I few weeks ago I made a post suggesting that there were no Grey
Kangaroos in O'Connor Ridge NR. I can now confirm that they are there.
I am not sure about the sort of studies that have been done on the
relationships between Grey Kangaroo grazing pressure and other wildlife
including birds, but if not done, it would be very useful research - if
only to help sort some of the chaff from the wheat in the current
debate. From anecdotal observations I have what I acknowledge are my
prejudices. It is quite dispiriting at the moment walking around
Mulligan's flat, chocabloc with Greys and barely a spot to step on which
does not have its quota of kangaroo dung on top of the centimetre tall
grass - and nary a finch. By comparison, presumably with most of the
roos killed by the bushfire, there are scads of finches west of Coppins
Crossing (I know - there are many more variables than roos out there).
There was an article in one of the newspapers recently noting that the
reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone NP (I think) has had the effect
of reversing the decline in Aspen growth. The wolves were either eating
the elk or making them nervous enough to stop overgrazing the Aspen. If
we sort of roughly transpose elk with Grey Kangaroos, Aspen with
grassland and wolves with dingoes we have some interesting hypotheses.
As for the rainforest experience - I much prefer desert on a clear cool
winter morning, tropical savannah woodland during the middle of the dry
season, or flowering grasslands in spring. Leaches, ticks,
wait-a-whiles, lawyer vines...
(I have not read John's comments in the Chronicle).
Con
Whitworth, Benjamin - BRS wrote:
I refer to John Laytons Letter to the Chronicle.
.
I assume the article is tongue in cheek implying that grasslands will
never be appreciated as much as rainforest, because eg animals are
buried, unobservable, and animals and plants are just too small.
I would argue that most people's perception of rainforests is a romantic
view, far from reality. I am by no means an expert on rainforests but I
have spent probably almost 1 year doing surveys and walks in rainforests
in Africa, South America and S coast NSW.
.
I love rainforests but I think they can be very harsh for humans.
a) In Africa we were doing surveys for Colobus monkeys near Mombasa, and
I was also studying their behaviour. Doing transects through rainforest
left my arms, legs and head cut up every day, I had cuts all over me
from razor sharp thorns and often got tangled in Lianas. At Shimba Hills
it was also quite dangerous and one time we accidentally ended up in the
middle of a herd of forest elephants. We usually saw only 1 to 3 troops
of monkeys each day and only for a split second, or heard them 'crash'
away. For 7 months I rarely saw any birds in the rainforest and only
twice saw a turaco. It was also hard keeping track of 'tame-ish' monkeys
during behaviour studies. At shimba hills we often got rained on (being
a rainforest) and one day even though it was 23 degrees, after 4 hours I
was nearing hypothermia and everyone commented on how Purple I was. That
day we also walked back to camp to find leopard tracks around our tent.
.
b) In South America we searched through the amazon in 3 countries (Peru,
Bolivia and Brazil) to try and find Emperor Tamarin monkeys. We spent
~$3000 trying to find them and didn't see one. It was extremely rare to
see macaws (scarlet, blue and golds, and greenwinged, and also amazon
parrots) 'in' the rainforest, even though they were easily seen flying
overhead or when boating down rivers. In one remote Park in Bolivia I
got lost, and disoriented in the forest, and was panicking as we were
the only group of people within 100km. One night in Manu NP in Peru we
were looking for nocturnal owl monkeys when I accidentally got jabbed by
one of the spiky trees. For the next 3 hours I was hallucinating and
throwing up. They were really worried and considering helicoptering me
out, which would have cost thousands. But I was OK.
.
c) When helping on the South Coast of NSW on a palm project (Bangalow
and fan palms I think) we were often covered in leeches (not my
favourite animal), and at one stage I had 50 ticks on my body.
I love rainforest, but walking along a boardwalk in Cairns does not give
people a true 'appeciation' of the rainforest. They have a romantic
view.
So why cant people develop the same romantic view about grasslands?
There are disadvantages with grasslands in that they are at their best
seasonally, animals are hard to see, you get burrs and seeds in your
socks, and sunburnt. But grasslands are better than rainforests in that
they have spectacular flower displays of hundreds of species (in some
cases) in spring, there are animals to see such as sun moths, perunga
grasshoppers, and in the past would have been bustards, brolgas and
emus. It is still easier to see birds in grassland and grassy woodland,
than in rainforest. Although burrs may be annoying rainforest plants and
animals are much more damaging to people..
I normally enjoy John's witty comments, but the timing is not great this
time, because any skeric of legitimacy given to the current 'non culling
kangaroo' campaign by animal 'rights' groups is too much. His letter
implies that people will never want to see grasslands for their own
sake, and therefore gives more credibility (perhaps unintentionally) to
grasslands being managed just for kangaroos.
Benj Whitworth
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