Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 22/02/2026No, I’m not saying that. Dingoes are at risk from 1080 because they are late-comers to Australia, compared to our endemic fauna, who tend to be safe form the presentations and doses we use to protect them. Where dingoes are valued by land managers, managing foxes and cats is more difficult. 100
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 21/02/2026Indeed. Many private and public land managers we hear from are concerned about decisions like this undermining their already limited abilities to manage the impacts of invasive species. 1080 users should be diligent and accountable but pet owners must be too. 010
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 21/02/2026How sad. Banning the use of 1080 (in parts of Australia) is really a blow against #conservation and #biosecurity management. People might think they’re fighting cruelty but they’re really condemning thousands of animals to horrible deaths at the teeth, claws and diseases of invasive predators. 284
Reposted by Guy BallardDr Dave @ecosystemunraveller.com · 28/01/2026Also great interior accent pieces 051
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 27/01/2026Let’s get #feralhorse skulls trending as landscaping features in Australia. Just one per house = no more feral horses… 🤔 150
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 26/01/2026#dingo (wongari) management on K’gari is complex. Consider how hard it is for QPWS staff to manage this situation. Many stakeholders, lots of media attention. Experts keen to weigh in. This is a wildlife mgmt issue with cultural, economic and ecological aspects to it. I wish them all the best. 131
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 23/12/2025Out for a walk? Carry a bag and collect some rubbish. Doesn’t matter if it’s at home or on holiday. 081
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 16/12/2025Port Macquarie Creek (Home of many quolls!) Oxley Wild Rivers NP 190
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 15/12/2025Mountain katydid. Saw several while I was servicing cameras today. 110
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 08/12/2025Just a few too many on my young Eucalypts. I wish them well as a species. 010
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 08/12/2025A robber-fly takes out a Chrysomelid beetle. Biological pest control in action! 150
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 06/12/2025Eastern bearded dragon, Nambucca River, NSW, Australia. 0270
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 30/11/2025A praying mantis ootheca on a native paper daisy was my ‘small find’ on the back paddock walk this morning. Christmas beetles are also enjoying several Eucalyptus spp. new growth but far fewer than last year (so far). 182
Reposted by Guy BallardAnthony Ricciardi @ecoinvasions.bsky.social · 30/11/2025A study of introductions of large herbivorous mammals outside their native range suggests they do more harm than good to local biodiversity. Only 1 in 5 impacts is positive. Positive effects on certain native species often come at a cost to other natives. #bioinvasions www.unifr.ch/news/en/3344...unifr.chSaving a species but at the expense of others?The way to hell is paved with good intentions. In the hope of saving certain endangered species and ecosystems, some conservation projects propose the introduction of large plant-feeding mammals int... 22013
Reposted by Guy BallardJudy Dunlop @judydunlop.bsky.social · 29/11/2025Thanks Guy!! As @benflips.bsky.social says "it's not rocket science, it's plumbing" #wildoz #esa2025 1134
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 29/11/2025Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in the wild: Spotted-tailed quoll Blue-ringed octopus Australian bustard Mountain katydid Stimpson’s python #biodiversity 130
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 29/11/2025Blessed are those willing to act in the face of environmental threats. Saint @judydunlop.bsky.social inspired all at her #ESA2025 talk on stopping cane toads in their north western tracks. All power to the WA toad ‘stoppers’. 1196
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 28/11/2025Best line of the week at #esa2025 belonged to Tiahni Adamson during the #ESA2025 Indigenous Plenary: ‘walking together at the speed of trust’. We all need to embrace this, when working with others. 0101
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 02/09/2025Incredibly galling to hear $400M to be wasted on shipping ppl to Nauru when we are decades under-funded for meaningful #biosecurity and #environmental action in Australia. 😭 090
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 30/08/2025Certainly not. I can only respectfully request that our political representatives act in our collective long-term interest, rather than being distracted by any political or personal benefits associated with short term appeasement of industries that are NOT obliged to work for us. 120
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 30/08/2025Sound principle, now fund the necessary action Minister Watt. ‘we absolutely remain committed to the principle of not just protecting and reducing environmental damage, but restoring our environment.’ www.theguardian.com/environment/...theguardian.comMurray Watt backs ‘no-go’ zones where development is banned – but not for Tasmania’s Robbins IslandEnvironment minister says scientific evidence did not convince government that remote island qualified 2105
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 24/08/2025Sure do, and we hope to share some of this once our current cat work finishes, but that’s sadly still a small proportion of the State. 000
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 22/08/2025Interesting. Dingoes prey varies with local availability, experience and social group size. Also, what appears to be a solitary animal is often part of a dispersed social group. 000
