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Mynah - our illegal immigrant
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| Written by Forum Homini |
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- by Norman Mann
On many occasions I have been asked, in my capacity of a qualified game guide, about the Indian Mynah, who, according to most people have become the local 'pest' in the bird world. I find this quite fascinating, as I have witnessed many different aspects of 'employment' which this particular bird species has adopted in order to balance out nature. Let me explain.
The Indian Mynah was originally introduced to South Africa in the 1900's as a caged pet - predominantly for their ability to talk, their aesthetic qualities like the yellow stripe drawn through their eye and alertness. Some Mynahs escaped and now breed prolifically - initially in the KZN area - but they have infiltrated most of our urban areas.
The Indian Mynah is possibly one of the most persecuted bird species - even by bird lovers. They have been shot at and nests destroyed, mainly because they have chased away all indigenous garden birds. However, there is another side to this story and quite amazing it is!
Man - having interfered with the environment over many years with pesticides, insecticides and dips - has eradicated indigenous birds that fulfil a specific need. This creates a vacuum for other species of birds, whether indigenous or exotic, to fill that gap. And that's exactly what our Indian Mynahs have done.
For example, in many areas the Red Billed Oxpecker and Yellow Billed Oxpecker were widely distributed and their main job was to clean the ticks and fleas off cattle. Once livestock farmers begun the dipping process to protect their animals against insects, they inadvertently eradicated the Oxbill Peckers from most areas.
Having done numerous walks in this particular area, where Forum Homini is situated, I have recently noticed Indian Mynahs actually riding on the back of Impalas and cleaning the parasites off the animals!
I have also witnessed Indian Mynahs following animals in the grass to catch insects that the Impalas disturb whilst walking through the veld. This is a perfect example of the environment trying to bring itself back into balance and it just so happens that the Indian Mynahs fill this vacuum.
So... my take on the Indian Mynahs is that we should treat this occurence as a waterbed in management and always keep front of mind that for every action there will be an opposite and equal reaction somewhere else in the environment.
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