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Yes
something should be done about the Spotted Dove before they
become any more established than they already are in the ACT. Surely it
is naive to even imagine that the NSW gov will have funds to contribute to that,
given all their problems.
I
don't see why a group tackling the STD problem (there is a joke in there
somewhere) should take away from the Myna issue. They are separate problems and
surely the same strategies won't work. Surely they won't be attracted (in any
practical sense) by the same bait and won't respond the same way socially. A
bait that will attract STD will surely come closer to also attracting Crested
Pigeons than Mynas. That seems so obvious to me. I know shooting isn't a good
option within Canberra suburbs but that may be the most efficient way of
reducing the STD.
Even
if the STD is increasing and I would rather they not become common here such as
how annoyingly prevalent they are in Melbourne for example, so is the Crested
Pigeon increasing and so it is hard to show an actual problem - are the STD
impacting on anything?.
Philip
Mark,
I agree with your comments that something should be
done about the Spotted Dove before they become any more established than they
already are in the ACT. But what can be done?
The Department responsible has already been
approached by COG with data supplied from the GBS indicating the birds' increase
in the ACT but their reply is
1) Demonstrate to us the problem
2) Little we can do about the problem unless NSW
comes on side (referring to the Spotted Dove in Queanbeyan).
From past experiences the Department tells me that
NSW will not come on side with these types of problems. Queanbeyan is a
long way from Sydney. It did not happen with Brumby issues in Namadge nor
with the Common Myna.
The other option we have is to set up another
Common Myna type group in the ACT. This of course is possible but will it
take pressure away from CIMAG and we end up with two groups neither of which
have the impact they should have? I believe it will and given the good
work being one by CIMAG the last thing we want is a reduction in trapping
pressure. In fact, the fewer the birds the greater is the trapping
pressure required.
One question I have and that is can Mynas and
Turtle Doves be captured in the same trap and with the same type of bait.
I suspect not.
I am afraid there is little that I can see we can
do at this stage. I believe the only thing we can do is to demonstrate
with solid evidence that the Spotted Dove is having an adverse impact on native
species. How hard would that be?
Chris
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