Galah cull

[jusdeb]

Can any one tell me if the Galah is an introduced specie in Tasmania? I would not have thought so but apparently they are. And their numbers are so high that they are causing damage to trees in a big way .
Has anyone else heard of this and is there any update to the plan to kill them?
Last I heard was they were going to poison them , I guess them and any other seed eating bird around.

[Diane]

According to this dated 22nd June the State Government will not allow the Council to poison the galahs. Sound like feeding the birds has bitten them on the bum! They mention Dubbo too Deb.


http://www.theadvocate.com.au/news/loca ... 64409.aspx

[jusdeb]

WE seem to get it bad here , most the big Cockies / corellas / galahs they have eaten away at a lot of wooden window surrounds in the business area , they drop branches and pine cones etc on your car just the usual stuff .
Residents dont seem to complaint its the business owners that have had enough.
This is what happens when you cut down trees and the only big old gnarly ones grow along the river which runs parallel to the CBD.

[Pete Sara]

we cull rainbow lorries over here, they are rats with wings as they are not native to w.a. and they have had to cull western Corella as well , due the lack of rain here it has bought them into the cbd where they cause damage to parklands and they are very noisy so its happening every where....pete

[VR1Ton]

They actually leagally trap them in south west NSW, Griffith to the border, and west. I used to buy them in my petshop days, I would by the young Galahs, and Corellas, tame them down and sell them as pets. In fact I still have one myself, although he is a little nasty since I put a hen with him. They use to trap the young and adults, sell the young (paying a comission to NPWS, of coarse) drive 100km down the road let the adults go. Then catch them with the next lot of young 12months later. I see this as a better method of control than poison if NPWS would let them be exported. Galahs are about $5000 ea in the USA.

In saying this, the trapper also told me that he thinks that pure Long-billed Corellas will be extinct in about 20 years due to the Short-bills taking over areas that they had previosly not been, out competeing and cross breeding.

[Pete Sara]

yep that would be correct as the offspring of the 2 corella are pretty feral , we get them at work and they are f #2$ ng nasty peices of work...pete

[jusdeb]

Ive seen the corella traps and they are fairly humane as far as traps go , poisoning is gonna take down every seed eater in the area. Thing is here which is probably an important point is that the birds that are pests here are native to the area.
Dubbo has grown around a once small town we have flour mills , grain silos , trains carrying grain etc all in the city centre these all attract seed eaters. Then they hop across the road to roost in the river gums.
Go out of town a few Klms and entire paddocks are white with corellas / cockies you get flocks so big they shut out the sun when they fly as a flock.
They got it too good but humans created the mess once again .

[VR1Ton]

I've seen farmers with low growing crops useing orchard sprayers to spray sheep dip to get rid of crows, cockies, and foxes. Having a background in horticulture, I can see their point of view, they need to protect their crops, but that is a little to indescriminate for my liking. As with the baiting, I still think legal export of the wild caught 'pest' species is a far more viable,as well as profitable, way to go for all concerned, government included.

[jusdeb]

Yes agreed totally and would put a hole in the black market trade where only a small percentage of the birds actually make it alive to their destinations. And totally viable since Australia has very few of the diseases of many countries , quaranteen times are much shorter than when critters come in to Oz.

[mickw]

.......................... I still think legal export of the wild caught 'pest' species is a far more viable,as well as profitable, way to go for all concerned, government included.

I have to agree but its a quantum paradigm shift for the wanna-be world savers from Hurstville to consider exporting or selling our natives as a legitimate conservation measure................they audit bird sales thinking they're saving the planet........all the while you can by pellets at any rural store to stop the birds from getting at your fruit trees........I've been involved in mammal relocation programmes............all from State Forest or Private Property.....their own bureaucracy is the biggest criminal