ShootingEgg Posted June 27, 2021 Report Share Posted June 27, 2021 https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/tasmanian-devils-penguins-australian-island-b1869683.html?amp Turns out if you put a Predator on an island and leave it be, it wipes out an entire species.... Who'd of thought it. It really does worry me that some people think that just re introducing a species and leave it to get on with life is the answer.. I'm not saying I'm against such ideas, but think them through properly first and then maintain the populations etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow white Posted June 27, 2021 Report Share Posted June 27, 2021 Well what do you expect these clever people should not be let out never mind look after anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisjpainter Posted June 27, 2021 Report Share Posted June 27, 2021 Yeah that's gone badly! There's a bigger story behind the scenes, which is worth fleshing out. Maria was picked as part of a preservation plan for Devils, to protect them from the almost 100% fatality rate of Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD). The idea was to have island populations that would be healthy if it came to the mainland populations being wiped out. DFTD is appalling and there is no vaccine or cure, so Tas was genuinely facing extermination of an iconic species. DFTD is also prone to mutating, so research is constantly being stalled, causing delays that most devil populations don't have. There are signs isolated populations have some resistance, but those individual animals (and it really is that small a number) aren't numerous enough to use them as reintroduction/insurance animals. But, wiping out 3,000 penguin pairs does go down as quite a big error! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted June 27, 2021 Report Share Posted June 27, 2021 So I assume they will have to feed them from now on, [parachute in hens] there was recently a plague of mice, pity they can't ferry some of them in.. They look like a Mink on steroids Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob85 Posted June 27, 2021 Report Share Posted June 27, 2021 I heard of another re-wilding going bad, think it was in the guardian newspaper. They have been putting exmoor ponies out to run wild and people have been finding them looking rather emaciated because their rewiding areas don't have enough food to support them....in Denmark I believe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisjpainter Posted June 27, 2021 Report Share Posted June 27, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, islandgun said: So I assume they will have to feed them from now on, [parachute in hens] there was recently a plague of mice, pity they can't ferry some of them in.. They look like a Mink on steroids Yup. Biologically, they're more rabid wombat as they're actually marsupials. They're very mustelid in their industriousness and feeding habits, though. Edited June 27, 2021 by chrisjpainter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow Bear Posted June 27, 2021 Report Share Posted June 27, 2021 38 minutes ago, Rob85 said: I heard of another re-wilding going bad, think it was in the guardian newspaper. They have been putting exmoor ponies out to run wild and people have been finding them looking rather emaciated because their rewiding areas don't have enough food to support them....in Denmark I believe It is hoped that the people responsible for releasing them will be publicly prosecuted for animal cruelty. (I am not holding my breath however) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted June 27, 2021 Report Share Posted June 27, 2021 1 hour ago, Rob85 said: I heard of another re-wilding going bad, think it was in the guardian newspaper. They have been putting exmoor ponies out to run wild and people have been finding them looking rather emaciated because their rewiding areas don't have enough food to support them....in Denmark I believe Dutch version..https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/27/dutch-rewilding-experiment-backfires-as-thousands-of-animals-starve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 Not rewilding though is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShootingEgg Posted June 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 4 hours ago, scolopax said: Not rewilding though is it? No guess not, it's just putting a very good Predator on an island full of food and then letting it go nuts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisjpainter Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 1 minute ago, ShootingEgg said: No guess not, it's just putting a very good Predator on an island full of food and then letting it go nuts At the time that it was done, they felt like they were really approaching being out of options with saving the devils. But a bit of foresight might have helped! Devils aren't the most rapid of hunters, they need either sick dying or dead animals, or stuff that moves really slowly, like wombats...or penguins. They really should have seen it coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discobob Posted June 29, 2021 Report Share Posted June 29, 2021 15 hours ago, chrisjpainter said: At the time that it was done, they felt like they were really approaching being out of options with saving the devils. But a bit of foresight might have helped! Devils aren't the most rapid of hunters, they need either sick dying or dead animals, or stuff that moves really slowly, like wombats...or penguins. They really should have seen it coming! So Tazz of Warner Brothers Cartoons wasn't an accurate caricature then - that upsets me 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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