Feral Animal Species

I was surprised at how many species had been recklessly introduced in Australia. I will refer only to animals today, not plants. Maybe reckless is not the best word, and no word can ever simply describe the damage done by artificial introduction of animals into another established habitat. The following feral species wander over this beautiful country, destroying native species of animals and plants, contributing to land erosion, and spreading parasites: cat, deer, pig, goat, horse, donkey, European red fox, European wild rabbit, camel, cane toad and water buffalo. Deer, foxes and rabbits were introduced for the purpose of recreational hunting. Millions of dollars are spent every year to keep foxes away from protected areas with native animals. Rabbits chew rapidly through grass that would otherwise feed native species. Camels, horses and donkeys came to Oz very long ago together with the first explorers, helping them carry tons of supplies for mostly tragic expeditions. Water buffaloes were imported in the middle of the last century to supply meat for Northern settlements, but were later released in the wild. Finally, cane toads, the main characters of probably the biggest self-inflicted ecological disaster, were introduced in 1935 to control pest cane beetles, but had no natural predator in Oz. Now they are conquering kilometer after kilometer of land (they were introduced in the cane plantations of Queensland in the North East and are now present in Western Australia) after having already destroyed the habitat of many other species. The camel in this picture is one we saw on the side of the road somewhere close to Uluru, in the Northern Territory, certainly not in Africa...