So-called Marsupial Destruction Acts were in force in Queensland horn I877 to 1930. The Acts were administered by District Boards which paid bonuses (bounties on presentation of scalps) and kept annual records of their activities. During that period over 27 million macropods and bandicoots, as well as dingoes and foxes (which were included under the Acts) were destroyed. The cost to Queensland was over £1,187,000 in bonuses paid by the boards which included £349,000 in government subsidies. The annual reports on these Acts, which do not always provide information on individual boards, provide essentially reliable data reflecting the number of animals in existence. it is seen that despite the large number of pests destroyer, the original, purpose of Acts was not achieved in that the larger marsupials and the dingo successfully proliferated; no effect on fox numbers was discernible, the numbers of some medium-sized species remained static, me smaller species declined.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Research-Article|
March 17 2014
Marsupial destruction in Queensland 1877-1930
Frances Hrdina
Frances Hrdina
1
Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage, P.O. Box 42, Kenmore, Queensland 4070
Search for other works by this author on:
Australian Zoologist (1997) 30 (3): 272–286.
Citation
Frances Hrdina; Marsupial destruction in Queensland 1877-1930. Australian Zoologist 1 March 1997; 30 (3): 272–286. doi: https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.1997.003
Download citation file:

How do RZS NSW members access the full text papers?
If you are a current RZS NSW member (with publications), please access the full text of papers by visiting https://www.rzsnsw.org.au/member-centre/publications (you will be asked to log in to RZS NSW). Do not log in at the top of this current page for access.
Citing articles via
An epidemiologic model of koi herpesvirus (KHV) biocontrol for carp in Australia
Joy A. Becker, Michael P. Ward, Paul M. Hick
Continuous wildlife monitoring using blimps as an aerial platform: a case study observing marine megafauna
Kye Adams, Allison Broad, David Ruiz-García, Andrew R. Davis
The discovery of the remains of the last Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus)
Robert N. Paddle, Kathryn M. Medlock
A review of the taxonomy and distribution of Australia’s endemic Calyptorhynchinae black cockatoos
Denis A Saunders, Geoffrey Pickup
A re-analysis of the taxonomy of yellow-tailed cockatoos within the genus Zanda
Denis A Saunders, Geoffrey Pickup