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National reconciliation week: Be brave. Make Change. SPECIAL: SORRY DAY 2022
TOMINGLEY’S Motocross kids CEMETERY NEEDS fly high as state SOME TLC STORY: PAGE 5 titles loom • SPORT
Indian Mynas a major problem h Narromine i Star t fi The firstt reported in our in March 10 edition that Trangie was facing losing its only doctor.
Trangie doctor set to stay By SHARON BONTHUYS TRANGIE’S doctor is set to stay after reaching an agreement with the Western NSW Local Health District. Narromine Shire Mayor, Cr Craig Davies, told the Narromine Star on May 31 that Dr Ashraf Labib had signed a new contract with the health district. As previously reported in the Narromine Star, the doctor’s contract was due to end on June 30. Dr Labib has worked in the community for 18 years. A health district spokesperson had previously advised in March that discussions had been entered into about Dr Labib’s contract as a General Practitioner Visiting Medical Officer providing services to Trangie Multipurpose Health Service. Cr Davies said he was pleased to learn that the contract issue had been resolved and that Trangie would continue to have a doctor living and working locally.
Left, Damien Sallustio with a trap. Above, trapped Indian Mynas ready to be humanely euthanised. PHOTOS: MARGARET
By SHARON BONTHUYS TUESDAY, May 31, was World Parrot Day and of the 56 species of parrot found in Australia, 12 are considered endangered or critically endangered. Saving our parrots, other native birds and small wildlife species from being killed by invasive pests is high on the agenda for a new action group in the central west NSW. With 258 members based across the central west, including the Narromine Shire, the Dubbo Indian Myna Control Program is on a mission to eradicate invasive pests such as mynas, starlings, sparrows and blackbirds. The mynas have been spotted at various locations in the Narromine Shire, and that’s bad news for local bird and wildlife populations, said group coordinator Damien Sallustio. Hailing from Wongarbon, Mr Sallustio started the group in March 2022 after battling the birds on his property since 2019. “I reported seeing a pair of Indian mynas in Wongarbon in 2019,” he said. “Then there were about 50 of them. Dubbo has had them for several years and it’s getting worse. “I’m on half an acre at Wongarbon. I’ve witnessed [Indian mynas] riding on the backs of crested pigeons, pecking at their heads and eyes. I also
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keep birds and I’ve taken a video of [the mynas] trying to attack my birds through the mesh,” he said. The NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPIE) website states the common Indian myna, an introduced species, is often con-
fused with the native noisy myna as both have yellow beaks and eye patches. Indian mynas have “a brown body, glossy black head, neck and upper breast and distinctive white patches on their wings that are clearly visible in fl ight,” the
PestSmart website states. However, “both species [of myna] aggressively compete with native fauna for nesting sites, reducing habitat for native birds. They threaten other birds, often mobbing them in large groups. They evict birds and mammals such as sugar gliders from their tree-hollow nests,” the DPIE website states. Mr Sallustio believes the wider community does not fully understand how invasive the Indian Mynas are to local native birdlife and wildlife. “I started trapping mynas on my property and contacted Margaret McDonald for help,” he said. Ms McDonald is president of the Dubbo Environment Group (DEG) which has been running for two and a half years. “We advocate for the environment locally and Australia-wide, and anything to do with the environment and climate change,” she said, indicating that her group came on board when other environmental groups would not help Mr Sallustio. DEG began looking for grants to source traps, and received support from NSW Local Land Services (LLS) Continued page 2
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