The point of my posting yesterday on this topic was not to underestimate the
effect of fox predation on bustards or to question the usefulness of
reducing fox numbers.
Rather it was to suggest that it is a bad idea to fix on one cause out of
many for bustard decline. Bustards, as I said yesterday, have evolved
alongside predators and live alongside them in northern Australia still.
We need to think what measures are practical; we cannot anticipate ever
extirpating foxes and cats from Australia, though local control programs are
a necessity. One person who wrote in on this topic mentioned the quality of
the habitat as a vital factor which would enable bustards to better survive
fox and other predation. It would be a lot easier to improve habitat
management over areas of southern Australia than to get rid of all foxes and
cats over wide areas...
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John Leonard (Dr)
PO Box 243, Woden, ACT 2606, Australia
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