Publication Name
New Zealand Herald
Author(s)
Greg Ansley
Biologist David Bowman knew he was going to kick up a jumbo-sized storm with his latest idea for saving Australia's fragile north, and he was right.
Bowman, professor of environmental change biology at the University of Tasmania, believes "mega-herbivores" including elephants, Komodo dragons and rhinoceroses should be introduced to control the introduced African gamba grass that is choking the Outback and creating tinder for fires the size of his home state.
"The idea of introducing elephants may seem absurd, but the only other methods likely to control gamba grass involve using chemicals or physically clearing the land, which would destroy the habitat," he wrote in Nature.
But in a country struggling to deal with millions of introduced feral animals, from foxes, rabbits and the unstoppable cane toad to camels, goats, pigs and water buffalo, the mere thought of letting elephants or rhinos loose alarms other scientists and environmentalists.
"Unmanaged fire and invasive pests are some of the biggest threats to the native plants and animals of the Outback, but ... the last thing our unique landscape needs is the equivalent of a 10-tonne cane toad flattening the countryside," Patrick O'Leary from the Pew Environment Group said.
...
Bowman said past mistakes needed confronting with solutions based on science rather than emotion or cultural prejudice that, for example, allowed donkeys and camels to be shot - but not horses.
Read the full article, Jumbo Solution for Outback on the New Zealand Herald website.
