar wattle (Acacia elata)
Flinders Ranges wattle (Acacia iteaphylla)*
Sallow wattle (Acacia longifolia)*
Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon)
Queensland silver wattle (Acacia podalyriifolia)*
Golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha)*
Geraldton wax (Chamelaucium uncinatum) (northern form and cultivars)
Coast tea-tree (Leptospermum laevigatum)*
Long-leaf mat-rush (Lomandra longifolia)
Kangaroo apple (Solanum laciniatum)
Darwin
Elephant ear wattle (Acacia dunnii)
Mangium (Acacia mangium)
Mountford’s wattle (Acacia mountfordiae)
Brisbane
Zigzag wattle (Acacia macradenia)
Flame tree (Brachychiton acerifolius)
Cadagi (Corymbia torelliana)*
Small-leafed silky oak (Grevillea banksii)
Macaranga (Macaranga tanarius)
Fishbone or sword fern (Nephrolepis cor
difolia)*
Umbrella tree (Schefflera actinophylla)*
This list is not comprehensive, but summarises most of the fauna-related problems raised in the book. Each of the problems has been facilitated or worsened by human impacts. Locations are given if impacts are localised. Further details appear in chapters 5, 12, 16 and 17. Problem fish are not included because their impacts remain largely unknown.
Mammals
Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
– Killing eucalypts in Victoria and South Australia
Common Ringtail Possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus)
– Stripping eucalypt foliage in Victoria
Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)
– Threatening endangered glossy black-cockatoos on Kangaroo Island (Garnett, Pedler & Crowley 1999 and 2000)
– Probably threatening red-tailed black-cockatoo in Victoria (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
– Possibly stealing nest holes from rare masked owls in Tasmania (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
– Stripping and sometimes killing eucalypts
– Spreading seeds of hawthorn and other weeds (Bass 1990)
Agile Wallaby (Macropus agilis)
– Stripping undergrowth, eroding slopes and soiling coral reefs on Hamilton Island
Tammar Wallaby (Macropus eugenii)
– Eliminating shrubs on Greenly, Granite and Boston islands, South Australia (Copley 1994, Robinson 1989)
Black-striped Wallaby (Macropus dorsalis)
– Disturbing vulnerable black-breasted button-quail (Flower, Hamley & Smith 1995)
Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus)
– Stripping the understorey (Cheal 1986, and Gifford 1996)
– Eating and trampling endangered and rare plants
Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus)
– Stripping understorey (Coulson 2002)
– Contributing to declines of woodland birds
Common Wallaroo/Euro (Macropus robustus)
– Stripping understorey and degrading national parks (Alexander 1997)
– Eating threatened plants (Baulderstone 1996)
Red-necked Wallaby/Bennetts Wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus)
– Eating threatened plants in Tasmania
Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus)
– Stripping understorey (Alexander 1997)
Quokka (Setonix brachyurus)
– Removing understorey on Rottnest Island (Dickman no date, Sinclair & Morris 1995–96)
Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor)
– Promoting invasion by burgan (Kunzea ericoides) in Coranderrk Reserve (Singer & Burgman 1999)
Black Flying-Fox (Pteropus alecto)
– Probably displacing grey-headed flying-foxes (unproven)
– Spreading weed seeds
Birds
Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides)
– Preying on rare Kermadec petrels on Norfolk Island (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
Subantarctic Skua (Catharacta lonnbergi)
– Preying on rare southern giant-petrels, northern giant-petrels, blue petrels, fairy prions on Macquarie Island (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
Silver Gull (Larus novaehollandiae)
– Preying on eggs and chicks of banded stilts, vulnerable hooded plovers, and rare little terns (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
– Preying heavily on seabird eggs and chicks on Barrier Reef islands (Hulsman 1977)
Galah (Cacatua roseicapilla)
– Taking nest holes from glossy black-cockatoos on Kangaroo Island (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
– Taking nest holes from endangered short-billed black-cockatoos in Western Australia (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
– Killing eucalypts in Western Australia (Saunders & Ingram 1995)
Little Corella (Cacatua sanguinea)
– Taking nest holes of glossy black-cockatoos on Kangaroo Island (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
Long-billed Corella (Cacatua tenuirostris)
– Competing for nest holes with red-tailed black-cockatoos (endangered Victorian race) (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
– Hybridising with endangered southern form of Western corella (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans)
– Stealing nest holes from endangered Norfolk Island green parrots (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
– Probably contributed to demise of Norfolk Island boobook (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
Australian Ringneck (Barnardius zonarius)
– Killing grasstrees (Xanthorrhoea preissii) (Recher 1999)
Masked Owl (Tyto novaehollandiae)
– Preying on endangered woodhen and other rare birds on Lord Howe Island (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)
– Possibly competing for nest holes with rare masked owls in Tasmania (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
Striated Pardalote (Pardalotus striatus)
– Possibly displacing endangered forty-spotted pardalotes in Tasmania (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
Bell Miner (Manorina melanophrys)