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 22/08/2025Agreed. Plenty of people, including me, were very interested in major macropod taxonomic changes. Osphranter rufus, formerly Macropus, continues to be killed in large numbers because people perceive it to be a pest. Def not exactly the same, no two wildlife issues are, but ‘impacts’ matter most. 100
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 22/08/2025This is especially because impacts and management do not occur statewide. It would be ideal if we could invest more in monitoring dingoes but as I noted (and despite some success in other research areas) we have not been able to secure grants for this, into the future. 2/2. 100
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 22/08/2025I don’t dictate NSW Government interests (possibly good for all of us). Professionally I am interested in dingo densities, what drives them, how they relate to those of other species, and how we can manage impacts with minimal harm. Statewide abundance is not necessary to manage impacts. 1/2 100
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 22/08/2025I like this idea and expect (the data from) many samples I’ve provided, and that our team continues to collect, will be shared once the wildlife geneticists and other ecologists using them have completed their work. 010
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 22/08/2025It’s also pretty hard to list an abundant animal as threatened, which dingoes are in many parts of Australia. (obv. they are at low densities in some areas, eg western Vic). I have a little experience too, & think a primary, practical focus on impacts would be more helpful than a rebadge 000
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 22/08/2025I think it’s possible you have some sampling bias re the ‘most working in this space tend to agree’ idea. I am skeptical that a name change will significantly affect on ground management, (esp. compared to rigorous quantitative study of impacts and population monitoring.) ‘Names can matter…’ 110
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 22/08/2025We’d certainly be happy to generate an estimate if someone would pay for it! 300
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 22/08/2025I’m unsurprised by your self-confidence and my scepticism. I guess we’ll have see if there is any meaningful change in #dingo management in the areas where they are most common. Re your last point, I did write that names can be important and you give a good example. 100
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 22/08/2025Perhaps it’s a welcome distraction from the much more important issue of quantifying and managing impacts (+ve and -ve). We’re all guilty of it occasionally, investing energy in a side issue rather than tackling the tough stuff! Ie How to improve real-world management in a broadly acceptable way? 221
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 22/08/2025Generally accepted that dingoes came to Australia with people rather than under their own steam. Not everyone agrees, of course! 110
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 22/08/2025An interesting read. 🧪 Names can matter but the ongoing debate about #dingoes specific identity has temporarily obscured another more important issue: managing negative impacts. History suggests a ‘new’ name wont protect #dingoes from Australians who identify them as #pests 2141
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 05/05/20251) Congratulations! 2) You can absolutely do Honours 3) Choose something you find interesting, where you will have a result to discuss. 000
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 26/03/2025Although introduced red #foxes do eat endemic #possums no one expected this in one of our cage traps this morning 1142
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 25/03/2025🧪 We were lucky enough to find these beautiful #snakes whilst checking our #possum traps this morning. I think they are ‘eastern small eyed snakes’ but happy to be corrected by any genuine herp-nerds. 1100
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 25/03/2025🧪 Wonderful to be in the field with some students this week. We are trapping #possums for a genetic study as well as seeking recaptures from our marked population. The view into the Sara River catchment isn’t bad either… 091
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 26/02/2025Apparently some people think that getting rid of specialist admin. staff and making scientists (who get paid more per hour than the former admin. staff) to do less science and more admin (poorly) is ‘efficiency’. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so ridiculous. Really, who would do that? #science 2120
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 20/02/2025I think they were saying that there is too much focus on limiting inputs to Govt services rather than focusing on the output that is required and delivered. 010
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 20/02/2025🧪 Sat next to a legend at dinner. 50yrs integrating #science into Australian #agriculture Their observations? 1) We need food, fibre AND nature too. 2) More investment is required in the public service, not less. 3) Government worries too much re inputs rather than the quality of outputs. 1150
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 20/02/2025Research samples!!! 🧪 7 #dingo heads and 7 #feralcats from a great trapper who supports our research by providing samples from programs he conducts for public and private land managers. These will be used by multiple researchers to inform future predator policy and management. 070
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 13/02/2025#wildlife managers. Ask yourself: 1) Are you qualified to make a decision? 2) Do you have the necessary data? 3) Do you have ‘authority’? Obtain all 3 by working with others and be great at what you do. 040
Guy Ballard @guyballard.bsky.social · 02/02/2025Without consistent funding, an end to short term contracts for our best young and mid-career researchers and support to implement best practice, we will absolutely continue to suffer economic and ecological loss from #invasive species. 0116