Aussie snakes wreak US havoc
From Aparna H. Kumar in Washington
September 29, 2004
THE United States will spend $US104 million ($146 million) over the next five years to wipe out Australia's brown tree snake on its North Pacific islands.
The US House of Representatives today authorised the spending to eradicate the voracious viper that has wreaked ecological havoc in Guam and is threatening Hawaii and neighbouring islands.
The Bill authorising the action will now go to the Senate. It calls the snakes "a growing threat to the biodiversity, economy and human health" in the region.
It also calls for new quarantine protocols in the next two years for travellers, baggage and cargo originating in Guam to prevent the spread of the species.
"It is time we address this issue head-on with the goal of eradication, not simply control," said co-sponsor Delegate Madeleine Bordallo, a Democrat from Guam and a non-voting member of the House.
The mildly venomous snake was probably introduced to Guam in the 1940s or 1950s as a stowaway aboard a military cargo ship from the South Pacific. The species is native to Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Australia.
Some snakes have already hitched rides on aircraft and cargo ships to Hawaii, and could spread to the nearby Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and even the mainland United States.
The brown tree snake kills by wrapping itself around its prey and injecting venom by chewing.
Free from natural predators, the snakes have nearly wiped out the native forest birds of Guam, many unique to the island. They also eat lizards, small mammals and eggs.
The nocturnal snakes often invade homes, biting a number of sleeping residents each year. While the bites often require medical treatment, they have not been fatal.
The snakes have also caused more than 1200 power outages in Guam since 1978 by crawling onto electrical lines at night, according to the US Geological Survey.
The Bill allows for a committee drawn from federal and state agencies, headed by the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, to fund and co-ordinate control and eradication efforts through 2010.
Agence France-Presse
From Aparna H. Kumar in Washington
September 29, 2004
THE United States will spend $US104 million ($146 million) over the next five years to wipe out Australia's brown tree snake on its North Pacific islands.
The US House of Representatives today authorised the spending to eradicate the voracious viper that has wreaked ecological havoc in Guam and is threatening Hawaii and neighbouring islands.
The Bill authorising the action will now go to the Senate. It calls the snakes "a growing threat to the biodiversity, economy and human health" in the region.
It also calls for new quarantine protocols in the next two years for travellers, baggage and cargo originating in Guam to prevent the spread of the species.
"It is time we address this issue head-on with the goal of eradication, not simply control," said co-sponsor Delegate Madeleine Bordallo, a Democrat from Guam and a non-voting member of the House.
The mildly venomous snake was probably introduced to Guam in the 1940s or 1950s as a stowaway aboard a military cargo ship from the South Pacific. The species is native to Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Australia.
Some snakes have already hitched rides on aircraft and cargo ships to Hawaii, and could spread to the nearby Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and even the mainland United States.
The brown tree snake kills by wrapping itself around its prey and injecting venom by chewing.
Free from natural predators, the snakes have nearly wiped out the native forest birds of Guam, many unique to the island. They also eat lizards, small mammals and eggs.
The nocturnal snakes often invade homes, biting a number of sleeping residents each year. While the bites often require medical treatment, they have not been fatal.
The snakes have also caused more than 1200 power outages in Guam since 1978 by crawling onto electrical lines at night, according to the US Geological Survey.
The Bill allows for a committee drawn from federal and state agencies, headed by the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, to fund and co-ordinate control and eradication efforts through 2010.
Agence France-Presse
