Sorry. Weak '80s music reference.
Everyone knows (or should know) the possibly deleterious effects of introducing an animal species into another habitat. So what do you do when the species in question is just too damned adorable to exterminate?
ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) -- Cute, cuddly and fast breeding, thousands of koalas are eating themselves out of a home on an Australian island. But authorities are refusing to heed conservationists' pleas to reduce the population, fearing a backlash from tourists and animal rights activists.
South Australia state Environment Minister John Hill said tourism would drop dramatically if koalas were killed on Kangaroo Island.
I'm surprised tourism hasn't already suffered, what with people going out to someplace called "Kangaroo Island" only to find it full of koalas. I'd sure as hell want my money back, or at least a free ticket to Shark Bay.
Matt Turner, scientific officer for the state's Nature Conservation Society, said state authorities need to thin the koala population to preserve the ecosystem of the island, 45 miles off the coast of South Australia state. Koalas were first introduced to the island 100 years ago.
"Some areas of the island, the trees are so heavily defoliated that trees are actually dying," he told The Associated Press. "They are having a devastating effect on the island."
Pity we didn't know the ravenous little buggers' stunning destructive powers during the war in Vietnam. Nixon and McNamara could've flushed the VC out using crack koala deforestation units without exposing our troops to Agent Orange. That's the military for you, always relying on science.
Turner believes the population should be reduced to a small population of koalas that can be kept in an enclosed area for tourists to see.
"But there is no political will," he added. "When you start talking about culling native wildlife, particularly cute and cuddly ones, there is a community backlash and that is what basically has forced the government into ... a position where they cannot do any culling."
Perhaps if people were forced to live with one of the spiteful little beasts, who have a predilection for scratching and urinating on those handling them, they'd be more open to the idea. I'm curious to hear what Goldie, our resident Adelaidean, has to say about this compelling issue.
Calls for population control like this always raise hackles. There was talk of hiring people to shoot pigeons nesting in Texas A&M's Kyle Field when I was younger, and you'd have thought they'd suggested drowning kittens instead of shooting a bunch of flying disease bags. Of course, it's not the koalas fault they were plopped on the island. Call it a do-over.
I think I know the guy for the job, too. I went to Louisiana many years ago to attend the wedding of a friend of the girl I was dating at the time (everybody got that?). It was a small town, but nearly everyone living there was a person of some importance at the nearby DuPont plant and lived in a pretty impressive plantation-style house. The father of the bride had what is probably the only big game trophy room I've ever been in. He'd shot it all...lions, Cape buffalo, wolves, a giraffe(!). It reminded me of the line in Unforgiven where Bill Munny remarks that he'd probably killed everything that's walked or crawled.
The guy showed the room to me during a lull in his daughter's reception, and after expressing what I felt was the requisite amount of awe at the large carcasses, I went on to examine some of the smaller ones. Most were birds, but I'm sure there was a woverine and a badger or two. One in particular caught my eye, however. It was an otter.
I leaned in closer to examine it, not really believing someone could actually bring themself to shoot one. I asked the man, "Is this really an otter?" "Sure is," he replied, with a perfect mixture of inebriation and smugness. "Wow," I continued, "Did you have to stalk it? Or did it just run up to you and sniff your rifle?"
My date hustled me out with some speed, so I didn't get any contact information. But I figure any guy who can blow Tarka away probably has the mental flexibility required to shoot a few hundred koalas.
Reminds me of that Futurama episode when they have to thin out the penguin population.
phew! you found the can of worms, didn't you pete! I personally agree about kangaroo island. why call a place that if it's full of koalas?
Seriously, this issue has been around for at least 10 years now. and despite being the wonderful, fluffy emblem of tourism that they are, koalas are actually quite vicious (you should see their claws *shiver*) and can eat something like double their body weight in eucalytus a day. *sidenote* The euca then ferments in their stomach, ergo they spend about 18 hours a day the equivalent of stoned or drunk.
So with so many koalas eating so much eucalytus and a euca tree taking quite the while to reach full maturity, on an island that really ain't that big... well, to borrow an american term, you do the math.
This is not to ire PETA radicalists or even people like yourselves who, like me, believe we should protect animals. It caused a huge uproar here. we demanded they be moved to the mainland. However the government says it costs too much, and that there is nowhere to put them. It's an ongoing battle of money vs trees (environment) vs animal welfare. I just wish the government would pull their finger out and move them to the desert, but they argue that would be even crueller as it would introduce them to predetors, and possibly as long slow death.
And so frankly I don't know what we should do :(. You should see how bear erm... bare the place looks right now! :(.
Tarka! Wow! I remember Tarka! I was in 3rd or
4th grade and watched it on Disney channel about
a zillion times.
If Koalas make for decent eating, then I see a fairly obvious solution to this problem.
Denny, nope. think about all that eucalyptus they eat ;). Kangaroos however... ;)
That otter fucked up. It shouldn't have trusted him.