11 October 2007

Bogong migration incompatible with human society

As every year at this time the bright cities of NSW are swarming with Bogong moths. In the CBD of Sydney they were clinging in the crevises of old sandstone buildings, sheltering from the sun and resting. They did not go for the fauna-repelling cement/glass bunkers to hide. From Circular Quay to the CBD there was a frenzy of humans spraying poisons or sucking them in to industrial vacuum cleaners.

These creatures probably have migrated 'forever' on the same migratory routes. Growing up as a larvae in Queensland, they get a big dose of arsenic in the 'agricultural' fields. When it is time to hatch as a moth, it takes them 1000 km each year to fly to their cool Alpine granite caves. On the way they have to stop over for a rest in NSW, some just get attracted by all the light pollution.


The intolerance of humans to share the wildlife-urban interface in Australia with other creatures is high. In the struggle for control over space, the Australian an
imals are the ones for the extinction list. Termed by the MSM as “unskilled migrants” or even pest infestations, they are being eradicated. The concept of unique and 'protected' Australian fauna is for the zoo or emblems. After the arsenic, the pesticides generously sprayed around take their toll on the native birds. Appeals to reduce unnecessary light pollution, which attracts the swarms, also fall on clogged ears.
The ones that make it back to the Australian Alps are eagerly gobbled up by the threatened tiny Pygmy Possum. Both moth and mountain possum are also robbed of their habitat and food sources by human-induced climate change. Snow tourism, sprawl, climate change and grazing cattle illegally deprive these Australians of their habitat. Pygmy, (video) just 'discovered' in 1966 and already on the way out, has as its main diet Bogongs. The snow is melting and the (toxic) Bogongs are not so plentiful.

Maybe the sandstone caves at Circular Quay that were eradicated to make place for the British penal settlement belonged to the Bogongs traditional space/time to ensure sustainable food for fauna and indigenous people. It was also the beginning of the mash up of spring water and sewage, as is a tradition of this unsustainable culture. The growing population quickly outstripped the clear spring at Circular Quay. They filled in the source of the stream to produce more food. Many years on from this Tank Stream saga, the stench of sewage at the Quay and the unavailability of healthy (drinking) water testifies to this culture too poor to manage its resources mindfully.
Huntsman spiders are welcoming them in Manly and the CBD...
Previous:
Bogong clouds over Manly
Other Links:
Bogong Months and Parliament House


Update:
Decline in bogong moth numbers leaves pygmy mountain possums starving, The Guardian, 25.02.2019

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