Feral Blackbuck in Australia

Astrobird

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
I remember reading once of feral or wild Blackbuck antilope in Australia - I thought it was in outback South Australia - does anyone know if such a population still exists? The same book also said Ostrich were roaming free as a result of the fall of the feather industry at the start of the 19th century. I assume these would have been rounded up when the Ostrich farming craze hit again 20 years ago and prices were sky high.
 
the wild blackbuck in Western Australia are gone now. Apparently there is a population in northern Australia though (Cape York area), but I have no clue where that came from: Steve mentioned it in another blackbuck thread...I must do some digging to find out.

The ostriches were mostly rounded up when ostrich farming started up again. There are still some reports of wild birds seen but if there are any still out there they must be only a few.
 
re the Cape York blackbuck, some were released in the late 80s or early 90s from a private grazing property for hunting but they apparently died out. I also found a reference to illegal releases in 2004, by two hunting ranches. Most (government) sites say blackbuck no longer occur in the Cape York but I also have read of well-established herds of "hundreds" there. (Been trawling through lots of websites :))
 
the wild blackbuck in Western Australia are gone now. Apparently there is a population in northern Australia though (Cape York area), but I have no clue where that came from: Steve mentioned it in another blackbuck thread...I must do some digging to find out.

The ostriches were mostly rounded up when ostrich farming started up again. There are still some reports of wild birds seen but if there are any still out there they must be only a few.

Yes - still Blackbuck on Cape York but the numbers have been reduced considerably.

Feral Ostrich numbers made a comeback when the new Ostrich get rich quick industry died it's inevitable death.

Many birds were just released to save the cost of a bullet for each one. However, following generations of artificial incubation and rearing, their parenting skills are not real good and it is doubtful if these populations will be able to sustain themselves.
 
Yes - still Blackbuck on Cape York but the numbers have been reduced considerably.

Feral Ostrich numbers made a comeback when the new Ostrich get rich quick industry died it's inevitable death.

Many birds were just released to save the cost of a bullet for each one. However, following generations of artificial incubation and rearing, their parenting skills are not real good and it is doubtful if these populations will be able to sustain themselves.

Steve, Chlidonias, is the accidental / purposeful release of exotics not a felony onto itself? Have the individuals responsible (should be easy to track down all former ostrich holders and the rancher without blackbuck?
 
I would be surprised if there are any wild Blackbuck left anywhere in Australia. Governments love to wipe out species they consider pests if they can. Even though the wild Blackbuck had been there for 100 years and not expanded their range and had no chance of becoming a pest. I think the Government likes to do this as they will not spend the money to do anything about the real pests and don't want to appear useless.
 
I would be surprised if there are any wild Blackbuck left anywhere in Australia. Governments love to wipe out species they consider pests if they can. Even though the wild Blackbuck had been there for 100 years and not expanded their range and had no chance of becoming a pest. I think the Government likes to do this as they will not spend the money to do anything about the real pests and don't want to appear useless.

That is very true. Many feral species are not pests at all any more - they are an integral part of the food chain for some of our native wildlife. Look what happened when calicivirus had a devastating effect on the rabbit population. Native predators had to resort to eating commercial animals because their main food item, the bunny, had disappeared. Calicivirus lost favour with a lot of farmers very quickly.

However, there are remnant Blackbuck populations in some areas and they will do exactly the same amount of damage as the larger populations did - nil.
 
Native predators had to resort to eating commercial animals because their main food item, the bunny, had disappeared. Calicivirus lost favour with a lot of farmers very quickly.

You mean the cats and foxes?

:p

Hix
 
Try Eagles for a start!

It's all related isn't it? For instance, the wedgies got to "unnatural" numbers in some regions because of land clearing plus introducing lambs and bunnies; and also there can be a reduction in foxes when bunnies are reduced, albeit also there is an initial shift to more native prey...impossible now to reverse the damage we have done to our natural ecosystems...although there are benefits in continuing adaptive management initiatives if there is a net benefit to natives...eradication typically only works on islands or isolated areas.
 
I would have to agree that action on domestic cats and dogs is long overdue. And yes the government rather spends money on trying to eradicate camels, blackbuck and surplus kangaroos / wallabies (created by opening up more grassland habitat ... which is a favored habitat for all these .. ;)) than on the real issues Further, we have those damn introduced cane toads to content with ... (talking of another introduced big threat to native fauna).
 
