(From today's Townsville Bulletin)
A 70 % drop has been recorded in some of the owl species around Ingham.
The suspected cause is rat baiting. The main bait used by Ingham farmers
is Klerat, which takes up to 11 days to kill the rats. The rats are
caught and eaten after taking the bait but before dying. Wildlife
consultant John Young fears the poiseoned rats may also be fed to the
birds chicks. The decrease in numbers between 1992 and the present is marked.
1992 1995
Masked Owl 50 br pairs <10 br pairs
Grass Owl 200 50
Barn Owl 300 45
Barking Owl 35 15
Spotted Harrier 15 br pairs 2 juveniles
Dead kites have also been found near where farmers placed the baits.
One local farmer is advocating removing long grass and planting trees
around creek beds and drains as one way of controlling rat numbers
without poison. The other way is to maintain predatory bird population
numbers, and that can't be done by poisoning them indirectly.
A review of rat baiting and it's effects on wildlife is envisaged.
Rafael
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