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> Our research didn’t evaluate the impact of donkey-dug wells in arid Australia. But Australia is home to most of the world’s feral donkeys, and it’s likely the
by Jedd 3y ago
> Our research didn’t evaluate the impact of donkey-dug wells in arid Australia. But Australia is home to most of the world’s feral donkeys, and it’s likely their wells support wildlife in similar ways.
Definitely possible, but not sure on likelihood - the water table in the arid parts of Australia is going to be pretty deep. TFA cited 4m deep holes made by modern wombats - but the holes they dig tend to be narrow, as their burrows are defensive - so the claim made:
> In Australia, for example, a pair of common wombats were recently documented digging a 4m-deep well, which was used by numerous species, such as wallabies, emus, goannas and various birds, during a severe drought.
... is hard to reconcile.
A 4 metre deep standing water table would mean most deep-rooted trees, and many tougher smaller plants (eg comfrey, vetiver, maybe grasses like lucerne/alfalfa) would sustain through drought, and that's clearly not the case.
I'm sure there's some benefit to native wildlife to have these introduced animals dig and expose water, but I'm sure the damage they cause outweighs it.
- dizhn 3y agoThe section you quoted at the top just isn't the same without it's title.
- aaron695 3y ago[dead]
- justrealist 3y agoIt's about digging in intermittently wet streambeds (where the water is likely very close to the surface for a long time after the stream dries), not the middle of the desert.
- AnotherGoodName 3y agoI think the whole article is biased and far too targeted to trying to make a case not to cull invasive species, particularly in Australia. Kangaroos dig wells. The arguments made here that somehow with a very long bow you could justify some benefits from these non-native species but they have to pretend that those benefits don't already exist from native species to do this.