Bill’s petition to trigger action on myna bird insects 

2 years earlier, the ACT federal government stated Indian myna birds a bug types.

In an interview with “CityNews”, president of the Canberra Indian Myna Action Group (CIMAG), Bill Handke said at the time he had worries the federal government may see the statement in itself as an option to the myna issue.

Now, 2 years on, he says that is precisely what’s taken place, so he’s begun a petition to the Legislative Assembly requiring more action.

“Government agencies have not taken any action in controlling this pest,” says Bill.

“So far, all action has actually originated from yard trappers, who see this as a necessary task to safeguard our regional wildlife from the hazard postured by Indian mynas, however we require a landscape method.

“That means we need the ACT government to do their bit, especially on public land.”

Since CIMAG’s starting in 2006, Bill says more than 79,000 mynas have actually been eliminated from Canberra, through 2800 members setting traps in their yards, “but backyard trapping just doesn’t have enough impact”.

“We need the government to develop an action plan to reduce myna numbers in public areas, such as cafes, restaurants, industrial areas, building sites and schools,” he says.

“The reason mynas spend time these locations is since there’s constantly food scraps, so among the practical things they might perform in school vacations, for instance, would be to have a janitor established traps.

“If the kids aren’t there unintentionally feeding them, they’ll definitely enter into the trap since they’re after food they utilized to count on the school for.

“There’s other things like sitting with businesses to discuss what they can do to stop mynas around coffee shops, which implies closing the skips and getting staff to ensure they clean up the tables quickly when someone leaves, instead of leaving scraps on the table.

“We hope that the government can actually see the value in doing this.”

Bill says the traps aren’t difficult to set, and target mynas effectively.

“The trap is designed with narrowing tunnels so that small birds like mynas can get in, but big birds like magpies, currawongs and crows don’t get caught,” he says.

“We also use dog food as bait, because mynas are feeding on dry pet food in people’s yards every day, and that means we don’t get seed or honey-eaters like rosellas and parrots.”

After the mynas are caught, Bill says they are euthanised with carbon monoxide gas, “it’s the most humane method – quick, painless and stress-free for the birds”.

Bill says he believes the factor the ACT federal government hasn’t acted yet, is since it sees other insects like bunnies and foxes as more of an issue.

“And, the government doesn’t fund the environment too well at all,” he says.

“Only 3 percent of the last budget plan went to the environment, and as an effect there are weeds and insect animals all over.

“It’s so crucial to preserve a truly good environment. The function of biodiversity in an environment is actually crucial in keeping that environment comfortably well balanced, and if you have actually presented animals they can penetrate at high densities with no natural predators or controls, and the rest of that environment deteriorates.

“When the ecosystem degrades, there’s a knock-on impact in a whole range of other aspects of environment and life, so it’s important to maintain a really good environment and that means managing threats, and they’re not being managed well by the government.”

Bill’s enthusiasm and understanding is driven through his time as an eager bird-watcher, and his previous job as a basic supervisor for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestries.

“Even though I don’t have the scientific qualifications in the area, I’ve been on the periphery of, or at the centre of those big issues for a long, long time,” he says.

“Lived experience is good, and even if you don’t have scientific qualifications, you learn from scientists and read their articles on their findings.”

Bill says under ACT Legislative Assembly guidelines, the federal government is needed to react to a petition if it has more than 500 signatures.

As at going to print, the petition had more than 1110 signatures, however Bill intends to receive more than 2000.

“Please sign, and please ask the same of anybody you know who treasures our native wildlife and our natural environment,” he says.

Sign the petition through indianmynaaction.org.au 

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