Wildlife Bytes 14/7/11

Flying Foxes

Culling flying foxes may increase the threat of Hendra virus, Queensland's Chief Veterinary Officer said yesterday as the cause of the latest outbreaks continues to baffle authorities. Rick Symons' warning came as Bob Katter, the federal Independent Member for Kennedy, joined the chorus of people calling for bats to be culled, or moved on, from all Queensland towns. "If it comes to a choice of our children dying or us going out there and killing flying foxes, then I have a very grave moral problem about not going out there and killing the flying foxes," Mr Katter said. He threatened to launch legal action if the Bligh Government failed to address the problem. Dr Symons said authorities did not know the reason for the latest spate of outbreaks, which have left nine properties in Queensland under quarantine and 76 horses being monitored for symptoms. However, he said that given bats were more likely to excrete the virus if they were stressed, culling might actually worsen the Hendra threat. "I believe in terms of biosecurity, it's counter-productive," he said.

His concerns came amid a spate of Hendra virus outbreaks across Queensland and northern NSW during the past three weeks which have left eight horses dead. The latest horse to die was on the 500ha Blazing Saddles trail-riding property of LNP candidate Michael Trout at Kuranda, west of Cairns. Mr Trout's brother Luke, 32, three staff members and the vet who tended to mare Cheeky, which died in convulsions on Monday, have undergone blood tests. "Luke thought the horse had colic so he had his arm down its throat," Mr Trout said. "When the vet confirmed it was Hendra we were all absolutely shattered. It could cripple our family business." Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said six people identified as having contact with the horse had been assessed as at "very low" risk of contracting the virus. "It's a very, very difficult disease for humans to catch," she said. "We're confident that there's no one who's had any degree of high-level exposure." There have been four outbreaks of the virus in less than a month in Queensland and NSW authorities are also dealing with two outbreaks. It's the highest number of Hendra outbreaks to happen at any one time. "I think there is something happening," Dr Symons said. "We don't know the reason for that but we're looking into it." *Courier Mail

Editorial....Climate Change

Well, wether we think it will work, or wether we agree with it, rightly or wrongly, the Carbon Tax is with us, and we now have to work with it...all of us. Its obvious to most thinking people that we have to do something to slow down Climate Change. Those that are known loosely as Climate Change Deniers, or Flatearthers, will have to work with the Carbon Tax too, like it or not. Now its time for us to pay for our profligate use of unrenewable resources during last two or three generations. Its now over 35 years since conservation groups first started lobbying about the impacts of Climate Change. In spite of the constant lobbying, during that 35 years, houses were still built on flood plains, highrise built on fragile beachfronts, landclearing continued unabated, coal mining escalated along with lucrative coal exports, and governments hid behind "doing whats best for the economy", rather than doing whats best for the environment. Now its time for us all to pay, but that's still not enough. We all have a responsiblity to do whatever we can to mitigate the impact of Climate Change. That means planting or helping to plant native trees, lobbying State governments to plant more trees and stop landclearing, and turning backyards into wildlife habitat. We can't afford to just sit back and hope the Carbon Tax alone will save the Planet.

Wildlife will bear much of the impact of Climate Change, regardless of wether the Carbon Tax makes any appreciable difference to rising sealevels and changing temperatures and climate patterns. We are already aware that many species can't move from their current habitat, there are few corridors, and nowhere near enough safe habitat left for them. National Parks across Australia are sparce, isolated, poorly managed, and massively unfunded. Some species will be attracted to backyard gardens where appropriate plants are growing. All credible wildlife experts agree many species will be lost. More than ever, its now crucial that Governments stop handing out Permits to kill wildlife. In Queensland alone, the Government has handed out Permits to kill 7500 birds on airports this year. Then there are crop mitigation Permits that are handed out to kill wallabies, kangaroos, possums, birds etc. Thanks to the Hendra virus, there are strident calls to eradicate flying foxes, but so far both the Queensland government and opposition are opposed to flying fox culling. For all of us, including the readers of this eZine, that have worked so hard to protect wildlife in the past, the bad news is that with changing climates, things are still going to get worse for wildlife. We have to work better, work smarter, work harder, and not get discouraged. Every native bird or animal life we save is important, and we must never give up! *WPAA

