Review of the management of feral animals and their impact on ...

environmental degradation’ (Nor<strong>the</strong>rn L<strong>and</strong>s Council 2004), but this has been
accepted because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir supposed conservation value. Keith Saalfield (pers. comm.)
has proposed a major cull <strong>of</strong> females, which have no value because hunters only
target <strong>the</strong> large bulls, which constitute about five per cent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> population. No effort
has been made to document <strong>the</strong> damage done by banteng to bush tucker plants but
Fitzgerald believes it is considerable, especially around wetl<strong>and</strong>s. The banteng would
also be competing with agile wallabies which <strong>the</strong> community uses as food. Fitzgerald
says that a study <strong>of</strong> banteng <strong>impact</strong> in <strong>the</strong> park would need to be followed by
negotiation with <strong>the</strong> community to obtain permission for a cull. The persons arguing
for <strong>the</strong> cull would need to be skilled at negotiating with Indigenous communities.
Fitzgerald says that <strong>feral</strong> pigs are damaging wetl<strong>and</strong>s in <strong>the</strong> park <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>se should be
culled at <strong>the</strong> same time. The park supports <strong>feral</strong> horses <strong>and</strong> deer but <strong>the</strong>se are
uncommon <strong>and</strong> do not need culling.
Much has been made <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> supposed high conservation value <strong>of</strong> Australia’s banteng
herd (Corbett 1995, Bowman 1992, Nor<strong>the</strong>rn L<strong>and</strong> Council 2004). In South East Asia
<strong>the</strong> wild banteng is endangered, <strong>and</strong> Coburg has larger banteng herds than any Asian
national park. However, Australia’s banteng are descended from domesticated stock
brought from Bali or Timor in 1849 (Corbett 1995, Long 2003). Within Bali, banteng
are <strong>the</strong> dominant domestic cow <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> population is vast. Domesticated banteng are
also present on Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, Lombok <strong>and</strong> Timor (Long 2003). If
<strong>the</strong>se livestock were included in total population assessments <strong>the</strong> banteng would not
qualify under IUCN criteria as endangered.
Corey Bradshaw has suggested (pers. comm.) that Australia’s banteng are descended
from wild-caught <strong>animals</strong> ra<strong>the</strong>r than domestic livestock. But this is certainly untrue.
Alfred Russell Wallace visited Bali in 1856, 11 years after Australia’s banteng where
imported, <strong>and</strong> in The Malay Archipelago he described <strong>the</strong> Bali l<strong>and</strong>scape (p 150-1):
“We saw plenty <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fine race <strong>of</strong> domestic cattle descended from <strong>the</strong> Bos
sondaicus <strong>of</strong> Java, driven by half-naked boys, or te<strong>the</strong>red in pasturegrounds.
They are large <strong>and</strong> h<strong>and</strong>some <strong>animals</strong>, <strong>of</strong> a light brown colour,
with white legs, <strong>and</strong> a conspicuous oval patch behind <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> same colour.
Wild cattle <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> same race are said to be still found in <strong>the</strong> mountains. In so
well-cultivated a country it was not to be expected that I could do much in
natural history…”
It is inconceivable that <strong>the</strong> small ship that brought banteng to Australia in 1849 would
have brought wild unruly banteng when tame banteng were so readily available. The
<strong>animals</strong> were imported as domestic livestock. It is most unlikely that Victoria
settlement had adequate fencing to graze all <strong>the</strong>ir herds <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y would only have
wanted tame livestock.
A cull can thus be justified on <strong>the</strong> following grounds. The goal would be to remove
females <strong>and</strong> inferior males with no trophy value. The Aboriginal community would
not lose any income. Hunters cannot operate in <strong>the</strong> park at <strong>the</strong> moment because fallen
timber has obliterated trails through <strong>the</strong> forest (P. Fitzgerald pers. comm.). Large
numbers <strong>of</strong> banteng are likely to die slowly <strong>of</strong> starvation in coming months anyway.
A cull would be an act <strong>of</strong> kindness to avert mass starvation. The banteng are
domesticated livestock gone wild not an endangered species <strong>of</strong> high conservation
value. Banteng have been culled in <strong>the</strong> park in <strong>the</strong> past, during <strong>the</strong> 1970s, when <strong>the</strong>ir
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