For ten years I was Steve Irwin’s photographer of choice.
I’ve been told that he preferred my company in what could be at times be very dangerous situations, because I worked quickly and didn’t make small talk.
A couple of years before the stingray killed him, I was working with Steve on a television commercial for Fedex in Queensland, waiting for the sun to be in the right place, when Steve explained to me the theory of the Apex Predator.
That Apex Predator, Steve explained, is a predator at the top of a food chain and has no natural predators. Apex Predators affect prey species' population dynamics and the populations of other predators, both in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
Apex predators can have profound effects on ecosystems, as they regulate disease and maintain biodiversity.
“Crocs” said Steve “are the Apex predators around here. If a top predator is in place, then an ecosystem will be in bloody good shape.”
The problem here, in Pittwater, as in much of urban Australia, is that we urban dwellers have become those Top Predators.
This climb to the Top has not always been intentional, of course. Many of us have come, temporarily or permanently, to live in places which are currently managed by Councils, such as the Northern Beaches Council, attracted by the beauty of the bush and the beaches, to breathe the good air; and some of us have come to simply feel close to nature.
But, of course, there are limits to how “natural” we might prefer that nature to be and perhaps a relevant question to ask is: which part of that bush do we love?
Is it the wild part, that part which most resembles, for example, the bush that existed before an English exploratory mission sailed up the coast from Sydney harbour in 1789 and turned left at what we now call Barrenjoey?
Or is it the now-fragmented bush we find in public Reserves which reveals its beauty only if we give it the time and opportunity to do so?
News reports show that in 1993 the few surviving members of a koala population which had been decimated by predatory domestic dogs and loss of food trees (many of which had been cleared to improve residents’ views) were finally removed from McKay Reserve in Palm Beach in the interests “of their own safety”.
Similarly, the call of the Whistling Kite, which once rode the updrafts above McKay Reserve and Kiddies Corner, has not been heard for years.
A fair question one might ask could be how safe should this proximity to nature be encouraged and at what expense to The Bush? A contemporary answer to this question might be found in the observation of a current situation in Ruskin Rowe, Avalon, where Council’s intention is to, at great expense to ratepayers, complete the destruction and removal of a row of magnificent trees, following up the complaint of a person whose motor vehicle was damaged by a falling branch. One of the trees shows evidence of previous habitation by the Powerful Owl.
To conclude, I would mention Northern Beaches Council’s current intention is to conduct a Dogs Off Leash Trial in Governor Philip Park and North Palm Beach in the shadow of the magnificent Barrenjoey headland, which location is undeniably a vital ecological habitat and documented home to endangered species of rich biodiversity, including reptiles, turtles, penguins, swamp wallabies and seals.
To oppose Council’s proposal is not to be ‘anti dog’, which seems to be the driving argument of the dog lobby, but rather exposes a shallow, singular view of the natural world in general and a misreading of the role of the Apex Predator.
Below, I have attached an photograph, taken by myself, of a young Powerful Owl, an endangered and protected species, which had suffered an attack by an untethered dog in Avalon and rescued by an unpaid local volunteer, who rushed it to Taronga Park Veterinary Clinic, where it failed to make it through the night.
The vertical marks visible on the top of the adolescent owl’s head are holes resulting from the dog’s teeth penetrating the owl’s skull.
It’s perhaps too easy to ask if it isn’t we who have holes in our heads to not stand up in opposition to this latest Council proposal, but I have no doubt that Steve Irwin would have something to say about it, if he was still with us.
Yours
A Dad from A Pittwater Family of Dog Owners & Dog Lovers