Fraser Island Dingoes

There is an Electronic Petition for Queensland Residents which draws to the attention of the House that the Fraser Island Dingo is recognised as possibly the purest strain of dingo on the eastern Australian coast and perhaps Australia-wide, but is currently on the verge of extinction due to loss of habitat and continued culling.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to cease all experimentation on the Fraser Island Dingoes including, culling, trapping, collaring, hazing and ear-tagging. Undertake an independent scientific peer review of the current management strategy and establish an Advisory Committee to oversee the humane and ethical treatment of the dingoes. Undertake a scientific population study of wildlife on the Island. Ensure that rangers responsible for dingo management are suitably qualified biologists with a knowledge and understanding of dingo behaviour. Establish an Interpretive Centre to educate and inform visitors regarding the natural attractions of Fraser Island and correct behaviour when encountering a dingo. Establish a Care Centre for sick or injured animals and ensure a continued independent monitoring of all management plans implemented.
To sign go to:- http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/petitions/e-petition?PetNum=1715

Clever Crows

Birds of a feather not only flock together, in the case of the American crow it seems they are also into group learning. A five-year study of crows living near Seattle in Washington State show the birds can remember a "dangerous human" and are able to share their knowledge of the learned danger with their offspring and other crows. It is a trait, says co-author Professor John Marzluff of the University of Washington, that can help species successfully adapt to, and co-evolve with, humans. "The behaviour of individual people towards animals is often changing," says Marzluff. "Because human actions often threaten animals, learning socially about individual people's habits would be advantageous." Marzluff says the study, published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, was inspired by earlier research with crows on the university campus.
Read More ... http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/06/29/3255693.htm

Koalas

Moreton Bay residents are being urged to keep an eye out for koalas and kangaroos in North Lakes and Mango Hill as breeding season and development pose a risk to the animals in coming weeks. A koala survey in 2010 showed the koala population in the Moreton Bay Region fell to 1500 from 4600 in 2004. The Moreton Bay Koala Rescue group runs a 24-hour hotline and has volunteers throughout the region. It's a not-for-profit organisation that relies on donations. President Megan Aitken said ongoing developments in North Lakes and Mango Hill meant it was vital that members of the community did what they could to help our native animals. Last year the group received 750 calls for help, relocated 49 koalas, admitted 262 koalas to the Australian Wildlife Hospital and drove 50,642km. The group's figures for the year show 70 koalas were hit by cars and 29 attacked by dogs. *Courier Mail


A wildlife sanctuary in western Victoria has been closed and three of its koalas put down. Wildlife officers from the Department of Sustainability and Environment inspected the property recently and found nine koalas in unhygienic conditions and without food. Biodiversity manager Grant Hull said the wildlife shelters permit had clearly been breached, threatening the marsupials' welfare. "Three of the koalas had previous injuries and were in need of veterinary care, but unfortunately they had to be euthanased," Mr Hull said. He said four other koalas were released into the wild, while two remain in care and are improving slowly. Mr Hull said department officers had warned the shelter several times it was not adhering to the permit conditions. But it had ignored the directions and its permit had been suspended. Mr Hull said wildlife officers visit shelters periodically to ensure they are operating according to the guidelines. "On the very rare occasion where an operator is operating inappropriately DSE will take action, as we have done in this instance," he said. *9News

Sharks

A shark sighting has forced the indefinite closure of a popular Gold Coast lake. Evandale Lake, behind the Gold Coast City Council chambers, has been closed to swimmers and fenced off after a member of the public reported seeing a fin cutting through the water at the weekend. The saltwater lake, popular with triathletes and recreational swimmers, feeds into the Nerang River. A council spokesman said the lake had been closed immediately as a precaution and Department of Fisheries had been called in. "The lake's outlet grills are in place to prevent large fish and marine life from entering, however, it is possible that small fish fingerlings can enter and become trapped as they mature," he said. The spokesman said it was fortunate it was winter and not many people were swimming in the lake. He said Evandale Lake had been drained after a reported sighting about 10 years ago, but no shark was found. *Courier Mail


