Interesting/Little Known introduced populations

Seriously !? Where the hell did these come from ?

I would never have expected Aldabra Giant tortoise or mamba snakes as invasives in Mexico of all places !

 

These are the ones that aren't true. All the other ones in a previous post are.

 

I thought they were a bit suspect

 

"Interesting or little known" Really? Is that what we think of the introduction of alien species into any given area/niche? I suppose, if they fail and disappear quickly, they will make 'minimal' impact and become 'interesting' but what if they don't? What if they find themselves, like the Crown of Thorns starfish on the Great Barrier Reef, Lionfish in the Atlantic, Cane Toads in Australia or, indeed, COVID-19 in humans all over the planet, highly successful and without any controlling factors? Or maybe we should restrict ourselves to deliberate hybrid introductions, like cocktail orangs in Indonesia?
'Interesting'?

 

I think that with "interesting" he didn't mean that the introduction of alien species is a good thing.

 

Interesting (adjective):
arousing interest

It has nothing to do with the impact of said species.

 

Quite so. Not a judgement call, simply interesting. Like Mr Spock. After all, rats are no longer interesting, just ubiquitous.

 

Just found some intresting notes on an introduction-attemp of Kangaroos in Germany. Unfortunatly no species is named but in 1887 Philipp Freiherr von Böselager released a pair of Kangaroos into a 500 hectare large woodland-area near Heimerzheim ( about 20 kilometers south of Cologne ). The animals did well and breeding was determined till at least 1893.
During winter the animals got extra-food at several feeding-stations and this is why the attemp became unsuccesfull. Poachers soon discovered these feeding-stations and during a though winter - with temperatures of - 18 deg. Cel. and more - the poachers just short the animals at these stations and in this way they killed 35 - 40 animals. Around the turn of the centuary no animals were left anymore .

 

I'm glad to hear it was unsuccessful. Think what devastation 35-40 kangaroos could cause to the indigenous wildlife.

 

Crown of Thorns starfish aren’t an introduced species at all, they are native to the Great Barrier Reef.

 

They are still around, see this recent video :

 

Plecos in Guatamala :

An update of the invasive Pterygoplichthys Gill, 1858 (Actinopterygii, Loricariidae) in Guatemala: new records and notes on its interactions with the local fauna

 

2 exotic spider-species found in Argentina :

Two new records of exotic spiders in Argentina (Arachnida: Araneae) | GRISMADO | Revista de la Sociedad Entomológica Argentina

 

Thought about invasive species, the emotional part, the protection and the removal .... :

'Compassionate conservation': just because we love invasive animals, doesn't mean we should protect them

 

- 80 invasive or potential invasive fish-species on Sri Lanka .... ( abstract ) :

The identity of the exotic Pterygoplichthys sailfin catfishes in Sri Lanka (Teleostei: Loricariidae) | ABESINGHE | Zootaxa

 

Platyfish at northeastern Brazil :

First record of non-native platyfish, Xiphophorus maculatus (Günther, 1866) (Cyprinodontiformes, Poeciliidae), in the Jaguaribe River basin, northeastern Brazil

 

Exotic crickets found in Belgium and Poland :

New records of exotic crickets in Europe: Homoeogryllus species (Orthoptera: Gryllidea: Phalangopsidae)

 

This is quite a good article on "Acclimatization societies" during the Victorian era / 19th century that sought to introduce and establish all kinds of exotic fauna to Europe.

Thankfully most of these attempts failed.

The Popular Victorian Clubs That Yearned To Fill Europe With Hippos

 

Intresting article about the Rheas in Germany :

Inside Germany’s Giant, Hungry, Flightless-Bird Problem

 

According to this article:

"In accordance with the German Federal Nature Conservation Act, a new species that survives and breeds successfully in the wild for several generations is considered native. As such, it’s awarded the same protections as any other native species, like the White Stork or gray wolf, making it illegal to catch, hunt, or kill rheas, or to damage or alter their habitat."

And I thought the EU had some dumb invasive species laws.