LOCAL ANIMALS VS INTRODUCED SPECIES KAKADU By: Dina 9GC

Kakadu National park Kakadu is a famous Australian national park located in the Northern part of the Northern territory. It is the largest terrestrial national park in Australia, taking up nearly 8000 square miles of land. Kakadu is famous for the various native fauna that lives there. It is known mainly for its reptile life, including saltwater crocodiles, lizards, and extremely venomous snakes. Kakadu also has many species of waterbirds including pelicans, herons, ducks and sea eagles. Kakadu national park is not only home to native fauna, but is also now home to many introduced species including, buffalos, cattle, pigs, horses, cats, dogs, rats, mice, European bees, and cane toads. All these introduced species were sent here by the English after the European settlement. Kakadu has also said to have been home to Aborigine tribes way back to at least 40,000 years ago. Tribes still live in Kakadu and multiple rock paintings from years ago have been preserved.

Native flora & fauna Kakadu is a very diverse environment. It is filled with a huge variety of different animals. Kakadu national park is surrounded by animals which are rare, endangered or aren’t found any where in the world. Kakadu is home to over 60 species of mammals, over 120 species of reptiles, 20+ frog species, 300 fishes and 290 species of birds. Crocodiles are one of the many animals that live in Kakadu. They are one of the most ancient breed of creatures on this earth. Two breeds of crocodiles live in Kakadu, the freshwater (only found in Australia) and the saltwater crocs. Just like the fauna in Kakadu the range of the flora is also very divers. Kakadu is very rich in its floral region. Kakadu is considered to be one of the most weed-free national parks on the planet. The national park itself has around 17,000 plant species. Kakadu has geographical areas where only certain plants can grown due to the environment. Like lowland areas where wild flowers and open forests are found, like floodplains where various species of water lily’s, mangroves, sedges and paperbark trees are found. Also, the stone country area, where grass that can stand the heat and dryness of the land grows.

Nourishment The environment stays nourished in Kakadu thanks to the amazing flora which provides fresh air and oxygen, which helps keep the environment clean. The flora is also used as a food source for herbivores and omnivores and also for humans. Fauna helps the environment stay preserved because it is food to other fauna and to humans as well. Also, when fauna dies it decomposes into the ground. This helps the environment recycle old nutritience and this causes more flora to develop. Each part of the Kakadu environment helps each other stay clean and stay nourished.

Introduced species Kakadu is one of the largest national parks in the world. The environment is so unique due to the richness of native fauna and flora and the history of Aboriginal culture. Kakadu is in danger, since the European settlement, the environment was intruded by species that aren’t native to the land. The species that have been introduced have heavily affected the environment. Water buffalos, pigs and cane toads are among the most common species which were introduced to Kakadu. The reason for the species being introduced was mainly to get rid of pests in the environment, or for food for the settlers. Cane toads were introduced to get rid of bugs in sugar cane plants, also buffalos were introduced because they were being harvested for food for the settlers. Both species, like many other introduced species spread extremely quickly through out the environment, and soon after became serious problems.

The effect The impact of the introduced species has endangered Kakadu. Kakadu is thought of as one of the most weed-free national parks, soon this place could become filled with many weeds due to feral pigs and buffalos. Theses feral animals do plenty of damage to the wet lands, they provoke weeds. Weeds destroy other plant life, it is unimaginable of what could happen if plant life becomes extinct or severely damaged in Kakadu. Water Buffalos also break grass mats that float in water. These grass mats are used for fresh water, when they are broken up the fresh water disappears. In 2000 the cane toads managed to spread to the Northern territory. Kakadu has been under threat ever since. Unfortunately cane toads have almost no predators due to their poison. Kakadu has lost many reptiles due to the toads arrival. The crocodiles, snakes and goannas have been effected by cane toads. It is expected that the amount of native species will go down and cane toads levels will go up. Fortunately, smaller animals don’t prey as much on cane toads so they are less likely to be affected.

Government management The government has come up with a plan to stop invasive weed growing in Kakadu. This weed is called Mimosa Pigra, it is native to tropical America. This weed is a serious pest which grows up to 6 meters tall, it prevents access to water and destroys other flora around the area it grows. Insects and fungi are being introduced to help reduce the pest, these include, mimosa moths, beetles, fungi, and weevils. Scientists are working on this carefully and are making sure these introduced insects and fungi only affect the weed, but not the rest of the surrounding environment. A way the government would attempt to reduce the amount of buffalos is by hunting them. In the dry seasons buffalos are easily hunted, but in the wetter seasons the ground is far too muddy for the hunters to hunt the buffalos. Cane toads have been a growing problem for many years and the answer to stopping the toads is still a mystery to be solved. But, there are solutions that may help to reduce the amount of cane toads. Groups are set up to track down every move of the cane toads and to know their whereabouts. Also, native animals are being prevented to stay away and to not prey on cane toads.

Possible solutions To maintain control of animals which are dangerous to the environment, fencing them could be a good solution. This will isolate them from the native animals, or endangered animals we must help protect. A solution to stop the cane toads is to poison them. Cane toads are poisonous and have no predators. Poisoning them is a good way to match up to their levels. Poisoning the species will be a quicker way to get rid of most of them. In the past years, the number of buffalos in Kakadu has gone down, fortunately. Since the amount of buffalos in the national park is pretty low, transporting them to environments more suitable for them may be a more humane and easy solution. They could be transported to farms, and could be farmed. In farms there are barely any native species and buffalos could fit in perfectly.