Vic town fights cockatoo invasion

By Gus Goswell

28 August 2009

Visitors are fascinated by them, but flocks of cockatoos are proving a mixed blessing for the residents of Kallista in Melbourne's Dandenong Ranges.

The birds are a big tourist draw card, but locals are tired of repairing the damage they cause.

Some locals say the sulphur-crested cockatoos may have caused millions of dollars worth of damage throughout the ranges.

Kallista resident Kate Hannan says a lot of people feel under siege.

"We want to live in balance with nature, and with animals and birds, and we don't want to keep them at bay at all. At the moment it feels like that balance isn't there," she told the ABC.

Ms Hannan's youngest child attends the Kallista kindergarten, which has been damaged by cockatoos, along with car-parks, and the local Uniting Church.

Parishioners have put plastic sheeting over wooden rails and the church to try to stop the damage.

They are also using rubber snakes to try to frighten the birds. But to no avail. The cockatoos have pecked wooden shards away from window sills and door frames.

It is the same story at Kallista's Community House.

Primary school students have strung streamers and CDs on wooden rails to keep the birds away. But that has not stopped the damage.

Many residents believe feeding by some locals and tourists is part of the problem.

Visitors to a Kallista picnic ground are allowed to feed the birds under a 20-year lease signed with Parks Victoria.

Ian Temby from Victoria's Department of Sustainability and Environment agrees feeding of birds is part of the problem.

"They don't have to spend very long foraging, so they've got a lot more time to spend idle, chewing things," he said.

About 50 Kallista residents met with Parks Victoria staff and their local MP at the Kallista Mechanics Hall on Wednesday night to discuss the problem.

They want to know whether the birds are in unsustainable numbers, and what can be done to keep them away from houses and public buildings.

Local Greens councillor, Samantha Dunn says the Victorian Government needs to amend the Wildlife Act.

"We need to put some teeth into making it illegal to feed wildlife, and particularly cockatoos," she said.

Monbulk MP, James Merlino says that after concerns about bushfires and the upcoming fire season, cockatoo damage is the most important issue to the residents he represents.

"There's been a spike in activity, and the number of complaints in recent months," he told the meeting.

"Not just in and around Grant's picnic ground, but a much wider area around Kallista.

"So I've got questions, I don't necessarily have the answers," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/28/2669480.htm