Europeans introduced rabbits to Australia, put them in the wild, originally only wanted to hunt, pass the boring distribution and exile time, did not expect that rabbits soon became wild and flooded, at most more than 10 billion, resulting in a huge ecological disaster on the entire Australian continent.
In New Zealand, near Australia, in order to pass the time, in 1905, an animal was also introduced for hunting pastime, that is, the seemingly harmless Canada goose. More than 100 years later, how is the situation?
Recently in New Zealand, people have begun to discuss how to deal with a flooded species - the sky rabbit, yes, there can be no rabbit in the sky, the so-called rabbit in the sky, is the Canada goose.
The Canada goose, which is strictly speaking, should be called the Canada goose, is a large bird of the genus Black Goose, with a body length of up to one meter, a wingspan of 1.6 to 1.75 meters, and a weight of 3 to 6.5 kg, which is a pure plant-feeding species. Canada goose is widely distributed throughout North America, occasionally flying to Japan and Northeast Asia for vacations, and has now spread to Europe, Asia and New Zealand, and has also been found near Beijing and Poyang Lake in China, which is believed to be a wild population formed by escaping after introduction.
Unlike the Australian rabbit, the early colonial history of the Canada goose in New Zealand is actually lackluster, I don't know whether the hunters are too fierce, or they are too stupid, in short, the population development is not effective, has been tepid, the hunters killed, killed, but also maintained a certain state of balance between people and geese.
But there is no eternal balance in the world, and this balance has finally been broken in the 21st century, whether it is because New Zealand hunters have begun to hunt online, or for some other reason, the Population of Canada Goose suddenly developed in New Zealand and began to flood into disaster.
If you've ever dealt with geese, you know that these guys are actually fierce and aggressive, have a strong sense of territory, and like to sing songs - don't say you don't recite "geese, geese, geese, songs to the sky", and they are particularly edible, so they are also particularly capable of draining, and the daily amount of feces exceeds 2 kg.
New Zealand farmers are beginning to fall into nightmares, with the growing Population of Canada Goose chanting and singing every day, and the droppings carry nitrates, phosphorus, E. coli, Campylobacter and other bacteria into waterways, polluting water quality, making it difficult for people to survive the shellfish that people like to eat, and a growing number of native animals, such as the Blue Duck, a native species of New Zealand, are decreasing.
Taking advantage of being able to fly freely, The Canada goose recklessly snatches food from the mouths of its livestock – four geese can eat the amount of grass in a sheep and dump feces everywhere, contaminating large areas of soil. Near Lake Awat, the excrement of Canada goose even covered the sidewalk, and the stench smoked away people, and the road had to be abandoned.
Some Canon goose have even invaded urban communities, swung wildly in swimming spots, sports areas and parks, grazed and chased, defecated and defecated, and made it their own territory, which could lead to conflict and pose a health and safety risk to people if humans approached. During a hunting expedition, a Canada goose even panicked and broke into a family's backyard and pecked a small child.
People began to call the Canada goose sky rabbit, probably to see the neighbor Australian rabbit flood, their own has not been a similar scale of flood species, feel that the face is a little hanging on it, it is difficult to flood one, it is buckled on this vivid, humorous and generous title.
In 2011, at the strong request of farmers, New Zealand finally stripped the Fisheries and Hunting Commission of its authority to manage Canada goose, abolished the hunting permit requirements for Canada goose, and classified them as pigeons and sparrows, leaving it up to farmers to decide the fate of Canada goose on their land.
It seems that the good days of the Canada goose are coming to an end, and daring to oppose the most powerful food chain top species in the history of the earth is certainly a rhythm that does not want to live.
However, the results were astounding, with farmers and recruited hunters ready to go on a rampage to wipe out the pests once and for all, only to find that this was an impossible task and at a very high cost.
The first is that the Canada goose is so clever that once it finds its nest threatened, it will move to safer habitats that are more difficult for humans to reach;
And to shoot these "rabbits" in the sky, the requirements for hunters are too high, such hunters can not be sought even at any cost, and the best hunting place is on the helicopter, so the cost is too high;
Then there is the smartest way left, The Canada Goose has to change its moult every year – not to make a down jacket for humans, of course, but to fly better after changing their own clothes, during which they are naked and unable to take off, which is a good time to catch it all.
However, the Canada Goose seems to have long been aware of the sinister intentions of humans, and chose the moulting season between Christmas and New Year,When hunters only care about their own skins, even if they have the heart to hunt. Even if a hunter is invited at a high price, this is the summer in Australia, people go out in groups, the grass and pond where the Canada goose lives are their favorite, the hunters have to hesitate for a long time every time they pull the trigger, if they hit people, not only will they not earn money, but they will have to eat prison.
In this way, 10 years later, the population of Canada goose in New Zealand has not decreased, but has grown stronger and stronger, but no one knows how much it has grown, because the Fish and Game Commission said that canada goose is not under their control, and they have stopped counting. A fishing and hunting club in the middle of the North Island says the number of Canada geese in the area is soaring, increasing sixfold in 10 years, with at least 12,000 Canada geese living there near Lake Waikato alone.
The fate of these rabbits in the sky is unknown and not many seem to care, except for the new Zealand farmers who are deeply affected. But their voices were too small, and they were the ones who had taken control of canada goose from the Fish and Game Commission, said Simon Williamson, a federal farmers' spokesman, who now seems like a stinky move.
When the Fisheries and Hunting Commission was managed, every year during the moulting of the Canada Goose, professional hunters would be organized to carry out centralized culling through helicopters, and simply buried the matter, which objectively played a certain control role; and now the farmers are in their own positions, without professional knowledge and resources, it is difficult to control the population of the Canada Goose, which may be the case, which has caused the flooding of the sky rabbit today.
Williamson now worries that the increasing number of sky rabbits could be a disaster for airports across the country, but "people won't pay attention until the plane crashes", is this a clever threat strategy?
It seems that the flood of new Zealand sky rabbits is a foregone conclusion, what good way do you have to deal with it?