A review of grey nurse shark protection moves to Coffs Harbour today, Tuesday July 12, 2011. The O'Farrell government has revoked fishing bans off South West Rocks and rolled-back management zones in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. The department of Primary Industries' Sarah Fairfull says more review sessions are at South West Rocks tomorrow, Port Macquarie Thursday and Forster on Friday. She says the Solitary Islands is one of the region's habitat areas for the critically endangered species. "There's 10 critical habitat sites along the NSW coast. "In our area here we've got Fish Rock and Green Island at South West Rocks and the Pinnacle at Forster and Big and Little Seal Rocks. "So there's a number of sites of interest to fishers, as well as scuba divers and spear fishers who obviously want to get engaged in this discussion," she said. The Department of Primary Industries says all views will be taken into account during the review of grey nurse shark protection zones. An information session was held at Byron Bay yesterday, and similar events are planned for Coffs Harbour, South West Rocks, Port Macquarie and Forster throughout the week. Ms Fairfull says all submissions will be considered. "Essentially we're here to provide information to the community and make sure they're aware of the discussion paper and they've got the opportunity to make a submission online or provide hard copies at the venues. "Every submission will be looked at and we'll be basically coming up with a range of views which we'll then take forward into a review process about where we go with grey nurse shark protection options in NSW." *ABC

Geckos

Geckos in the Philippines are under increasing threat as demand intensifies from the Asia-wide alternative medicine trade that ravaged lizard numbers in neighbouring Malaysia, the government said Wednesday. Trapping, selling or exporting geckos, regarded by some Asians as cure-alls, is punishable by hefty fines and jail terms of up to four years, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje warned in a statement. "The law expressly provides that the collection, trade or transport of geckos without appropriate permits... is punishable by imprisonment of up to four years and a fine of up to 300,000 pesos (about $7,000)," he said. Paje said the 300-gramme (10.6-ounce) tropical reptiles, known for their flamboyant skin hues and sticky footpads, now sold for 50,000 pesos each in a lucrative Asian market. Population declines in the wild in countries such as Malaysia have forced traders and suppliers to source the carnivorous, usually night-feeding lizards from countries such as Thailand and the Philippines, Paje said. Some folk healers in the Philippines are known to advise asthma sufferers to drink tap water sprinkled with pulverised, fried geckos. "They play an important role in maintaining our fragile ecosystems," Paje said of the lizards, which mainly feed on insects and worms as well as moss. Twenty-six gecko species are found only in the Philippines, which also has eight other varieties that are also found elsewhere, he added. Some of the larger species hunt small birds and rodents, the ministry said. *AFP.

Whaling

Environment Minister Tony Burke has indicated he will not let Japan's recent tsunami misfortune affect Australia's tough stance on the country's whaling practices. Australia's opposition to commercial whaling and its humanitarian response to Japan's tsunami disaster are two totally separate issues, he said. Mr Burke is attending a meeting of the International Whaling Commission in the Channel Islands where Japan is expected to push for continued whaling in the North Pacific Ocean. Some commission countries are reportedly sympathetic towards Japan's request because of the tsunami that devastated parts of Japan in March. "I think the situation that Japan finds itself in brings about a strong argument for people to have a humanitarian response," Mr Burke told ABC Radio today. "That's about looking after the Japanese people and has nothing at all to do with commercial whaling." It was a "very long bow" for anyone to try to link the two issues, he said. Australia will continue with its legal action against Japanese whaling operations in the Southern Ocean, but Canberra won't be seeking an injunction before the case is heard. "We want to do everything we can that will advance the case or win the case," Mr Burke said. Mr Burke said the IWC meeting presented a chance for Australia to push for evidence to support scientific research that did not involve the killing of whales. *AAP Meanwhile Japan has not ruled out sending its own military ships to protect the whalers.

