BIOSECURITY ANIMAL SURVEYS AND AUTOPSY TRAINING

 Hi from Croker Island 

Recently the Commonwealth Government Biosecurity vets visited to conduct their annual survey of animals and deliver some autopsy training for the rangers and community members. This is done to pickup any diseases entering our northern borders before they progresses too far south. Diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease, African Swine Disease or Lumpy Skin Disease are all in Indonesian. If they were to establish themselves in Australia this would result in huge losses for our primary industries. 

The animal survey is conducted in a helicopter due to the lack of road access to many areas along our remote northern coastline. They have a platform shooter onboard who shoots the animals - at Croker Island these are usually feral pigs. Flying over the island they look for some pigs that can be shot in an open area where the helicopter can land nearby. The pilot has to position the helicopter so the shooter can get safe shots away. Below they were able to shoot about 5 small pigs close together and then land nearby.

Many community members hunt and eat pigs - hence they were invited to attend as they are our eyes and hears. 

Once the rangers and community members have arrived by vehicle the vet begins cutting open the pigs explaining what to look for. They also take numerous pathology samples from each pig for later testing. 

The vet examines each organ explaining what is normal and what to look for. 

Apart from some worms (see below) these pigs had no obvious issues of concern. The pathology tests would later tells us more. Japanese Encephalitis is one focus diseases at the moment. 

We have had a busy time with helicopters lately - fire work, biosecurity vets and now a weed survey. Earlier this year we discovered Siam Weed on Croker Island. Some weed experts say that Siam is one of the worst weeds on the planet. The NT Government visited recently to conduct an aerial survey. Siam is flowering at the moment and therefore is much easier to see from above. The short video below shows the take off of one of the survey flights. 

Sadly, we found a heap more Siam. The weeds officer referred to it as the 'mother load'. Treating this area has been the main focus of our work this last week. Below is drone photo of a Garngi ranger treating a patch of Siam. Notice the white flowers. These flowers will have viable seed in the near future - making this high priority work.