– Displacing endangered helmeted honeyeaters (Backhouse 1987, Woinarski & Wykes 1983, Garnett & Crowley 2000)
Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala)
– Displacing endangered regent honeyeaters and forty-spotted pardalotes (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
– Displacing large numbers of woodland and open forest birds (Dow 1976, Grey, Clarke & Loyn 1997 and 1998)
Yellow-throated Miner (Manorina flavigula)
– Hybridising the endangered black-eared miner out of existence (Clark, Gordon & Clark 2001, Christidis & Holderness 1988)
Pied Butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis)
– Preying on endangered golden-shouldered parrots (Garnett & Crowley 1997 & 2000)
Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina)
– Preying on vulnerable Gould’s petrels (Priddel & Carlile 1995 and 1999)
– Dispersing weed seeds (Buchanan 1989, Bass 1989)
Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides)
– Preying on vulnerable hooded plovers (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
– Preying on other birds, perhaps causing local population declines
White-winged Chough (Corcorax melanorhamphos)
– Eliminating endangered spider orchids (Caladenia rosella)
Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis)
– Possibly displacing endangered white-chested white-eyes from Norfolk Island (Garnett & Crowley 2000)
– Spreading seeds of many weeds
Invertebrates
Pandanus planthopper (Jamella australiae)
– Killing pandanus trees (Pandanus tectorius) in southern Queensland (Smith & Smith 2000)
Eucalyptus Tortoise Beetle (Paropsis atomaria)
– Killing eucalypts on farmland in New South Wales (Landsberg, Morse & Khanna 1990)
Tuart borer (Phoracantha impavida)
– Killing tuart trees (Eucalyptus gomphocephala) around Perth (Old, Kile & Ohmart 1981)
Jarrah leafminer (Perthida glyphopa)
– Causing serious dieback in jarrah trees (Eucalyptus marginata) in Westen Australia (Abbott et al. 1993)
Native stingless bees (Trigona carbonaria)
– Dispersing seeds of cadagi (Corymbia torelliana), a serious bushland weed (Wallace & Trueman 1995)
Crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci)
– Mass destruction of coral reefs (Raymond 1986, McGhee 1995)
Coral-eating snails (Drupella)
– Suspected of mass destruction of coral reefs (Fellagara & Newman 1996)
Introduction
Browns like farms – see Wilson & Knowles (1988); Winners & losers – McKinney & Lockwood (1999); The Domain – Kirkpatrick (1995), Kirkpa
trick (1986); Endangered bell-frog – see chapter 2 source notes; No balance of nature – Wu & Loucks (1995), Elton (1930).
1. Exploited by Nature
Caley – Currey (1966); Bennett (1834, vol. 1. page 83); Chisholm (1948); Rockhampton’s railway swallows – McNight & McKnight (1991); Swallows on train – Shepherd (1912); Sunbirds – Thornton (1999); The miners roost beside Indooroopilly train station; Gould (1976); Bats in Mt Isa, etc. – Birt, et al. (1998), Hall & Richards (2000), Ratcliffe (1948, page 14); Europe’s starlings & wagtails – Gilbert (1989, page 169); Harare’s kestrels – Low (1996-97); Magpies like wire – Chisholm (1958); White-eared honeyeaters – Chisholm (1958); Satin bowerbirds – Chisholm (1958), Gould (1865), etc.; Spotted bowerbird – Borgia (1995), Chisholm (1958); One bower contained . . . – Chaffer (1984); Great bowerbirds in Townsville – Mark Read, Townsville Environment Protection Agency; Thomson (1935); Gould (1865); Russell (1898); David Neil, University of Queensland; Leichhardt on wells – (1847, pages 160, 162, 460, 476, 405); Leichhardt on kites & crows (1847, pages 273, 305, 321, 328, 335); Sturt (1849, pages 269, 320); Thomson (1935); Bennett (1834, page 273); Collins paraphrased by Smyth (1878), Leichhardt (1847, page 307); DNA of crows – Sibley & Ahlquist (1986, page 76); Honeyguide – Dean, Siegfried & MacDonald (1990), Isack & Reyer (1989), my book was called The Wonders of Life on Earth (1960); Gould (1865); Leichhardt (1847, page 222, etc.); Austin (1977); Melomys – Limpus & Watts (1983), Strahan (1995); Lady apple and wongi plums – Hynes & Chase (1982); Collins (1798, page 307); Grey (1841, volume 2, page 292); Blady grass – Currey (1966, page 81; Cunningham (1827, page 195); Rosenblatt – Time April-May 2000.
2. Endangered Weeds
Bell-frog – Pyke (1999), Pyke & White (2001), Campbell (1999), White & Pyke (1996), and other papers appearing in volume 30(2) of Australian Zoologist; Selinger – The Canberra Times 8 June 2000 page 12; Velvety peppercress – Cropper (1987), Cropper (1993), and notes provided by Bob Parsons (La Trobe University) and Neville Scarlett; twenty-eight places in Tasmania – Kirkpatrick & Gilfedder (1998); Gunn – note attached to herbarium specimen K359177 (N.Scarlett pers. comm.); Weed in New Zealand – Peter Heenan, Landcare Research, Lincoln, Canterbury; Bandicoot at Hamilton – Menkhorst & Seebeck (1990), Clark, Gibbs & Goldstraw (1995), Dufty (1994); In Tasmania – Robinson, Sherwin & Brown (1991), Driessen, Mallick & Hocking (1996), Mallick, Hocking & Dreissen (1997); Gunn suffered severely – Gould (1974); New rodent (closely related to Rattus sordidus) – Milne (1993), Anonymous (1985), David Hannah, Queensland Environment Protection Agency, Emerald; Star finch – Garnett & Crowley (2000); Endangered cockatoo = short-billed black-cockatoo; Rare bats = ghost bats – Worthington et al. (1994), Hall et al. (1997); Threatened ringtail = western ringtail (Strahan 1995); Miller in The Age – 3 February 1999; Orange-bellied parrot – Loyn et al. (1986), Garnett & Crowley (2000); Buttongrass – Marsden-Smedley (1998), Marsden-Smedley & Catchpole (1995); Lightning fires rare in Tasmania – Bowman (1998), Marsden-Smedley (1998); Goodwin – Marsden-Smedley (1998); Lophelia pertusa – Anonymous (1999).