Cane Toads

Cane toads invading the far north of WA are learning disturbing new behaviours to avoid capture by humans. Kimberley Toadbusters field co-ordinator Ben Scott-Virtue said the toads had started hopping away from the group's volunteers. "The most amazing thing is when we go out with our high-powered torches at night to collect them, the toads are running," Mr Scott-Virtue said. "The moment we stop the car and open the door, they are off." This behaviour did not happen "behind the line" in the Northern Territory and appeared to be a new tactic from the toads. "Any of those areas which have been colonised for quite a while, the toads happily sit there as you come up with a torch and pick them up," Mr Scott-Virtue said. "It's certainly a learned response and it's a response from human predation on the toad." Teams of about 16 people go out every night of the year to collect cane toads, which have advanced to Molly Springs, about 30km west of Kununurra. The toads have also been found within about 20km of World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park, which is famous for the Bungle Bungle Range. Eighty-two-year-old Bob Wainwright still volunteers with Toadbusters. "These little bastards are taking a might more effort to bag than they used to," he said. * thewest.com.au

New Bettle Found

A tiny bug with red eyes, striped antennae and a rust-speckled green coat is one of two new species found on Witchelina Reserve. Today at the South Australian Museum, the insect will be named in honour of the late Jim McHugh, former chief executive of the Nature Foundation SA. Witchelina, in the state's north, was bought by the Nature Foundation SA and added to the National Reserve System in 2010 with funding support from the Government's Caring for our Country initiative. This former sheep and cattle station is now a much-needed wildlife refuge in arid Australia, protecting rare species such as the peregrine falcon, thick-billed grasswren and the dusky hopping mouse. University of New South Wales entomologist Professor Gerry Cassis says the four-millimetre "true bug" with sucking mouthparts called Witchelinamiris mchughi is "not going to win a beauty comp", but it showed just how much there was to learn about life on this continent. "You would think in a developed country like Australia we would know our flora and fauna very well, but in fact we don't," he said. "In many cases these plant bugs are found on only one species of plant. . . "What we're trying to do is find a general pattern of how these plants and bugs come together across the Australian environment." The survey late last year was part of a four-year $10 million Bush Blitz species discovery program. Bush Blitz senior project officer Kate Gillespie predicted the team would find new species, because scientists hadn't been there before. "We collect baseline data and then we monitor how well, conservation-wise, the property is doing." *SA news

People Power

People power will be in action Sunday 24 July on the Sunshine Coast to protest the overdevelopment of the region. Vegan Warriors has been campaigning Council to immediately stop approvals for landclearing with high profile barrister Peter Lavac representing the animal rights group. With Council being one of the few in Australia without wildlife corridors, ratepayers are fed up with the limp excuses coming out of council's mouths.
Following this weeks front page article on this issue, Jaylene has been inundated by people from all over S.E. Qld wanting to lend their support http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2011/07/11/green-threat-to-sue-council-activists-lawman/ Pensioners, families, wildlife carers and people from all different ages and backgrounds will be travelling from as far as the Gold Coast and Hervey Bay to stand shoulder to shoulder with many others who feel that our region is becoming the next concrete jungle and our precious wildlife are the ones that are paying the ultimate price. Venue: Cotton Tree Park, Cotton Tree Pde, Cotton Tree, Sunday 24 July 11am onwards. 6,000 native animals annually are cared for by Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital. Disgraceful. Council has blood on its hands. Guest speakers will include Jaylene Musgrave, Anthony Walsgott, Enviro/Animal Welfare Solicitor, Ray & MUrray Chambers of the Sunshine Coast Koala Wildlife Rescue Service, with others to be announced shortly. *Network Item

