Cull call for myna disaster

A GOLD Coast City councillor has called for the mass cull of common or Indian myna birds, a species dubbed “the cane toads of the sky’’.

An explosion in the local population of the birds, an introduced species that attacks and drives away native birds, has residents in such a flap that Robina councillor Hermann Vorster said he would personally distribute traps.

It is the second avian dilemma for the council this week after a flock of geese at Oxenford lead to debate about whether the 50 geese and ducks should be relocated or left alone.

Cr Vorster said he would deliver traps to residents at Robina and Varsity Lakes.

He said the chocolate coloured mynas were a growing problem that could harm the city’s reputation as a bird watchers’ paradise.

“These birds are the cane toads of the sky and have entered the suburbs in plague proportions,” he said.

“I want to see them become the less-than-common myna because while they are myna birds, they are causing a major problem.”

Cr Vorster said he had been contacted by residents who had noticed a sharp decline in native birds and an increase in mynas.

Council traps can contain three birds which, once captured, are taken to Currumbin Sanctuary to be euthanised.

Currumbin Sanctuary head vet Dr Michael Pyne backed the cull plan and said the mynas had been devastating for the environment.

“They are highly invasive ... if nothing is done they could really take over, so it is important the community get behind this,” he said.