|
The discussion on the COG chat line, in my view,
has missed a few vital points and has taken the discussion in an irrelevant
direction.
Dealing with the second issue first, there has been
quite a bit of discussion about Indian vs Noisy Miners. Clearly, both
Noisy & Bell Miners have adverse impacts on other native bird
species, and several studies have demonstrated this. But why this
should be related to Indian Myna threats is puzzling. We could talk about lots
of other pest species in the same context!
The Indian Myna has been classified by the IUCN as
one of the World's 100 Most Invasive Species and Australian National Vertebrate
Pests Committee as an "Extreme Threat". Anyone
who has birdwatched in Cairns, Fiji or in the leafy suburbs and urban parks in
Melbourne is confronted with massive populations, which clearly have excluded
almost all small native birds. In Cairns I understand, populations of between
500 & 1000 per sq km have been observed. Studies in Canberra Nature Parks in
the 1990s have confirmed agressive displacement of native birds and mammals from
nest hollows.
CIMAG has never pretended to have all
the answers on Indian Myna threats, and we are strongly supporting the work
of Chris Tidemann & Kate Grarock to ensure that the best science underpins
our activities.
Bruce Lindenmayer
| 