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<br /> *endemic - adj, refers to plants or animals, and sometimes customs and diseases, native to a
<br /> particular country, nation or region. (Australian example: platypus; Floridian example: Florida panther)
<br /> *feral - adj, refers to any non-native animal that has escaped from captivity and established self-
<br /> sustaining population independent of humans. In Australia, wild horses, pigs and cats are feral, while
<br /> foxes and rabbits are not as these latter two animals were deliberately released to establish wild
<br /> populations. However, "feral" is now generally applied to any non-native animal that causes serious
<br /> damage to human interests.
<br /> Dingoes are a good example of Australian feral animals. They were originally brought to Australia
<br /> by Asian seafarers 3,500 or more years ago. Aboriginal people used dingoes for food, companions,
<br /> hunting aids and bed warmers, but many dingoes escaped into the wild and disrupted the ecology by
<br /> killing native wildlife.
<br /> Domestic dogs were brought to Australia by Europeans in 1788 and their release into the wild has
<br /> continued since. Dingoes and other wild dogs are widely distributed throughout the country and are
<br /> present in most environments. (The dingo is increasingly crossbreeding with the domestic dog.)
<br /> In the U.S., cats and hogs are among the worst feral pests. In large part due to irresponsible pet
<br /> owners, tens of millions of cats live wild in our country, killing hundreds of millions of songbirds, reptiles
<br /> and mammals. Feral hogs tear up landscapes and vegetation and eat native plants and animals.
<br /> *exotic - adj. refers to any organism (either tame or wild) that is outside its natural range. It
<br /> may be an animal that has been introduced from another country, or it may be an animal that has been
<br /> translocated to another part of a country. For example, kookaburras have been introduced to south-west
<br /> Western Australia. Some synonyms of exotic, in the context used above, are non-native and introduced.
<br /> *invasive - adj. refers to any organisms (usually transported by humans), which successfully
<br /> establish themselves in, and then overcome, otherwise intact, pre-existing native ecosystems. Invasive
<br /> species area major threat to biodiversity (the collected wealth of the world's species of plants, animals
<br /> and other organisms) as well as to agriculture and other human interests.
<br /> Invasive creatures in Florida include many species of retiles and fish, as well as the nutria (a large
<br /> South American rodent) and fire ants. According to Nationa/Geographic, Florida spends million of
<br /> dollars annually just to control invasive plants, such as Australian melaleuca! Synonym for invasive: alien.
<br /> *extinct - adj. no longer in existence. Since 1788, 27 native Australian mammalians species, along
<br /> with 23 bird and four frog species or subspecies, are thought to have become extinct. One example of
<br /> extinnction is the thylacine, a.k.a. Tasmanian tiger, a dog-like marsupial. The thylacine disappeared from
<br /> the mainland with the introduction of dingoes about 3,500 years ago and was then hunted to extinction
<br /> in Tasmania. The last known specimen died in 1936.
<br /> *species - n, category in the classification of living organisms consisting of similar individuals that
<br /> can produce fertile offspring only when they mate within their group. Related species make up a genus;
<br /> related genera make up a family; related families make up an order; related orders make up a subclass;
<br /> related subclasses make up a class; related classes make up a subphylum; related subphyla make up a
<br /> phylum; related phyla make up a kingdom.
<br /> *amphibian - n. any of a class of cold-blooded, scaleless vertebrates. Amphibians include frogs,
<br /> toads, newts and salamanders, which usually begin life in the water as tadpoles with gills and later
<br /> develop lungs. Most amphibians live both on land and in water. Frogs, which are different than toads, are
<br /> the only group of amphibians found naturally in Australia. In 1935, in a glaring ecological blunder by
<br /> humans, the cane toad was introduced to the state of Queensland to eat beetles that damaged sugar
<br /> cane. However, the toads did not control the beetles and ate almost any small creatures they could
<br /> catch. Just as disastrous, its eggs, tadpoles and adults are all poisonous, and many native animals and
<br /> domestic pets have died after mouthing or eating cane toads.
<br /> *bird - n. any of a class of egg-laying, feathered vertebrate with a beak, two wings, and two feet,
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