AU: Magpie geese causing crop damage around Gympie
Keith Saalfeld, from the Northern Territory's Department of Land Resource Management, says magpie geese were once common throughout most parts of Australia, but they moved north when their southern habitats were taken up by development and agriculture.
However, the native birds are now making their way back down south.
"There's been a gradual consistent steady movement of geese back out across their former distribution because a lot of wetlands are being rehabilitated," Mr Saalfield said.
Mr Saalfeld says he has been approached by Queensland Government wildlife officers wanting information on the geese, which have started populating southern growing regions.
"They're inquiring about impacts of magpie geese on crops because they've had it starting to occur," he said. "From their perspective, it's a unique circumstance and they're uncertain how to deal with it."
The movement of magpie geese might be good for the ecology, but not necessarily for farmers.
In the past five years, growers and researchers in the Northern Territory have noticed a changed in the eating behaviour of magpie geese that reside in diverse growing regions.
Magpie geese have taken a liking to the many fruit and vegetable grown on the outskirts of Darwin, and cost some mango farmers thousands of dollars in damage each year.
Elaine Bradley, a market gardener in the Mary Valley near Gympie said, "It is always a hazard if a group of birds has learnt how nice a particular crop is. They'll come in and cause major devastation, so it's something you always have to be on the lookout for.
"With birds it can be a problem, even with things like crows and avocados, as they come in and drop the fruit before it's ripe."
Source: abc.net.au