Kangaroos

The kangaroo industry seems to be grinding to a slow and painful halt due to government inability to secure it export market access to key destinations. The industry started losing market access to Russia in 2008. Russia had for many years underpinned the industry and became its major market, just like China is for the coal and iron ore industries, or Indonesia for the live cattle trade. The loss of this market was a huge blow. The take of kangaroos in 2010 was half that of pre-2008 levels and the lowest in over 25 years. Since then the industry has absorbed a swath of new AQIS compliance fees to try to get back into Russia and also into its most promising alternate market, China. But after three years of effort the Australian government has failed to deliver either market. Now it wants to increase AQIS fees to kangaroo meat processors by 40%, this on top of all the new compliance costs. Without Russia or China this will send the industry quickly broke. Then the take of kangaroos will fall even lower. With numbers rapidly increasing in response to great grazing conditions farmers face real problems, no kangaroo industry, no kangaroo control. There was a ray of hope in March this year when the Russian Minister of Agriculture did a deal with Craig Emerson, Australian Minister for Trade. Australia would lend support to the Russian effort to join the WTO, and they would sort the roo job. Since then, and subsequent to Australia keeping its side of the deal, the Russian have gone quiet. AQIS and the Minister have had no response to multiple approaches to the Russians on the issue. Perhaps they have been diddled. The kangaroo industry is rapidly dying. It has shed 1500 jobs, principally in the bush, it’s loss well over $100M in export income, 60% of its processing capacity has been mothballed. The live cattle job gets $30M, the kangaroo industry gets, …… a huge AQIS fee increase. Farmers get an uncontrolled roo plague. Seems like Canberra doesn’t want this industry doesn’t it, ….. nor agriculture in general. *Qld Country Life


John Kelly, executive officer of the Kangaroo Industries Association of Australia, wants to know why you don't eat more kangaroo. It’s interesting isn’t it? Researchers in South Australia recently announced exciting new work confirming the Tamar wallaby has special bacteria in its digestive system which causes it to emit negligible levels of methane. Cattle and sheep on the other hand belch methane by the tonne, making them a significant source of greenhouse gas pollution. The researchers, and the press, have run away all excited because this opens up the possibility of introducing this bacteria into the stomachs of cattle and sheep and therefore hopefully reducing their methane output. But hang on a second. Aren’t we missing an obvious point here? Before we start playing around with the guts of animals and causing goodness knows what unforseen consequences, shouldn’t we be asking, ‘Why don’t we promote the consumption of more kangaroo meat to reduce our carbon foot print?’. Kangaroos are a sensational resource. They are super-abundant: there are currently in excess of 30 million of them. They are adapted to this land. They emit almost no methane. And they taste great and produce the world’s best leather. Why aren’t we screaming out to make more use of this resource? It’s not because of sustainability concerns. The kangaroo industry has been harvesting kangaroos on a large commercial scale for more than 40 years.

State and federal governments have extremely complex and rigorous systems in place to ensure the harvest is sustainable. During the recent drought the kangaroo population fell to only historically average levels, in spite of an ongoing commercial harvest. It’s not because of animal welfare concerns. Kangaroos are harvested under a code of practice enforced by extensive government monitoring. Unlike cattle, they are not shipped all over the place and killed by untrained people in abattoirs. Kangaroo Harvesters have to undergo TAFE training and accreditation by government officers in welfare regulations before they can get a licence. It’s not because the meat isn’t good for you. Kangaroo meat is at most only 2% fat. Plus it’s full of a compound called conjugated linoleic acid, which actively reduces blood pressure. And it really does taste pretty good. The national emblem thing is rubbish. The Canadians pour their national emblem over pancakes by the tanker load; no one tells the French not to eat coq au vin; the Welsh sing of the culinary delights of their national emblem; the South Africans have been eating springbok for centuries; and the dear old Kiwis even have a couple of lambs on their national emblem. Is it just because we were settled by boring old Poms? I suspect if the French had got here first kangaroo would be the country's national dish. I like to claim that kangaroo has been the red meat of choice amongst the Australian dining public for 40,000 years. It’s only in the past couple of hundred or so that there’s been a bit of a hiccup in its marketing program, and I hope we're on the way to turning that around. Seriously, though, rather than playing God with the stomachs of cattle and sheep, why don’t we celebrate the fact we have an extraordinary resource already which offers an immediate part of the solution to global warming? *The Land

Ed Comment; This ridiculous article above appeared in all the Australian rural newspapers, but we didnt see it in any of the main media outlets.


