RE: CROCLIST: RE: Manolis: Cane Toad in Food-Chain Scenario Causes CrocExplosion on Top End

[Ralf Sommerlad]

Excellent comment, Adam - thanks for this.

Ralf

> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: croclist at lists.gatorhole.com
> Gesendet: 23.10.06 02:53:20
> An: <croclist at lists.gatorhole.com>
> Betreff: RE: CROCLIST: RE: Manolis: Cane Toad in Food-Chain Scenario Causes CrocExplosion on Top End


> I think both articles are flawed.  The study on croc nesting is all very
> well, but it's jumping the gun to suggest that it'll lead to an explosion of
> crocs.  One thing we know about crocs is that if you throw a lot of
> hatchlings into an established system, you'll see a lot of mortality of
> those juveniles due to competition, predation and limited resources.
> Nothing in the freshie study has been done to look at this yet.  Of course,
> it could simply be NT News grandstanding the issues as usual.
> 
> As for Brian Bush's article, if ever an issue had two extremes then Brian's
> viewpoint is far stage left.  The whole reason studies like the above are
> being done is to address much of the anecdote that surrounds this issue (of
> which the article is jam-packed!), and while there might be examples of the
> positive presence of ferals in some areas that doesn't mean we should accept
> the presence of threatening processes and assume that management is
> worthless, and even negative to Australia's best interests!  This is
> patently rubbish - there is a huge amount of feral animal control that goes
> on with established ferals (not just cane toads), and the impacts of
> particular species in certain areas (eg. pigs, buffalo, cats, ants) has been
> exhaustively documented (but not researched in that article, it would seem).
> 
> Statements about northern quolls that have been seen eating cane toads are
> simply anecdotal, and without doubt densities of this species have crashed
> in Kakadu National Park.  Should we sit back and hope that species in the
> path of toads somehow manage to adapt in time, or should we do something
> about slowing it down / stopping it?  Some goanna declines have begun to
> slowly reverse, others have not, so blanket statements about them don't
> reflect the true situation.  And I'd very much like to see the study that
> suggests freshwater crocodile population densities haven't been affected by
> toads, because that's not what we've measured.
> 
> Toads might not be the end of all Life on Earth, as some people might imply,
> but they're yet another threatening process which - when added to the rest -
> can negatively impact native ecosystems.  These ecosystems are under enough
> stress as it is, and toads are something they can do without... not to
> mention most of the others as well.  This has nothing to do with the
> animals, and everything to do with where they are.
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Adam
> 
>  
> 
> --
> Dr Adam Britton, abritton at crocodilian.com
> Big Gecko, http://crocodilian.com
> Tel/Fax. 61 (0)8 8988 4607
> Mobile. 61 (0)407 185182
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: croclist-bounces at lists.gatorhole.com
> [mailto:croclist-bounces at lists.gatorhole.com] On Behalf Of Steve Grenard
> Sent: Sunday, 22 October 2006 10:39 PM
> To: croclist at lists.gatorhole.com
> Subject: CROCLIST: RE: Manolis: Cane Toad in Food-Chain Scenario Causes
> CrocExplosion on Top End
> 
> This item was cross posted to venomlist. In response Brian Bush shared the
> following:
> 
> http://members.iinet.com.au/~bush/CT.PDF
> 
> for an alternative perspective on Bufo in Oz.
> 
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