Just When Did Importation of Exotics Cease?

[Jayburd]

In terms of feral populations of finches in Aust. I believe that the 5 species (greenfinch, goldfinch, spice finch and house & tree sparrows) have all been intentionally released by acclimatisation societies. At times there have been other feral finch populations that proved to be unsustainable such as white-winged wydah, black headed munia and grendier weaver. What other unsustainable feral finch populations do people know of?

Can't think of any others in Australia, but let's nt forget that yellowhammers, redpolls, Euro. green and goldfinches, and chaffinches have all gone wild in NZ...

I suppose that the argument could be that there is a risk that species of finches and parrots could be wild caught, whereas chooks and pigeons are domestic.

very true! but what if closed banded birds were shipped only? then it could be proven they were not wild caught? Maybe this is something we can actually think about...

[GregH]

Jay I have to admit that releasing exotics into the wild is a danger but getting them to establish is pretty difficult. In the realms of modern aviculture I can't really think of anything that has built up into plague proportions and threatens primary production, native species or the environment. This is not to say that it couldn't and certainly further regulation of to ensure best practice (eg the safety doors) would assist. What can't be regulated are every individuals perceptions of what is right but a little education can go a long way. We have different classes of licence now in Australia so why not place exotics on the advanced list and demand appropriate facilities and continue to make it illegal to release exotics into the environment?

In the past there is some evidence that birds were released by an unregulated and ill-informed public but time changes everything. Australia has moved beyond the era of acclimatization societies (at least for birds) so the regulators need identify potential threats and the escape and release of exotics is certainly a source for concern. Random escapes aside the release of birds primarily occurs because of individuals imposing their perceived right to freedom or the birds right to freedom over and above the welfare of the bird or the natural environment. The classic case is the person that takes their unwanted cat for a drive and releases it into the bush as they don't want to put them down or go to the bother of finding it a new home. This mentality ignores the disjunction between rights and welfare which is a gaping hole in the current education system - perhaps compulsory ethics classes aren't a bad thing.

So what is the record of the impact of avicultural species on the Australian environment? Thus far pretty small. The red-whiskered bul-bul has a foot-hold in Australia but luckily it hasn't proved to be an actual menace like dogs, pigs, carp, cats, cane toads or rabbits. In Western Australia, rainbow lorikeets have established around Perth and again I seriously doubt it was accidental. Their release was probably deemed ethical by those that released their unwanted birds; after all they are native to Australia. However rainbow lorikeets aren't is endemic to south-western WA and again the disjunction between rights and welfare has unleashed a potential menace. As for finches there are feral populations of spice, gold and green finches but all are in decline I seem to recall reading and early last century there were even orange bishop weavers in South Australia but this feral population is now extinct. Of those feral finch species, the spice finch and weavers were introduced via aviculture but neither have proved to be a problem.

No well educated, modern aviculturist would advocate unregulated importation and release of finches into the Australian environment. Potential pest species like the red-billed quella definitely should be excluded but a blanket ban doesn’t make sense.

[Jayburd]

Greg i think the main reason for the blanket ban is that no one wants to research every species that us avis want to keep and find out what could potentially become a threat.... from their point of view, instead of wasting time and effort, just put a ban over the whole thing...
I can understand them but that's not saying it's not mildly frustrating.

[arthur]

populations of spice, gold and green finches .. all are in decline .

Thread has gone up and down a few rabbit-holes . . But some great discussion

Can't comment on Go/f's &Gr/f's . . but Spice finch population is far from being in decline

But NOT at the expense of other native finches, in particular the Chestnut-breasted which would seem to be the native with the same 'niche' requirements

I am unconvinced that feral Spice finch populations are derived from aviary escapees/ releases . . My theory is that they are a natural expansion of the SE Asian population, initially brought to N Qld by weather events

In the last 60 years 'Nutmegs' were never kept in aviaries in NQ by what may be called 'serious' birdkeepers . .

They were kept by kids/ beginners who took their stock FROM the wild rather than the other way round








By the way . . Just When Did Importation of Exotics Cease??

[garymc]

Good question Arthur

[finchbreeder]

Son says yes he has the ability to do VHS to DVD but not the equipment. And apparently we have the equipment, so if you want to PM me I can give you my son's no. And if you can get it to him he can bring it up with him over Christmas - New Year and the boys can play with the toys. And you can arrange to pick up DVD's after.
LML

[toothlessjaws]

i'm not sure if i mentioned this already, but regarding importation of exotic birds,

a few years ago the ZAA (zoo and aquarium association) was looking at importing a range of exotics to boost up their now virtually non-existent collections, which is essentially limited to (and relies heavily on) what is available in aviculture here in australia. they chose species that were still on the extensive approved import list, (ie; species that were imported in decades past) to try and somewhat partially minimalise what was always to be a long, painfully drawn out process. many of you may be unaware of this but zoos in australia are equally as frustrated and impacted by the limitations imposed by biosecurity australia. having a species on the approved import only means that the species can, in theory be imported. but often additional changes in policy override this - for example fears of foot and mouth disease, cause a moratorium to be placed in the 90's on the importation of all cloven hoofed mammals into the county - this effected a huge swathe of breeding programs. many antelope species have died out, some breeding programs have been abandoned (for example the purebred rothchild's giraffe program was scratched and the purebreds were crossed with some residual inbred hybrid animals left over from the sir edward hallstrom era to genetically boost the population) and some species struggle on, helped by the longevity of the species (hippos live for 40+ years, so whilst they are in dire need of new blood, there are a few pairs and young animals that will insure that the lucky zoos that have them will keep their hippo exhibits openy for some time to come).

anyhow, the reason i mention this is because its worth noting that even the government funded zoos are really struggling to get the necessary paperwork approved to import their animals through biosecurity australia. currently, you can expect a waiting list of 5-8 years just before biosecurity gets around to looking at your application - and you can extend that if you are applying to import a species that has never been imported before and is not on the approved import list!

but nonetheless, things do happen albeit slowly.

recently, the ZAA was approved to import bovids (thats antelope cattle species etc..) form new zealand. meaning they only now have to deal with the equally restrictive NZ biosecurity to get the animals in that county to export them form!

and meanwhile, to bring it back to birds - there is an application sitting there (for about five years) by the ZAA for importing african crowned cranes and greater flamingos. should that happen - there was plan (though not sure if it still stands) to follow that up with a wide range of non-parrot species that included some pretty nice softbills such as white-cheeked turacos and shamas.

[arthur]

Might be an opportune time for ZAA to apply for some nice Chinese softbills in exchange for some dinkum iconic natives . . After Rudd's "Take 'em on!!" gaffe, gov't would be looking for some "warm 'n' fuzzy headlines to put Aus back into the good-books diplomatically with China

When dealing with bureaucrats "Timing is Everything"

[finchbreeder]

I am sure the Chinese have some lovely finches we can swap for some Zebs and Galahs. After all they are exotic in other countries.
LML

[arthur]

They wouldn't want our Galahs . . They've seen the stupid fauna laws that "the galahs" have dreamed up for us birdkeepers over here

Curse this rain . . I wanna go outside