Mandurah wildlife champion Allison Dixon is demanding an end to the cruelty after dealing with kangaroos she alleges have been tortured, run-over and chased to death in Meadow Springs. The award-winning fauna relocator found the remains of a kangaroo she claimed had been torn in two after being tied to two vehicles last month. She said a joey had to be put down after it was hit by a car. Ms Dixon suspects a kangaroo was bashed after she found a blood trail near where three men had been drinking. Ms Dixon invited the Mandurah Coastal Times to the Mirvac development near Camden Way on Thursday and within minutes a dead kangaroo was found. It had been dead for less than 24 hours. “It would have died an agonising death with broken bones,” Ms Dixon said. “This is cruelty, we are not respecting our wildlife and we should be. Everyone has to take responsibility.” Ms Dixon said there were about 80 kangaroos and eight brush-tail wallabies in the bush being cleared, but she cannot relocate them. She spends as much time as possible at the site, including 22 hours on Wednesday. “I get told the kangaroos will move on but where the hell to?” she said. “I have grave concerns, I can’t walk away with this on my conscience.”

Ms Dixon said the mob might go to the Meadow Springs Country Club, which already had kangaroo problems from encroaching development. She fears a cull is imminent. Golf club superintendent Greg Simmons admitted there was a major problem with increasing numbers of kangaroos at the course. He estimates there are now 180 kangaroos, that had decimated the biodiversity of the grounds. For 25 years he has maintained native plants that have now been destroyed by the kangaroos. “We don’t mind a sustainable population of kangaroos, but I feel like we have become a dumping ground,” he said. “We wrote to the DEC and council in April but so far we haven’t had any help.” Mirvac WA chief executive Evan Campbell said more than 200 kangaroos had been relocated from Meadow Springs as part of development works and the program would continue. “The kangaroos were relocated to approved national park reserves within the South-West. “The kangaroos are relocated through a licensed professional and in consultation with the relevant authorities.” Kangaroos are not protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act. *Mandura Coastal Times

Jellyfish

They have no backbone and their slimey bodies are made up of more than 90 per cent water but they threaten to turn beaches into no-go zones within two decades. Huge amounts of jellyfish have forced the shutdown of nuclear power plants in Japan, already hit by the earthquake and tsunami, Scotland and a coal-powered plant in Israel in the past few weeks. And a sustained explosion in the population of jellyfish throughout the world's oceans has the potential to be "quite catastrophic" if it is not checked, said jellyfish expert Dr Jamie Seymour from James Cook University in Queensland. A digger clears away jellyfish after they blocked the water supply to a power plant in Hadera, Israel. Last week at the Orot Rabin Electric Power Station in Hadera on Israel's west coast - which uses seawater to cool its reactors - tonnes of jellyfish clogged up the filters. At the Torness power station on the south-east coast of Scotland both reactors were shut down after jellyfish were found in their seawater filters at the end of last month. Around the same time, the cooling system at one nuclear reactor of the Shimane plant in western Japan was blocked after a jellyfish invasion.

The seasonal warmer waters in the northern hemisphere - conducive to the growth of the cold-blooded creatures that have existed for about half a billion years - could be one explanation as to why the power plant incidents occurred in quick succession, experts said. But global warming, the nitrification of oceans through fertiliser run-off and overfishing have also created the environment for a huge expansion of the animals nicknamed the cockroaches of the sea, studies showed. "All these things individually can potentially lead to more jellyfish, and then we add them all together," Monty Graham, co-author of a jellyfish blooms study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) in June, told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. "Global warming increases the water temperature. These animals are cold-blooded so the warmer you make it the quicker they grow," Dr Seymour said. "An increase of nutrients in the ocean [from fertiliser run-off] increases the amount of algae, so that increases the amount of zoo plankton or little critters, and that's what the jellyfish are eating." "The third one is overfishing. So you remove all the fish and all the major predators in the ocean and there's nothing left to eat the jellyfish."

