And yet in a nutshell, we (humans) as a species have been introduced
to many places with far more damaging aspects than a turkey, Dingo,
Cane toad, Feral cat put together. 6 & 1/2 billion people on the
planet and growing..... go figure!
Martyn
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Martyn Stewart
http://www.naturesound.org
Redmond. WA
425-898-0462
Make every garden a wildlife habitat
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Listen to the Birds and the Bees at
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On Nov 2, 2007, at 5:04 PM, Peter wrote:
> > When does an introduced species become a native?
>
> Well take the Australian dingo as an example.. The dingo was
> introduced by aboriginal people to Australia 2,000 to 3,000 years ago
> and, while largely accepted as a native species now, it's still a bit
> of debate about it.
>
> Against it being native:
> 1. it was introduced by humans
> 2. only a few thousand years ago
> 3. it lives in places other than Australia
> 4. it has done untold environmental damage (considered largely
> responsible for killing off the "Tasmanian" Tiger from mainland
> Australia)
> 5. It's not a marsupial, like the rest of the mammals around here
> (apart from bats)
> 6. it has been partially domesticated
>
> For it being native:
> 1. It was introduced by the indigenous people, which somehow people
> may consider more "natural" than if Europeans did the introduction.
> 2. It was introduced a long time ago (2000+ years)
> 3. It's an iconic Australian animal
> 4. It's only partially domesticated
> 5. It has become an important part of the ecosystem, keeping out
> smaller, introduced predators such as foxes and cats, and so allowing
> Australian natives to thrive. (It had once been assumed to be harming
> native populations)
>
> So, is the dingo native? Mm.. kinda, yeah.
>
> Is a dove introduced 200 years ago native? hmm..
>
> The question is more than academic though. Dingos are now being
> reintroduced to areas for their ecological role. But are cows native
> now? Some cattle farmers are arguing that their cows should be allowed
> through red gum forests of Barmah because they've been grazing there
> so long that they've developed ecological relationships with the
> natives. However one look at the the devastated areas compared to the
> recovering no-grazing areas tells you that the relationship is very
> one way.
>
> Anyway if there's an official line between exotic and native, I don't
> know it.
>
> Peter Halasz.
>
>
>
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