World first in yellow ant eradication program in Cairns

A Cairns team is celebrating a world-first with the eradication of invasive yellow crazy ants from a record area of land.

The Wet Tropics Management Authority yellow crazy ants eradication program has seen a record 365 hectares of land eradicated of yellow crazy ants in a single treatment, which is the largest area in the world. Wet Tropics Management Authority yellow crazy ants eradication project manager Lucy Karger and acting technical team leader Jules Seabright have seen the eradication of the invasive species in residential blocks, agricultural land and World Heritage rainforest south of Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

A Cairns team is celebrating a world-first with the eradication of invasive yellow crazy ants from a record area of land.

The ants, one of the hundred worst invasive species in the world, were cleared from more than 365ha of land, more than four times the previous record.

The areas now free of them include sections of Wet Tropics World Heritage rainforest, and 615 homes in Bentley Park.

The Wet Tropics Management Authority yellow crazy ants eradication program has seen a record 365 hectares of land eradicated of yellow crazy ants in a single treatment, which is the largest area in the world. Wet Tropics Management Authority yellow crazy ants eradication project manager Lucy Karger and acting technical team leader Jules Seabright have seen the eradication of the invasive species in residential blocks, agricultural land and World Heritage rainforest south of Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

Wet Tropics Management Authority Yellow Crazy Ant Eradication Program Manager Lucy Karger said community involvement was key to the team’s success.

“Because we needed the community and stakeholder support, we engaged everyone who was involved, or affected by yellow crazy ants. And we brought them along through the journey,” she said.

The journey involved field teams manually dropping a sickly sweet mixture of jam and cat food at 5m intervals in often steep, forest-covered mountain terrain.

Ants are attracted to the mixture and their presence in exact locations was then recorded using GPS co-ordinates.

They spray acid to defend themselves or to kill prey, which can be painful to children, fatal to small animals like frogs and caterpillars and destructive to native plants and vital agriculture like sugar cane.

Specially trained dogs were also used to sniff out the unwelcome guests.

When the authority’s team were satisfied ants were present in an area, they deployed drones and helicopters armed with the insecticide AntOff to kill the insects.

Wet Tropics Management Authority yellow crazy ants eradication project acting monitoring team supervisor Rachel Anderson inspects the ant nest tubes in the project's secure facility. Picture: Brendan Radke

Crazy yellow ants secrete acid when threatened or in order to subdue prey. Photo: Alan Henderson, Wet Tropics Management Authority.

Ms Karger said she was hopeful teams in other areas of the state which were experiencing infestations, such as Townsville, could learn from the Wet Tropics Management Authority Program’s successes.

Environment Minister Leanne Linard called on the community to be vigilant despite the program’s success.

“We have an obligation to preserve this living museum of flora and fauna for future generations, for its rich First Nations cultural heritage and its contribution to a resilient tourism industry that generates millions of dollars each year for the Far North economy,” Ms Linard said.

“Left untreated, yellow crazy ants can spread quickly, devastating our native plants and animals, agriculture, and quality of life. It is up to all Queenslanders to be vigilant to combat this pest.”

Of the total area remaining under management in the Wet Tropics, only 37 per cent is left requiring large scale treatment.

Originally published as World first in yellow ant eradication program in Cairns