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Australian marsupials as human companions: a controversy in NSW that shouldn't be a controversy
Professor Michael Archer
Australia’s in a widening spot of bother. Long before threats of climate change grabbed headlines, we’ve been flogging the living stuff out of this place, clearing forests, introducing alien horrors, cookie-cutting the land into little wire-bound boxes, sending topsoil blowing in the wind and accumulating in the process at least $5 billion dollars in land degradation costs every year. We’ve done this because most of us value the introduced species more than our natives, despite the fact that our natives are nature’s Olympic champions having survived millions of years of selection for skills to survive the worst that Australian climates can throw at them. Finally, after decades of challenge in rural communities dependent on less-hardy, water-hungry cattle, sheep, wheat and cotton, this message is starting to sink in. Some are now exploring how to increase economic resilience by sustainably harvesting kangaroos, indigenous grasses and other natives that have been the environment-friendly foods of choice for Australians for more than 50,000 years. Time to rediscover this wisdom.
What about in our homes? Most of us have no choice when it comes to pets: keeping all manner of cats and dogs is legal and encouraged; keeping all native marsupials in most Australian States is not. Unfortunately while we value, feed and stroke our moggies and dogs, the native mammals we haven’t bonded with struggle to survive on the other side of the fence. And now, for every degree of climate change, the average animal and plant throughout the world will need to shift its range by 100 km. Most of our wildlife reserves—while absolutely vital for conservation—will be found to be too small and most in the wrong places to ensure long-term conservation.
Although there is no simple, single answer to these challenges, ‘CSU’—Conservation through Sustainable Use of valued native species as advocated by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature)—offers exciting additional strategies likely to increase the success of ongoing conservation efforts. Sustainable harvesting of kangaroos is a CSU strategy that involves valuing native species whose habitats than have to be conserved to ensure their survival. Valuing selected native marsupials as alternatives to cats and dogs as pets would be another CSU strategy.
As a PhD student researching Australian marsupials, then Curator of Mammals in the Queensland Museum, Director of the Australian Museum, Dean of Science at UNSW and now a research scientist at UNSW, I have had the privilege of keeping more than 20 different species of native animals at home over the last 45 years, from marsupial quolls to possums and kangaroos. I don’t now have marsupials as pets in Sydney because it’s illegal. However, it is not illegal in South Australia and Victoria and the world hasn’t ended there as a result.
My experience in keeping a Western Quoll (Dasyurus geoffroii), given to me as a newly-weaned ‘kitten’, was simply wonderful! ‘Little Man’ had all of the positive behaviours of cats including cleanliness (e.g. he obsessively used a kitty litter tray for his ‘business’) and none of their unpleasant attributes (e.g., he remained kitten-like and playful as an adult, had none of the potentially serious diseases cats are known to communicate to humans, and didn’t torture his food!). Like a dog, he was bright and playful, bonded strongly and was extremely easy to feed. Unlike dogs, he meticulously cleaned himself and he didn’t bark! His hours of activity perfectly suited my working life given that he wanted to sleep in the middle of the day and the central part of the night but was active in the early morning and evening, times I was as keen to play with him as he was with me. I’ve had lots of cats and dogs as pets in my life, but none of them meant as much to me as he did. When he died after biting an introduced Cane Toad in my Brisbane backyard, I was an emotional mess for months.
I have been hoping to see formal trials carried out in NSW to see if my own experiences and those of others who have had similar opportunities can be repeated in families all around Australia. These trials would involve strategically-managed breeding programs and placement of some marsupials (e.g. quolls and sugar gliders) with interested families. If the monitored outcomes are as positive (as they have been e.g. for Sugar Gliders in the USA), perhaps we could consider relaxing laws to enable the next generation of Australian kids throughout Australia to bond with, treasure and commit to the well-being of at least some of the endangered native species that most now don’t even know exist.
Meet Professor Archer:
Professor Mike Archer AM, FAA, DistFRSN, FRZS, FACE, FWAAS (BA, Princeton Univ.; PhD, UWA) was born in Australia in 1945 but grew up in an Appalachian mountain town in the USA (where he learned to make moonshine and play the banjo). Since returning to Australia in 1967 he has been a Fulbright Scholar, Research Assistant in the Western Australian Museum, Curator of Mammals in the Queensland Museum, Director of the Australian Museum in Sydney, Dean of Science at the University of New South Wales and currently Professor at UNSW. His research has focused on fossil deposits particularly those in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area since 1976, developing innovative strategies based on the fossil record to save endangered living species such as the critically endangered Mountain Pygmy-possum, and efforts to bring iconic Australian species such as the extinct Gastric-brooding Frog back to life. He has supervised/co-supervised more than 100 Honours, MSc and PhD research students and produced >500 scientific publications and books.
