Friday 7th January 2005 we went to the CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Gunghalin. We were introduced to Dr. Lyn Hinds who is currently working on the reproductive trends in marsupials. Dr. Hind opened our minds to the real trends in the natural ecosystem surrounding us. For instance, the number one predator in Australia is a fox and the number one pest in Australia is the European rabbit. Her current project deals with genetically modified reproductive cells in rabbits. Due to the fact that alternative methods have failed, as with the myxamatosis incident, Dr. Hinds and many other scientific researchers are turning to genetic engineering in order to combat a problem which has the means to extremely endanger Australasian flora and fauna.

Dr. Hinds and her team at the CSIRO unit in Canberra are also working on mice. Thus far, zinc phosphide has been used for mice control. This is dangerous to people and other species. Fertility control of mice is yet another top priority in today’s society whereby many mouse plagues have hit south eastern Australia in recent years and have destroyed farmer’s crops. The scientists at CSIRO are also working on immunocontraceptives which are vaccines that provide an immune response against reproductive proteins involved in egg development. Such projects will need further experiments before they are seen in the real world.

We were also privileged to have been toured through the areas whereby endangered and extinct birds, mammals, reptiles are stuffed and preserved for future examination. We were able to see many beautiful and unique birds which nowadays cannot be found in many places. We were able to witness the procedure of preparing and stuffing an animal for storage in the freezers they have. It was very interesting indeed!

Zena Anjoul