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African animals to roam Australia ?

Posted by chrisd on from the what-about-the-wombats-and-koalas dept.

Invurt writes: "In a strange twist to the traditional conservation story, Media Magnate Kerry Packer has announced that he is planning to open a huge African game reserve, for reasons of conservation and endangered species breeding in Australia. This would basically replicate Africa in the Australian continent, on a huge scale. They are not sure if they'd leave the kangaroos there or not - always wondered what it'd be like with kangaroos roaming the plains with lions."

9 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. Won't work by Xouba · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm sure it won't work as intented. We all know what happened with rabbits, right?

    And besides, we all have seen "Jurassic Park", didn't we? ;-)

    --
    My weblog in spanish
    1. Re:Won't work by Max+von+H. · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That, and the fact it's quite forbidden to 'import' any live animal or vegetal stuff downunder.

      I mean, how are they going to contain the area? Even if you put high fences, they'll be eventually destroyed by rabbits or kangaroos, possibly resulting in yet_another_ecological_disaster. Australia has no natural predators for intruders, any introduction of a foreign animal has huge consequences (see rabbits).

      The idea's nice on a species conservation point of view, but one has to make sure they don't ruin the host ecosystem.

      /max

      --
      -- It's always darker before it goes pitch black.
    2. Re:Won't work by sam@caveman.org · · Score: 5, Informative

      having never heard of the rabbit case, but having seen many references to it in this story, i took a look at the Rabbit case. it is almost too amazing to believe, and not helping matters is the similarity to the old children's song, 'there was an old lady who swallows a fly'. if it wasn't so serious a problem, it would be insanely comical. it sounds like a joke:

      basically, over a century ago wealthy englishmen brought rabbits to AUS so that they might hunt them. eventually the rabbit population boomed to well over 200 million, becoming more than a nuisance, rather an extremely ferocious natural disaster. they brought in a virus (myxo) to kill the rabbits, and it almost worked, but eventually the rabbits became resistant.

      and this is where it gets almost too weird to believe.

      they bring in ferrets to hunt the rabbits down. however, the ferrets are found to be carrying bovine tuberculoses. so they release a different strain of myxo to get rid of the ferrets.

      so finally they are researching a new virus to kill the rabbits, but the virus escapes the labs and spreads through australia and new zealand. so they come up with a vaccine...

      and the saga continues.

      on a more USian note, how about introducing a few hundred wolves back into the ecosystem to at least nibble at the incredible deer population? what's a few small children, anyway?

      -sam

      --
      burn the computers. go back to the abacus.
  2. Roos and Lions? by cmclean · · Score: 5, Funny
    always wondered what it'd be like with kangaroos roaming the plains with lions.

    Short. And messy ;-)

    cmclean

    --
    "Any similarity between the hooting of a million eager monkeys and Slashdot is purely coincidental." -THEFLASHMAN
  3. Great Idea, Kerry! by vandan · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think I speak for all Australians when I say:
    "Kerry, you are a fucking idiot!"
    Everything he touches turns to shit, whether it's TV networks, airlines, or now the whole fucking ecosystem.

  4. Hmm by whanau · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Kerry Packer likes to claim he is the true blue australian tycoon, unlike his rival Rupert Murdoch.
    However what this nutcase is proposing here is nothing short of ecological genocide. If large predators escape from this "park" you can kiss goodbye all of the rare and beautiful marsupial animals that inhabit his "home". If he really wants to preserve african wildlife, he can do it much more easily by offering to fund the anti poaching forces in tanzania and kenya, as well as solving rural african poverty that means many in poorer outlying areas must hunt for bushmeat which goes for a high price in Nairobi. Perhaps a biology and a reality lesson is in order Mr. Packer?

  5. Conspiracy theories..? by reachinmark · · Score: 5, Funny
    What, no conspiracy theories yet?

    Consolidated already has secured a land swap deal with the WA Government to free up property north of Kununurra for the reserve.

    What do you reckon is on this land then..? I think the hippos are just something to hide behind.. the lions are to keep people from snooping. He's building a secret shuttle launching facility? Nuclear weapons experiments? There are opals there? Perhaps it *is* Jurrasic Park?

  6. you know by nomadic · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I support this wholeheartedly. Yes, the introduction of other species in the past has decimated Australia's natural wildlife, but what this guy is talking about seems to be very different.

    There is a huge difference between inadvertently introducing small species such as rats and rabbits across the country (well, starting at coastal shipping ports), and introducing large mammals into a controlled region. Large mammals such as elephants and hippos are much easier to track, and more importantly will typically have offspring every few years (about every two years for hippos and rhinos, four years or more for elephants, and two years for lions, though the latter usually have a few cubs per litter), while rabbits breed like well, rabbits.

    Personally I think he'll have a very hard time of doing this succesfully; it's not easy to create an African savannah ecosystem from an Australian outback, and megafauna are notoriously slow at increasing population (thats one of the reasons we need reserves in the first place).

  7. Fix the problem instead by forgoil · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd say, fix the problem instead. And what is the problem? The problem is the africa's wildlife is being killed off. Fix that instead of screwing up Australia.

    I would love to hear what Steve "the Crocodile Hunter" would say about this. Sure the guy is the goofiest person I've seen from .au yet, but he is one of the few who really do care about animals and knows his shit. It's people like him we need to make decisions.