Dr Seymour said it was difficult to predict how much the worldwide jellyfish populations would grow in the next few years, but warned that if their numbers continue to increase, humans could be in "a world of hurt" within a few decades. "It has the potential to be quite catastrophic. We really don't know [what will happen in the long term]. The general consensus is it's not a matter of if it happens but when it happens. Jellyfish, which appear according to seasons, might allso become present for longer periods of time. "You'll see the way people use beachfronts change completely. So instead of being able to get onto the beach and seeing one or two jellyfish, you are going to [see] beaches closed through the world." He said fishing industries in the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, Japan and Korea were already destroyed due to the dominance of jellyfish over other species. Australia had so far not experienced such massive jellyfish blooms as it hasn't depleted its fisheries in the same manner yet. So can the trend be reversed? Dr Seymour said stopping fertiliser run-off into our oceans and a halt in overfishing would go a long way in limiting the ocean environment that encourages jellyfish blooms. Another co-author of the PNAS study, Professor Deborah Steinberg, told Wired magazine: "We're a long way from jellyfish taking over the world, but humans are changing food webs in the ocean by our activities. "It's an experiment, a big experiment, and we don't know yet what the outcome is going to be. We need to be careful." *Age

Dingoes

Dingo doo-doo has been linked to a spike in medical cases of a deadly cystic parasite that has been found as big as a football in the liver and lungs of humans. Scientists are investigating cases in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Townsville, where wild dogs encroaching on urban sprawl have spread the potentially lethal hydatid disease into the human population. "Dingo poo is not good stuff," Charles Sturt University lead researcher Dr David Jenkins said. "You can lose chunks of the liver and a whole lung because major surgery is the only way to cut out these fluid-filled cysts." He said the worry was that because it took 10 to 15 years before the cyst grew to an identifiable size, it was only the tip of human cases being reported. "As there is more contact, we expect to see a bigger spike in cases," he said. Australia, on average, has 100 new cases a year of hydatid disease caused by a tiny tapeworm, Echinococcus granulosus, passed from the gut of the wild dog into the environment. There are 10 cases in Queensland yearly, with the latest victim a Sunshine Coast Regional Council worker, who contracted the disease in the trapping and control of dingoes near Maroochydore.

Dr Jenkins outlined his research as part of a three-day Australian Parasitology Conference with 200 fellow experts in Cairns this week. "Wild dogs are getting more brazen and coming into towns, raiding garbage bins, eating and fighting with domestic pets and leaving behind dingo poo," he told The Courier-Mail. "The eggs can stay alive for a year and are transmitted by inhaling, hand-mouth contact or from petting or kissing domestic pets. "As wild dog behaviour changes, the risk to humans is getting bigger." A New Zealand farmer had a 50kg cyst cut from his liver and lungs in the late 1940s in Otago. Professor Peter O'Donoghue, of the University of Queensland, said the vast array of microscopic parasites was "pretty" and "horrific". "We don't study them for innate beauty but the horrific effect they have on their hosts and the diseases they cause," he said.

"Most people know what a killer shark, crocodile, spider or stinger look like but these killer microbes are invisible to the naked eye and are even scarier because you can't see them and they get you in the gut, blood, skin tissue or organs." He said a scientific team had also identified Leishmania, previously thought not to occur in Australia, in wild animals in the Top End where contact causes nasty skin ulcers with tropical sores. In another case, scientists are investigating a recent outbreak of tapeworm in cows in a feedlot in northeast NSW, with 35 cattle euthanased. They warn that, if infected beef is improperly cooked, it can lead to a 9m-long tapeworm growing inside the gut of humans. *Courier Mail Ed Comment; Another unnecessary dingo scaremongering story.