Terry Pacey's email prompted me to share the below with birding-aus members.
The article below apparently appeared in Waikerie's local rag this week. I
copied it off their website. The Loxton-Waikerie Council's district manager's
email address is
Peter
==================================================
Correllas and wood ducks wreak havoc in Waikerie
Waikerie football club members and Waikerie swimming pool club members are
watching their resources be slowly damaged by both correllas and wood ducks.
With flocks of correllas devastating trees and infrastructure at the oval,
Waikerie football club secretary Mr. David Collett said, "A couple of years ago
they chewed through the television cable leading to the club rooms, which
caused a big inconvenience and was extremely costly.
"This year they have caused damage to the lights and one of the towers went out.
"They are causing damage everywhere, but in our case it is $1,500 worth of
damage."
>From the club's perspective little can be done to stop the problem, it is just
>something they need to adjust to.
"All we can do is repair the damage with stronger conduit, so that it will not
happen all that often and try and camouflage the cables."
Loxton Waikerie District Council is currently investigating a number of
possible options for the capturing and culling of the correllas in and around
the Waikerie Oval.
Dealing with similar situations in Loxton, works manager Mr. Tom Avery said,
"We have been talking with National Parks and Wildlife SA and are seeking
permission to use nets to trap the correllas both here and in Loxton.
"The nets are roughly 10 metres by 10 metres and are set up over the areas
where you find a lot of birds together."
"We have tried the gun club, but now they do not want to be a part of it due to
the negative impact on them," said Mr. Avery.
"Once we have caught the birds, the options for killing them are either putting
them in a big gas chamber or clubbing them."
Reminding all councillors that the above mentioned methods are the official and
legal way of disposing of correllas once they are captured, Mr. Avery said, "We
as a council have permission (via a permit) to shoot and club them, though it
is not something we want to do."
The preferred method by National Parks and Wildlife SA however, is to simply
move the flocks of correllas on.
"We find that people are generally not happy with shooting methods, so we
recommend scaring them and moving them away," said National Parks district
ranger Mr. Phil Strachan.
"They are quite migratory and can be easily moved on before breeding seasons
begin, if they are regularly disturbed.
"Their movement is in search of food and at the moment there is a drought out
in the bush and so they come into the towns."
However, with native vegetation, parks, gardens and ovals, being destroyed at a
rapid pace, Mr. Avery said, "We have been through every possible avenue to try
and control the problems being created.
"We have used the most humane way possible such as gas guns and kites, but
unfortunately they are causing too much destruction.
"To save the vegetation we need to take another step and that is why we have
applied for the netting permit."
In an alternative sporting venue in Waikerie, the wood ducks are also wreaking
havoc.
Members of the Waikerie swimming pool have been battling with destructive wood
ducks leaving faeces in and around the pool area.
In an attempt to combat this problem, council had previously applied for and is
now utilising a permit to reduce their numbers.
"The permit allows us to dispose of a certain number and we are nearing that
point, without solving the problem," said deputy district manager Mr. Peter
Sellar.
Mr. Avery informed councillors that the permit was for a given period of time,
but once that period lapsed then they could apply for another.
"Like the correllas we are dealing with this in the most humane way," he said.
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