Tas: Fox carcass signals national emergency: Greens

AAP General News (Australia)
08-02-2006
Tas: Fox carcass signals national emergency: Greens

By Robyn Grace

HOBART, Aug 2 AAP - The discovery of yet another fox carcass in Tasmania signals a
national environmental emergency, says Greens leader Bob Brown.

Senator Brown said he was horrified by the latest discovery, warning the island state
could lose its status as a "Noah's Ark" of rare and endangered species.

He wants an urgent meeting with federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell to urge greater
national input for fox eradication efforts in Tasmania.

The fox carcass, discovered on a road in the Northern Midlands yesterday, is the fourth
to be found in the state since 2001.

Scientists believe the age of the new carcass confirms the pests are breeding.

Tasmania was believed to be fox free until a report from the Canberra-based Invasive
Animals Cooperative Research Centre confirmed their presence in June.

Foxes have been blamed for devastating native species on the Australian mainland, in
some cases causing extinctions.

"It is a national environmental emergency. Tasmania is a virtual Noah's Ark of rare
and endangered species, many of which are extinct or nearing extinction on mainland Australia,"

Senator Brown said in a statement.

"These include the bettong, barred bandicoot, eastern quoll and ground parrot.

"There should also be no stone left unturned finding and imprisoning the criminals
who are responsible for foxes being brought into Tasmania."

Scientists are very worried about the latest find.

"It's hard to get away from the probability that it was born here," senior wildlife
biologist Nick Mooney told ABC radio.

"It's a long way away from ports of entry ... it's years past our reports of the original
introductions, in fact it'd have to be a doddering old-timer with a Zimmer frame to have
made it that long.

"It's very hard to avoid confronting that, yes, it's a fox that was bred here."

Mr Mooney said the carcass confirmed the necessity of the government's fox-free taskforce,
but eradication of the pest needed to be a community-wide effort.

Talkback calls following yesterday's find showed many people are still sceptical about
whether there are foxes in the state.

"We need people to get their heads out of the sand and pitch in and see what is so
obvious: we have foxes here and we've got to get rid of them," Mr Mooney said.

The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association yesterday called for the state government
to boost funding to the taskforce, saying an established fox population would wreak havoc
on the state's economy and could cost the agricultural sector up to $8 million per year.

A spokesman for Primary Industries Minister David Llewellyn said the government had
committed $600,000 a year for four years to the taskforce and had written to the Commonwealth
asking it to match the funding.

AAP rgr/sp/sd

KEYWORD: FOX (WITH FACTBOX)

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