Conservationists have suggested the ACT Government isn’t taking the threat of Indian Myna seriously. Photo: Supplied.
A Legislative Assembly committee has been criticised for its “pitiful” and “weak” recommendations in its inquiry aimed at combating a pest that may threaten the existence of several native bird species.
Indian (Common) Myna are small birds with brown bodies, black hooded heads and a yellow patch behind the eye. Originating in Asia, mynas arrived in Canberra in 1968 when a newcomer from Sydney released a dozen birds because he missed hearing their call.
It is estimated that there are some 250 Indian mynas per square kilometre in the urban area of Canberra, or about 150,000 birds in total.
The ACT Conservation Council told the inquiry: “The birds are territorial and aggressive, killing the chicks of native birds, destroying their eggs, and pushing them out of nesting hollows.”
Bill Handke, president of the volunteer-based Canberra Indian Myna Action Group (CIMAG), argued that mynas have driven native birds out of Sydney and Melbourne and that the same could happen in Canberra if more action isn’t taken.
But the Committee on Environment, Climate Change, and Biodiversity, chaired by Labor MLA Marisa Paterson, noted ACT Government research “indicated that the impacts on threatened hollow-nesting species is negligible”.
The Committee’s final report, released this week, did not make any concrete recommendations for action, only stating that government should recognise CIMAG’s work in controlling Myna numbers and continue to monitor the issue.
“I had a quick look at the inquiry final report but was too depressed to go on … it was pitiful,” veteran Canberra naturalist Ian Fraser said.
“I’d have to say this government is the least environmentally concerned of any government since self-government … it’s a fairly old playbook they’re using, saying we have no evidence of the problem and then say then when we have a problem, they’ll say it’s too late.
“Government needs to start taking a proactive role; it presumes CIMAG are always going to be there; they assume work being done for free will always be done. The government has no right to expect a community group will always do their work for nothing.”
Simon Copland, director of the Conservation Council ACT, also expressed disappointment at the Committee’s “weak” recommendations.
“Observations by the community both in the ACT and elsewhere in Australia have shown the Indian Mynas gradually displace many native birds, but when mynas are removed, the natives return,” Mr Copland said.
“There are many places along the Eastern Seaboard bereft of native birds because of the impact of Indian Mynas and we do not want this to happen in the ACT.”
Simon Copland (centre) and his staff at the ACT Conservation Council want government to do more. Photo: Facebook.
The council said other jurisdictions, predominately local councils, provide financial and other support to community-based Indian Myna control programs, but the ACT Government does not.
Mr Copeland suggested the ACT Government could step in to trap mynas on government-controlled land and consider incentives for commercial and public buildings to include exclusion barriers to exclude Indian Mynas nesting in roof cavities.
The Conservation Council noted that to date, Indian Myna control has been exclusively undertaken by the community on private property, even though these birds also live and proliferate on public land.
“That’s where government can step in, looking at shopping centres and so on,” Mr Fraser said.
The Indian Myna inquiry final report can be found on the ACT Legislative Assembly website.
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