Donate
Donate
Donate

Last chance tour with Texan entomologist Dr Robert Puckett puts fire ants in the spotlight

Dr Robert Puckett from Texas A&M University is no stranger to Australia’s fire ant fight.
Facebook Linkedin X-twitter Envelope
[print-me target=".print-body, .print-title" do_not_print=".noprint"/]

An overseas warning

Dr Robert Puckett from Texas A&M University is no stranger to Australia’s fire ant fight.

This month he visited, for the second time, with a dire warning: we can’t let fire ants win. Australians have not had to live with fire ants like people have in the United States. They have given up any chance of eradicating fire ants. Instead, they treat fire ants every year on their properties to fend off the possibility of fire ant stings to humans and animals.

Each year fire ants cost the United States around $10 billion (USD).

Each year thousands of tonnes of fire ant insecticide products are used to treat land in the United States.

Each year fire ants sting people and animals despite this control work and sometimes these attacks result in fatalities.

Fire ants have changed the ecology of the southern United States.

Fire ant population density challenge

A drive on Cedar Grove Road an hour southwest of Brisbane was cause for despair. From the car Robert and I were able to identify dozens of mounded fire ant nests on the roadside, on lawns and in paddocks.

Cedar Grove sits in the Suppression Zone meaning residents, organisations and councils can receive materials to treat the fire ant infestation in their community. At the same time, government-funded eradication teams are working at the outer edge of the infestation. The eradication zone is 20km further south.

Cedar Grove is not the frontline in Australia’s fire ant fight – it’s occupied territory.

Worryingly, the infestation at Cedar Grove is just one of a number of areas within the fire Suppression Zone with densities approaching the levels of Texas.

Earlier this year fire ants travelled over 100km to Wardell south of Ballina in human cargo. That nest was detected and destroyed. Similarly, an infestation at Oakey was detected around 100km from the centre of the fire ant infestation. These are cautionary tales – if suppression and containment fails, expect rapid spread to other parts of Australia. Unlike America where fire ants have reached the extent of their natural range, fire ants will be able to occupy almost all of Australia.

Suppression must target mounds and incipient nests

Cedar Grove Landcare is organising their community to suppress fire ants. Free fire ant treatments distributed by their local member of parliament, Linus Power, and the Queensland government Fire Ant Suppression Taskforce is essential for community self-treatment. While Robert was in Australia we also hosted a fire ant ‘mini field day’ to educate local properties about the risks of fire ants and proper treatment application.

Using food lures we demonstrated that areas with no visible nests will be infested with fire ants in high-density locations. Seven of eight lures had attracted a heavy fire ant foraging presence. Broadcast treatments are the only way to suppress incipient and subterranean fire ant infestations. The Queensland and federal governments must increase suppression funding for broadcast treatment in areas with the highest infestations.

The Cedar Grove community is one of many local groups and volunteers stepping up to respond to fire ants. They are finding no adverse effects from fire ant treatments on humans or animals.

Community suppression treatment is laying the groundwork for the full eradication effort which must treat and check every property in the infestation area to completely eliminate the ants.

Urgent suppression boost required

Fire ant nests have recently been found close to the koala sanctuary at Daisy Hill. Koalas are vulnerable to fire ant attacks when moving at ground level between trees; their thick fur will make it difficult to dislodge fire ants once they begin stinging. Queensland koalas are under threat by urban sprawl but now their sanctuary locations are also under attack from fire ants. Suppression treatments will help stop fire ant spread and protect humans and wildlife from fire ants.

Fire ant suppression must expand and continue until the systematic and thorough eradication program rids our country of fire ants.

Do you live in Queensland? Right now no party contesting the Queensland election has committed to long term fire ant eradication funding or a boost to suppression and containment. Find out the impacts fire ants will have on your local area here.

Related Content

‘It’s dangerous’: Misinformation risks further fire ant spread
Look, snap and report: Join the fire ant fight these School Holidays
Join the fire ant fighters!

Hear from us when it matters

Your support to protect critically endangered and vulnerable species from extinction is vital. Together, we can ensure governments prioritise action on invasive species and protect our wildlife and iconic places.

The Invasive Species Council was formed in 2002 to seek stronger laws, policies and programs to protect nature from harmful pests, weeds and diseases.

The Invasive Species Council acknowledges the Traditional Custodians throughout Australia and their connections to land and sea. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

Our Work

About Us

Email Preview

Dear [your member of parliament],

[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

Email copy here …

Email copy here …

Email copy here …

Email copy here …



Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Your email address]
[Your postcode]


Your gift is a lifeline for nature.

Our protected areas are being trashed, trampled, choked and polluted by an onslaught of invaders. Invasive species are already the overwhelming driver of our animal extinction rate, and are expected to cause 75 of the next 100 extinctions.

But you can help to turn this around and create a wildlife revival in Australia.

From numbats to night parrots, a tax-deductible donation today can help defend our wildlife against the threat of invasive weeds, predators, and diseases.

As the only national advocacy environment group dedicated to stopping this mega threat, your gift will make a big difference.

Donate Today

Do you need help?

Accordion Content

A silent crisis is unfolding across Australia. Every year, billions of native animals are hunted and killed by cats and foxes. Fire ants continue to spread and threaten human health. And the deadly strain of bird flu looms on the horizon. Your donation today will be used to put the invasive species threat in the media, make invasive species a government priority, ensure governments take rapid action to protect nature and our remarkable native wildlife from invasives-led extinction, death and destruction.

Donate Now

If you are having technical trouble making a donation, please read this guide.

Please fill out the following form and one of our team will be in contact to assist as soon as possible. Please make sure to include any helpful information, such as the device you were using (computer, tablet or mobile phone) and if known, your browser (Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, Safari etc).

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
This field is hidden when viewing the form
Drop files here or
Accepted file types: jpg, gif, png, docx, doc, pdf, txt, Max. file size: 10 MB, Max. files: 4.

    Dear Project Team,

    [YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

    I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

    The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

    The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

    This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

    Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

    Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

    Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

    I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

    Kind regards,
    [Your name]
    [Your email address]
    [Your postcode]


    Dear Project Team,

    [YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

    I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

    The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

    The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

    This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

    Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

    Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

    Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

    I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

    Kind regards,
    [Your name]
    [Your email address]
    [Your postcode]