Publication Name
Australian Broadcasting Network
Author(s)
Anna Salleh
Australia could introduce large herbivores such as elephants as part of a radical biological solution to the problem of bushfires and invasive species, says one expert.
The argument is laid out in a provocative commentary from Dr David Bowman, a professor of environmental change biology at the University of Tasmania, and is published in today’s issue of Nature magazine.
"I'm being as provocative as possible to try and wake everybody up to say, 'Look, what is currently happening is not sustainable. We have to think outside the square,'" Dr Bowman said.
He says the short-term programs designed to address Australia’s serious problems with bushfires and invasive species are piecemeal, costly and ineffective.
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The article proposes that large herbivores like elephants be used as "grass-eating machines" and, used alongside traditional Aboriginal patch burning, could help manage fire risk in the north.
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A leading environmental group has also labelled the idea as too radical.
The Pew Environment Group's Patrick O'Leary says Australia has a bad track record of introducing animals.
"We certainly don't need a 10-tonne cane toad in the Top End or anywhere else in Australia - and that's the kind of risk that you run with introducing new species into the environment," he said.
"I don't think we can treat that as a serious option. We know how to control some of these species like gamba grass, but we have to apply the science, we have to apply the funding."
Read the full article, Elephant Solution Proposed for Australian Bush, visit the Australian Broadcasting Network website.
