Life Sciences Commons^™

Feral Donkeys : An Assessment Of Control In The Kimberley, S H. Wheeler

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Feral donkeys are one of the major limitations to increased pastoral production in many parts of the Kimberley area of Western Australia, where they compete with cattle for food. In addition donkeys are aggressive animals, driving cattle from watering points and better grazing areas. They eliminate perenial plants by overgrazing and therefore reduce the carrying capacity of the range.

Originally introduced as draught animals, donkeys were released when cars arrived; since then they have bred up to large numbers in many areas.

For several years the Agricultural Protection Board has undertaken a programme of donkey shooting from helicopters. Since this …

Research Objectives In Vertebrate Pest Control, A J. Oliver

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The European rabbit, introduced into Australia in 856 by an early settler for hunting, caused massive losses to agricultural production in Western Australia in 1940s and 1950s.

In those years most of the country's recources and efforts allocated to vertebrate pest problems were aimed at controlling this animal.

Research and control measures by Commonwealth and State agencies, including the introduction of myxomatosis, were largely responsible for reducing the rabbit problem to the comparatively minor one it is now.

Today, the Agricultural Protection Board is involved in the control of a much wider range of mammals and birds which cause losses …

1080 : A Selective Poison For Pests, D R. King

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Since the 1960s, the control programmes for rabbits and dingoes in Western Australia have relied heavily on the use of sodium monofluoroacetate, more commonly known as compound 1080. Large quantaties are used each year as it is a valuable substance for the control of vertebrate pests.

Once in the animal's body 1080 is converted to fluorocitrate, a poison which is highly toxic to most mammals. Fluorocitrate blocks the Krebs cycle, a fundamental pathway of energy exchange in animals and plants. The animal dies as a result of damage to the heart, or to the brain and central nervous system, or …