birding-aus

Canada Geese

To: Bob Cook <>, 'Gregory Little' <>, Tony Russell <>, Birding Aus <>
Subject: Canada Geese
From: Denise Goodfellow <>
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:00:57 +0930
What about Gamba grass?  This "transformer" species, so-called because it
"transforms" the environment, has the potential to wipe out much of the
fauna and flora across northern Australia!

What this huge grass doesn't suffocate or crowd out, dies when it burns.
Gamba burns up to 25 times hotter than our present fires here in the Top
End, leaving our already skeletal soils open to further degradation.

Gamba grasslands may also bring about regional climate change with increases
in temperature range, aridity and extreme weather events.

As to Aboriginal people - children who are taught to regulate their own
behaviour while hardly out of nappies; children who  are encouraged to take
responsibility for others while still toddlers.  These are children who
learn the skills necessary to become competent parents and responsible
members of society.  These, and here I talk of my relatives living in Arnhem
Land, look upon kindness, integrity, honesty etc. not as virtues, but as
survival skills.

Can you not wonder who, really, is the fittest to survive?

Oh, and next year I'll be lecturing on this topic at Berkely College, San
Francisco, USA.


Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow
1/7 Songlark Street
BAKEWELL NT 0832
Ph. 61 08 89 328306


Birdwatching and Indigenous tourism consultant

> www.denisegoodfellow.com
http://web.mac.com/goodfellowdl
> http://www.earthfoot.org
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baby-dreaming
   http://www.ausbird.com





on 14/3/08 10:31 AM, Bob Cook at  wrote:

> Greg, Tony
>
> While I am not on Tony's side, I wonder where you draw the line?  Dingoes
> are non-native, European humans are not native.  Even the aboriginal people
> are non-native (only about 60,000 years). The desire for "preservation" of
> the environment as it was at some chosen point in time is always going to be
> subjective.  So who has the right or the "correct" approach to deciding what
> is the chosen time to be??   And for what/whose purpose?  Evolution also
> includes survival of the fittest, so aboriginal people in Australia suffer
> almost to extinction because European people are "fitter".
>
> I believe that our decisions and actions against "invasive" species is
> always going to be subjective on an individual basis and arguments why it is
> right or wrong are also always going to be subjective.
>
> And those who wish to preserve some version of nature frozen at a particular
> time will always fail, because we cannot control what happens in nature.
>
> Bob Cook
> Axedale  VIC.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: 
>  On Behalf Of Gregory Little
> Sent: Friday, 14 March 2008 11:25 AM
> To: 'Tony Russell'; 'birding-aus birding-aus'
> Subject: RE: [Birding-Aus] Canada Geese
>
> Tony
>
> And Cane Toads are just harmless toads and Camphor Laurel is a lovely
> tree. Am disappointed to read your email. While culling or killing is
> unpalatable it is necessary and I am sure the Canada Geese were removed
> as humanely as possible. Who cares how. Regarding ferals, of course even
> Europeans in Australia are introduced exotics if you look at it one way
> but we may also be just a natural self introduction if you look at it
> another way. However, when we drag all sorts of non native plants and
> animals into an environment, anywhere on the planet, then they are going
> to have an impact on that environment if they flourish and some native
> plants and animals could potentially be lost and that environment
> degraded in ways that are not always obvious. It is not worth the risk
> of not nipping something in the bud (removing it) that could potentially
> be an environmental problem. I feel the stance should be if it is not
> native it does not belong so get rid of it (regardless of how nice it
> looks) and have policies for that affect.
>
> Greg Little
>
> Greg Little - Principal Consultant
> General Flora and Fauna
> PO Box 526
> Wallsend, NSW, 2287, Australia
> Ph    02 49 556609
> Fx    02 49 556671
> www.gff.com.au
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: 
>  On Behalf Of Tony Russell
> Sent: Friday, 14 March 2008 10:23 AM
> To: 'Tony Russell'; 'birding-aus birding-aus'
> Subject: RE: [Birding-Aus] Canada Geese
>
> I just wonder how the geese were disposed of. Were they shot, injected,
> or what ?
>
>  I guess those doing it worked under the charade of "euthanasia" - a
> euphemism for killing, just as "culling" is another euphemism for
> killing.
>
> Presumably euthanasia and culling are more palatable terms which assuage
> the killers' consciences.
>
> Why is it that humans think they have the right, the arrogance, to kill
> other life forms ?
>
> I understand the conservation arguments re feral invasion and the
> problems this may cause, but we've survived the influx of Cattle Egrets,
> Starlings, House Sparrows, Common Miners,etc, and the incursions
> Long-billed Corellas are making on the east coast - and Perth now has
> quite a good population of these too, and the way Eastern Rosellas have
> spread across into the Adelaide area. No great disasters. It's not like
> foxes and cats which have destroyed populations of native animals -
> these are birds we are talking about, harmless birds.
>
> T.
>
>
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