Peter Harrison, 77, is on a fight-the-ferals mission, tackling cane toads, wild pigs, cats, buffalo, camels and donkeys.
All are in the ex-stockman’s sights as he criss-crosses deserts and rural properties in his buffalo-hunting-style buggy.
The former Kojonup farmer and northern cattleman is heavily armed as he strives for greater focus on the burgeoning vermin in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Peter’s weapons are cameras and drones that he wields with professional flair. His photo files are carefully catalogued on his computer.
They illustrate hordes of introduced animals: wild buffalo, camels, cane toads, donkeys and cats across vast, remote areas.
“Vermin are a serious menace to Australia’s northern livestock industry and agriculture. It’s getting worse,” Peter said from his Busselton home.
“The footage I’ve got and am getting will hopefully convince authorities to up the ante and take more anti-vermin action.”
In his 4WD, flanked by his faithful kelpie, Jackie, and towing his cross-country buggy, Peter is welcomed by station owners who are fighting a losing battle against destructive ferals.
“Vermin destroy crops, livestock, property, pollute water sources, destroy cattle water troughs and spread diseases,” Peter said.
After his 17th yearly trip – through the Murchison, Pilbara, Kimberley, Northern Territory and ducking into Queensland – Peter plans to distribute footage to encourage anti-vermin action. He takes whatever action he can.
“I’ve encountered cane toads in the Kimberley’s Winjana Gorge. This year, I disposed of dozens of them as far south in the Kimberley as the Panton River, only 50km north of Halls Creek,” he said.
“Northern floods are a real worry, dispersing toads even further. Females each lay more than 400,000 eggs over their lifetimes of maybe 10–15 years. Cane toads cause the death and extinction of freshwater crocs, small animals and birds,” he said.
Peter’s video footage this year shows buffalo-catching and processing in the Northern Territory and the environmental damage they cause.
“Buffalo have spread across the north as feral pests. At the same time, some station owners are running commercial herds of buffalo in a managed, sustainable manner,” he said.
Next year, Peter plans to tow his rugged buggy into WA’s Gibson Desert to highlight the extent of feral camels.
“I will go to a cattle station battling to protect its viability against inconsistent rainfall and dry seasons. But the biggest, most difficult problem is defending against the huge numbers of invading feral camels,” he said.
“They have bred into unsustainable and damaging numbers despite being a declared vermin species. Camels are a problem to station owners by chasing cattle away from life-sustaining water supplies.”
Peter has witnessed feral pigs in concerning numbers.
“Like camels, buffalo and donkeys, pigs were brought to Australia to support population growth.
“I believe pigs have spread across more of Australia than most other feral species except cats. Pigs spread disease and eat newborn lambs and calves,” he said.
Peter has been invited by a friend, who is planning to export donkeys next year, to film donkey mustering and trucking in the Kimberley and the Northern Territory.
“In fairness, the donkey – like other introduced species – played a vital part in development of Australia. But now the damage caused is out-of-hand and must be confronted,” he said.
In all the northern travelling Peter has done – at least three months every year over 17 years – he is shocked at the widening extent of damage to the outback environment, pastoral and agricultural regions.
Cats were introduced for pest control, but they have established a foothold in the wild.
“Feral cats are in big numbers in the most isolated station country and agricultural areas,” says Peter whose former farm was impacted by feral cats killing his lambs.
“How can so many, so-called environment-conscious people, own unrestrained domestic cats, natural killers of birds and lizards?
“The cat is no different to the other declared vermin species, they are prospering and multiplying in the wild. There needs to be a law enacted where all cats are restrained or destroyed,” he said.
Peter has organised a way to showcase what he sees every year on his website, ozDocumentaries.com. With comparisons over time, it includes cattle mustering and bull and buffalo catching.
Peter can be contacted on 0458 544 584.
