Pest inquiry
Introduction
Why would we choose to do wallabies, well we wanted to find out about something that not many people knew about, and even though wallabies have been here for a 140 years, they are still very hidden to the public eye. So we thought we should bring up the topic around wallabies and why they are such a pest. Just because Wallabies are a forgotten pest in New Zealand’s forests does not mean they have no impact, because actually they have one of the biggest impacts as they can sneak around without anything to stop them. This is devastating our native ecosystem, and they need to be stopped. Even if they look adorable they are pure evil to our native plants, so that is the reason why we chose wallabies as our pest.
Expert information.
On Friday 9th of April our class went to Aongatete forest to learn about pest management. We learned from the expert, Dr Emma Cronin. Sadly, none of them really knew anything about Wallabies. But I still learnt things that I can relate to this inquirysuch as. There were four different possum traps that we saw, the reason for that was. The first reason for all the different possum traps was because of the price of all the traps, and they also wanted to see what was the best trap. Possums are pretty similar to Wallabies, they are both nocturnal and very very hard to kill. They are simialur size to each other as well. If you were to use the same traps for Possums and Wallabies all I think you will have to change is the placement of the traps because possums live in trees mostly.
What are the negative effects of wallabies in the Bay of Plenty?
Invasive species like the wallaby can cause harm to wildlife in many ways, like eating native plants or killing native animals. When a new species is introduced into a habbate, it may not have anything to control it (apart from humans ), Species can change there food web in that ecosystem, and they normaly do this by destroying or replacing natural food resourcesOne of the animals that are doing this in NZ is the wallaby. But this is just a fancy way of saying that they could harm our wild bush in many ways, but wallabies only affect our ecosystem in one way, as they are grazers and will eat small green shoots out of the ground. When they eat these shots it is minimizing our native trees and taking them away from our native animals, this may lead to having hardly any natives left in 50 or so years, which will also lead to fewer birds in our forests. A change in our forest by this pest is that when it eats all of the leaves it’s affecting our bug’s habitats, which is bad for our native birds as they eat the bugs and what they will eat. Eating native plants is not the only bad thing that the wallabies do, they also compete with livestock for food which affects our economy. When wallabies compete for the food of the cattle or sheep they are stopping the flow of meat, milk and wool going out, which will block exports for farmers, this will make life hard for not just New Zealand but all of the NZ partners and exporters.
Who are they and why they were brought to NZ.
What is a wallaby? A wallaby is a small marsupial and is a close relative to the kangaroo, which are also marsupials. They both belong to a small group of animals called macro-pods. Wallabies are naturally found in Papua New Guinea and Australia, but Somehow Wallabies have managed to get into The United Kingdom, Hawaii and also New Zealand. In the Bay of plenty, the main wallabies are the Dama wallabies where it is found on the outskirts of Rotorua in the bush and near the lakes. In total there are 5 wallaby species still thriving in NZ (introduced from Australia) which are the Dama, Bennett’s, Parma, Brush-tailed rock and the swamp wallaby. Kangaroos and wallabies once roamed Australia almost undisturbed by predators apart from the Tasmanian tiger and later on the dingo, but NZ had neither of those animals, NZ had no land carnivores at all. The arrival of the Aborigines to Australia between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago had an impact on the kangaroos and kangaroos, as they hunted them for their meat and also frequently burned their habitat that had their vegetation. The dingo, which arrived around 3,500 years ago, became a major predator of kangaroos and kangaroos.as they were fast and smart enough to dodge the wallabies tail which can give you a big bruise.
What actions are New Zealanders doing to get rid of the wallabies?
Most people do not know about the wallaby being a pest as they think it is only found in Australia so it may be called the forgotten pest. But some NZ farmers are making fences that are stopping the wallabies which is a great achievement as wallabies can not jump higher than 1 metre. Also, planting agapanthus, citronella varieties, lavender and rosemary can deter wallabies so people plant them in and around their paddocks or in their gardens. Wallabies control operations have been carried out on the island of Kawau since 1923 with little success in minimizing wallaby numbers and benefiting the island's forest health. Eradication programs have also been carried out successfully in the nearby islands of Rangitoto and Motutapu, where there have been forests.. But it is different on the mainland as they can spread out rather than be isolated in one area. As it is harder on the mainland to get rid of the wallaby, DOC have started to place commanders around the forest to try to find places to target their efforts as well as try to get a picture of how many wallabies there are. 1080 was also a big player in the fight against wallabies, but now it is losing popularity due to it affecting other animals, so another poison that is just as effective is Ferafox,The lethal dose used on Dama Wallaby was 8.7 mg/kg, which was determined by a cage test before starting the field test. The dose is very similar to the opossum dose, although the standard Feratox pill contains more than 100 mg of cyanide. An upcoming method that may work is Ferotox, They are targeted, act fast, and are environmentally friendly. Feratox pellets are unique potassium cyanide encapsulated pellets, which can effectively control opossums and Dama wallabies, with minimal risk to native birds and non-target speciesmain type of wallabies in the bay of plenty, so this will help us target these pests and not other animals.
What is the best method that people are using to get rid of wallabies?
Research shows that if you want to get rid of wallabies in a small space, shooting them or hunting them is the best method. People have done this `method on islands like Kawau, Rangitoto and Motutapu But that method might not be available in a couple of years because animal cruelty is trying to make a law that tells us that the animal has to be shot right in the brain. If you want to get rid of them in a big space such as big forests and bushes like we want to, the poison would be better suited. One of the leading poisons is 1080 but this poison is losing popularity as it targets a wide range of animals and depending on how much you get you could die in an hour or in 3 days which is cruel. A better choice is Feratox which is targeting Dama wallabies(the main type of wallabies in the bay of plenty) and possums and not our native birds or livestock but still cutting down the wallaby population. Shooting is the preferred method of control, but other methods may sometimes be required. There must be heavy penalties for contravention of legislation relating to kangaroo and wallaby protection and control. Another way to deter wallabies, If you have a problem with wallabies the thing to do is to build big high fences with barbed wire, or planting wallaby proof plants everywhere.
What are the pros and cons of these methods?
We now know that Feratox is the best poison, but how good is it? Feratox is non-toxic to our native birds and this means that if they were to use it as a spray then it would not affect our native wildlife unlike 1080. 1080 was used as a quick way to kill wallabies, but it is very toxic and kills non-targeted animals. A downfall is that the Feratox pellet is encased in the Fera feed Paste which contains potassium cyanide and is extremely dangerous if swallowed or absorbed through the skin. But another reason why Feratox is better than 1080 is that Ferotox kills its victims quicker than 1080 and it is more humane, it all targets the species which are wallabies and possums.
Conclusion
I hope that by reading this report you have figured out who wallabies are and what they do. They are a pest to farmers and damage native plants, damage native forests and tussocks. So do you want these pests gone. If you do, the way to go is with the poison called Feratox as it is humane to the wallabies and targets Dama wallabies and possums in the bay of plenty.
Bibliography
Link https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/native-animals/native-animal-facts/kangaroos-and-wallabies Last published, 16 February 2021, Author’s, Department of Planning, Industry and Environment
Link
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/biosecurity/long-term-biosecurity-management-programmes/wallabies-controlling-their-numbers/,Last published, 16 November 2020, Author government
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https://kangarooislandtoursaustralia.com.au/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-a-kangaroo-and-a-wallaby/, published,???, author,???
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