FOCUS: Wildlife bears the brunt of Australia's drought

Asian Economic News, Dec 16, 2002

SYDNEY, Dec. 11 Kyodo

Unusual things are happening in the Australian outback.

Feral camels are being killed by trains as they lick the morning dew off railway lines, emus in their hundreds are roaming the countryside for water and birds are falling from trees.

Australia's worst drought in 100 years is beginning to take its tragic toll on the country's wildlife.

Little rain has fallen over Australia since May, with Tasmania the only state to escape the dry, and 71% of the country is now declared drought affected. Economists have warned it will cost the Australian economy almost $A4 ($US2.24) billion.

Kangaroos are dying of starvation, Australian Wildlife Protection Association president Pat O'Brien said.

''There will be a massive reduction in numbers next year,'' he told Kyodo News. The association predicts Australia's current kangaroo population, estimated at 60 million by the government, will shrink by half next year.

''We are really concerned because we don't know how many we need to maintain the population,'' O'Brien said. ''A 60% reduction can put the population at risk.''

Kangaroos have begun going into rural towns to eat the grass on lawns, he said. And many are killed by vehicles as they attempt to eat greenery growing from moisture caused by condensation from the road.

''And they are certainly causing problems to farmers, eating any grass they have for their stock,'' O'Brien said.

The drought is also affecting the sex lives of crocodiles, with lack of rain meaning lack of sperm for male crocs.

''They shoot blanks,'' Queensland crocodile farmer John Lever told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC). ''It's pretty rough when your sex life is determined by the weather. Thunder and lightning is the ultimate aphrodisiac for crocs.''

Female crocodiles have a tendency to reabsorb their eggs as a survival mechanism during droughts, compounding the reptile's reproduction troubles, he said.

Birds are the first affected when drought hits, Queensland Museum naturalist Greg Czechura said.

''Small animals and reptiles can hide in burrows and wait out drought, but there are not many burrowing birds,'' he told Kyodo News.

The lack of rain has created a west-to-east migration of birds, Czechura said, with the result being birds now found in areas they are not normally seen in, he said.

''Species like the swift parrot and the musk lorikeet are only found in southern Queensland every 15 to 20 years.''

Dry conditions have also resulted in early breeding, Czechura said. ''Birds were breeding in July and August, which is way early. We saw birds carrying sticks and nest building, but they shouldn't be doing that until September.''

There have been a number of reports of red-winged parrots falling off their perches, he added.

It's still ''early days'' and the full effects of the drought are yet to be seen, Czechura warned. ''The longer the drought goes on, the more concerned we get. We have to keep an eye on vulnerable and rare species. Some birds may disappear from a particular spot altogether.''

In the South Australian outback, hundreds of feral camels are being killed as they head in droves for the only railway line running through the Nullabor Plain.

Along the Trans Australia Railway some of Australia's 500,000 feral camels have been reduced to eating the weeds that have survived along the tracks and licking the morning dew off the cold steel rails, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Emus usually travel in small flocks but have been gathering in their hundreds at food and water sources, Birds Australia research and conservation manager Mike Weston said.

It is unclear what effect drought is having on Australia's 700,000 emus. ''We don't know how many are dying,'' he said. ''Emus are an exceptionally mobile population and will move in response to things like drought.'' Research shows emus can move up to 13.5 kilometers a day.

''Emus have survived drought before and they are likely to survive this drought,'' he said.

Sharks, desperate for food, have been seen swimming miles up rivers as the drought reduces fresh water levels, causing saltwater to extend further inland and depleting fish stocks.

In the New South Wales (NSW) town of Wingham, 40 km inland, school children have been warned not swim in the local river after a fisherman recently saw a bull shark near a popular swimming hole, Sky News reported.

Drought can have a severe effect on koala populations as well, Environmental Protection Agency principal conservation officer Greg Gordon said.

''If they are on long water courses, there may be water underground,'' he told Kyodo News. ''But in poorer habitats, the effect of drought can range from mild mortality to population devastation.''

In the late 1980s, a drought combined with a heat wave in southwest Queensland wiped out 60% of the local koala population, Gordon said, but at this stage, there is no indication drought is having any serious effects on Australia's 500,000-strong koala population.