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It's all related isn't it? For instance, the wedgies got to "unnatural" numbers in some regions because of land clearing plus introducing lambs and bunnies; and also there can be a reduction in foxes when bunnies are reduced, albeit also there is an initial shift to more native prey...impossible now to reverse the damage we have done to our natural ecosystems...although there are benefits in continuing adaptive management initiatives if there is a net benefit to natives...eradication typically only works on islands or isolated areas.

It certainly is all related - Gerald Durrell's "spider web". And, certainly impossible to eradicate. However, nature will [almost] inevitably win in the end. Nature will just evolve to incorporate the newcomers - one way or another.

There is a feral pest "industry" in this country at the moment and millions of dollars are being misspent on wild goose chases.

Cane Toads are a classic case. They will never be eradicated. Yet scientists, and others, are begging for more and more grant money to find ways to eradicate them. Can't be done - any more than rabbits, foxes, cats, Indian Mynahs etc, etc will ever be eradicated. Minimising numbers is all that we can ever achieve.

Interesting thing about Cane Toads is that nature will eventually work out how to live with them. Years ago, when I lived in central western Queensland, the Cane Toad invasion rolled through my area. Within months we lost every species that ate amphibians. No more Monitors, Black headed Pythons, Collett's snakes etc. Autopsies on the bodies showed them to be full of toads. Within 15 years they had all returned, repopulated from the fringes of the devastated areas, and now living in harmony with the toads. Some species learned how to avoid the toad's toxin glands [Crows, Kookaburras, Magpies etc] but the others just leave them alone.
 
Pardon my ignorance about these issues, but since Blackbucks are endangered in their native India and Nepal, if there are any left wild in Australia, how come

1. zoos dont round them up for breeding populations

or

2. they are not rounded up to be reintroduced into India and Nepal (perhaps the Indian govt, or the WWF or another group could pay for this).

I realise there is probably a pretty obvious answer to this but I have no idea what it is!
 
Pardon my ignorance about these issues, but since Blackbucks are endangered in their native India and Nepal, if there are any left wild in Australia, how come

1. zoos dont round them up for breeding populations

or

2. they are not rounded up to be reintroduced into India and Nepal (perhaps the Indian govt, or the WWF or another group could pay for this).

I realise there is probably a pretty obvious answer to this but I have no idea what it is!
there's loads of blackbuck in captivity in Australia (hence the releases from private ranches). Catching some from the wild for release into India seems to me like a bit of a waste of resources when you could far more easily get some from the hunting ranches here, in the USA, in Argentina, etc.

The ones in the wild up north (if they are still in the wild) would likely also be very inbred (more so than the captive ones) because they would be derived from few founders.
 
there's loads of blackbuck in captivity in Australia (hence the releases from private ranches). Catching some from the wild for release into India seems to me like a bit of a waste of resources when you could far more easily get some from the hunting ranches here, in the USA, in Argentina, etc.

The ones in the wild up north (if they are still in the wild) would likely also be very inbred (more so than the captive ones) because they would be derived from few founders.

Where are the loads of blackbuck in captivity outside of major zoos?
How many licences are there for blackbuck in Aust?
Where are the self sustaining wild populations? Eaten by all the panthers no doubt!

There have been hundreds of attempts to establish self sustaining populations od blackbuck in Aust & almost none have survived. They would be the "least invasive" species ever to be brought to Aust, yet they create so much opinion from so many "experts".

Cheers Khakibob
 
Where are the loads of blackbuck in captivity outside of major zoos?
How many licences are there for blackbuck in Aust?
Where are the self sustaining wild populations? Eaten by all the panthers no doubt!

There have been hundreds of attempts to establish self sustaining populations od blackbuck in Aust & almost none have survived. They would be the "least invasive" species ever to be brought to Aust, yet they create so much opinion from so many "experts".
my understanding is that there are loads of captive blackbuck in Australia. Anyone can feel free to correct me if that is not the case.

I was assuming they were held on private ranches outside of zoos because they have been released into the wild from private ranches. Again, I'm happy to be corrected.

I'm not sure of what you're asking with regards to "Where are the self sustaining wild populations? Eaten by all the panthers no doubt!". I'm not even sure if it's directed at me, but if so, then read what I actually wrote regarding wild blackbuck in Australia.

Is there any evidence you can provide for "hundreds of attempts" at establishing wild blackbuck in Australia? The number you give seems slightly inflated.
 
I suspect that Blackbuck fall into that category of a species far more numerous outside its native environment (in their case Australia and the USA, either in zoos, ranched or feral) than in its native India.
 
I suspect that Blackbuck fall into that category of a species far more numerous outside its native environment (in their case Australia and the USA, either in zoos, ranched or feral) than in its native India.
I'm sure I've read that there are more on US hunting ranches than wild in India.
 
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