Pest management researcher's career acknowledged
John Parkes with the Graeme
Caughley Medal: awarded in
recognition of his work advancing
knowledge of vertebrate pest
management.
Photo: Diana Leufkens,
Landcare Research
Landcare Research pest management expert John Parkes is often credited for his commonsense approach.
In fact, work he carried out with the Department of Conservation, developing their first national pest control plans for feral goats, Himalayan thar and possums in the 1990s is still a model for best-practice pest management.
John's outstanding contributions to wildlife management have been beneficial both here and overseas. His emphasis on the need for ongoing monitoring when developing strategies has seen him involved in successful pest eradications all over the world.
In December 2006, the Australasian Wildlife Management Society awarded John the Graeme Caughley Medal in recognition of his work on advancing our knowledge of how to manage vertebrate pests.
"Graeme Caughley is probably New Zealand's most famous ecologist, and showed the world how a research scientist could publish brilliant theoretical work that had immediate applied relevance to managers," says John. "The award came as a great surprise."
Long career of service
Landcare Research colleague Dave Choquenot, and Glen Saunders of the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries nominated John for the award. They believed John to be a worthy recipient because of his long career of service to wildlife management, his high-calibre research and his "integration of ecological principles with a commonsense approach to management based on logical analysis".
John's interest in pest management started with his first job. Having gained a BSc and MSc at Massey University, he found work at the Forest Research Institute (parts of which were later incorporated into Landcare Research). One of his first duties was to look at the management of Wapiti and Red deer in Fiordland. This led to a focus on studying the effects of large mammals on conservation assets and how to control them.
His early work on offshore island pest management started in the 1980s with the successful eradication of feral goats on Raoul Island, in the Kermadecs. On the strength of this success, John has worked with different countries in planning island pest management strategies, including the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, Santa Cruz Island in California, Clarion Island in Mexico, Hawaii, Niue and Mangaia in the Pacific, and Australia's Lord Howe Island.
Island focus continues
John continues to work on pest eradication from offshore islands both here and abroad, where there is increasing interest in the role of pest eradication in protecting native species on islands.
"At the moment we're organising a workshop in Canberra to begin planning for the management of exotic rodents on Australia's islands," he says.
He is also working on ways to determine when pests have been eradicated.
"How do we know when we've got rid of them? For example, if we're looking for painted apple moths and we don't find any, does mean there aren't any or that we haven't looked hard enough? We're developing strategies to interpret 'zero'."
John says New Zealand and the world are making some headway in eradicating vertebrate pests, but it's a "swings and roundabouts" scenario for many invertebrate pests and weeds.
"Are we winning the battle with possums? From a bovine Tb perspective, the Animal Health Board is clearly winning in terms of the number of cattle and deer herds with Tb, but the disease is still a problem in wildlife as the area of land with infected wildlife has not declined at the same rate."
Rabbits becoming a problem again
Rabbits continue to present challenges, with evidence that a growing proportion of young rabbits are becoming immune to rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD). Since 1998, John has researched the epidemiology of RHD in New Zealand.
"RHD is starting to become less effective. Just this morning I had a call from a farmer who was concerned about the large amount he was going to have to spend controlling resurgent rabbits. We're going to have to do some hard thinking to maintain the benefits of RHD for New Zealand's economy."
John says debate continues on the best strategy for managing established pests and whether to take a species approach or a site approach.
"That's an argument I don't think has been resolved yet – how to get best bang for our buck. On the one hand is the mainland island approach, where you pick the best sites and manage them to the hilt. At the other extreme is the argument to spread money over the entire country and manage the worst (or most manageable) pests. Neither strategy is optimal but how do we get the balance right?"
Immunocontraception potential control tool
Species-specific toxins and fertility control systems may become part of the toolbox, with Landcare Research developing new toxins that target single species or genera, and immunocontraception solutions.
"Immunocontraception is species specific, and in New Zealand we're still trying to develop it for possums, although it has been abandoned in Australia for use on their pests such as rabbits, foxes and mice. I wouldn't hold my breath; it's not a silver bullet, but if it can be made to work it is another tool in the toolbox." (See Biocontrol research: understanding what makes possums tick in this issue of Biosecurity.)
Another tool is 1080 poison, for which regulatory control is currently being reassessed. John says there are alternatives but they are often more expensive and more environmentally dangerous.
"None of the toxins we currently have are species specific, although we are getting cleverer in the way we use them, which is reducing impacts on non-target species. Anti-coagulants are an option for some pests. We have an antidote for anti-coagulants, but they do persist in the environment, whereas 1080 has no antidote but degrades to harmless compounds in the environment."
Support for pest management in New Zealand
He says New Zealand is unique in terms of public attitudes towards pest management methods.
"In most countries, people who object to the methods of control tend to be environmental groups, but here in New Zealand we have groups like Forest and Bird and other core environmental groups who are enthusiastic about controlling pests," John says.
"That makes it easier in New Zealand, but it doesn't mean we can avoid our responsibilities to look for more humane methods."
In addition to the Caughley medal, John has received a number of accolades, including honorary life membership from the New Zealand Ecological Society (1997), the Australasian Wildlife Management Society's Graeme Caughley Fellowship (2002) and a medal from the Royal Society of New Zealand (2003). Until very recently, he was the New Zealand representative on the Australasian Vertebrate Pests Committee. He has also published over 200 key papers and reports.
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Page last updated: 30 April 2008