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41-480: 22°06′04″S 118°28′12″E  /  22.101°S 118.47°E  / -22.101; 118.47  ( Mulga Downs ) Mulga Downs Station is a pastoral lease that once operated as a sheep station but is currently operating as a cattle station in Western Australia . It is located 96 km (60 mi) north east of Tom Price and 167 km (104 mi) south west of Marble Bar in

82-424: A noxious weed . The adaptive and ecological variables seen in plants that go wild closely resemble those of animals. Feral populations of crop plants, along with hybridization between crop plants and their wild relatives, brings a risk that genetically engineered characteristics such as pesticide resistance could be transferred to weed plants. The unintended presence of genetically modified crop plants or of

123-410: A 25% stake in the property. Hancock promptly sold his share of Ashburton Downs Station, which he had inherited from his father, and focused his energy into improving Mulga Downs further. Lang Hancock , George's son, took over management of the property in 1935 at the age of 26 following the retirement of his father. He later discovered and started mining asbestos at Wittenoom Gorge and then discovered

164-625: A domestic state. Such observations can provide useful information for the stock breeders or other owners of the domesticated conspecifics (i.e. animals of the same species). American mustangs have been protected since 1971 in part due to their romance and connection to the history of the American West . A similar situation is that of the Danube Delta horse from the Letea Forest in the Danube Delta . The Romanian government

205-521: A dominant cockerel, several hens, and subordinate cocks. Sometimes the dominant cockerel is designated by a fight between cocks. A feral population can have a significant impact on an ecosystem by predation on vulnerable plants or animals, or by competition with indigenous species. Feral plants and animals constitute a significant share of invasive species , and can be a threat to endangered species . However, they may also replace species lost from an ecosystem on initial human arrival to an area, or increase

246-534: A feral state. However, in places where there are few predators, they may thrive, for example in the case of the Soay sheep . Both goats and sheep were sometimes intentionally released and allowed to go feral on island waypoints frequented by mariners, to serve as a ready food source. The dromedary camel, which has been domesticated for over 3,000 years, will also readily go feral. A substantial population of feral dromedaries, descended from pack animals that escaped in

287-483: Is a major focus of island restoration . A feral animal is one that has escaped from a domestic or captive status and is living more or less as a wild animal, or one that is descended from such animals. Other definitions include animals that have changed from being domesticated to being wild, natural, or untamed. Some common examples of animals with feral populations are horses , dogs , goats , cats , rabbits , camels , and pigs . Zoologists generally exclude from

328-544: Is common in India. Many feral animals can sometimes be captured at little cost and thus constitute a significant resource. Throughout most of Polynesia and Melanesia feral pigs constitute the primary sources of animal protein. Prior to the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 , American mustangs were routinely captured and sold for horsemeat. In Australia, feral goats, pigs, horses, and dromedaries are harvested for

369-466: Is considering the protection of the feral horses and transforming them into a tourist attraction, after it first approved the killing of the entire population. Due to the intervention of numerous organizations and widespread popular disapproval of the Romanians the horses have been saved, but still have an uncertain fate as their legal status is unclear and local people continue to claim the right to use

410-399: Is situated within the boundaries of the station. The Lockyer brothers owned the property in 1891, and transferred 3,000 sheep, 300 cattle and 300 horses from another of their properties, Cooya Pooya , to Mulga Downs for fattening the same year. Following the death of George Lockyer in 1893, the property was advertised in 1894. At this time it consisted of 830,000 acres (335,889 ha) and

451-582: The American west, they are called mustangs . Other isolated feral populations exist, including the Chincoteague Pony and the Banker horse . They are often referred to as " wild horses ", but this is a misnomer. There are truly "wild" horses that have never been domesticated, most notably Przewalski's horse . While the horse was originally indigenous to North America, the wild ancestor died out at

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492-846: The Department of Environment seeking approval to construct a 5,000,000 t (4,921,033-long-ton) iron ore operation from a 2.5 km (2 mi) long pit located about 3.5 km (2 mi) from the homestead. Pastoral lease In the Australian states and territories , leases constitute a land apportionment system created in the mid-19th century to facilitate the orderly division and sale of land to European colonists. Legislation ensured that certain Aboriginal rights were embodied in pastoral leases. However, according to historian Henry Reynolds , several colonial leaders ran roughshod over these rights, including Sir John Downer (when

533-526: The Northern Territory was governed by the colonial government of South Australia ); Sir John Forrest in the colony of Western Australia ; and Sir Samuel Griffith in Queensland . Pastoral leases exist in both Australian commonwealth law and state jurisdictions. They do not give all the rights that attach to freehold land: there are usually conditions which include a time period and

574-662: The Pilbara region. The property currently occupies an area of 385,000 ha (951,356 acres), including parts of the Fortescue River floodplain and the Chichester Range ; the homestead is situated near the northern boundary of the property about 50 km (31 mi) north of the ghost town of Wittenoom . Almost the entire area is covered by granted mining tenements or applications that are pending. The Cloud Break mine , operated by Fortescue Metals Group ,

615-605: The Union Bank of Australia for £6,000. It was then put up for auction in 1898, advertised as embracing nearly 1,000,000 acres (404,686 ha) with 100 mi (161 km) double frontage to the Fortescue River. At the time only 150,000 acres (60,703 ha) were stocked with 18,000 sheep and 300 horses. Frank Wittenoom acquired Mulga Downs in the early 1900s. Wittenoom was in partnership with S.L. Burges and they suffered many problems with dingos through 1908, to

656-496: The aurochs , were aggressive, similar to the modern Cape buffalo . Modern cattle, especially those raised on open range, are generally more docile, but when threatened can display aggression. Cattle, particularly those raised for beef , are often allowed to roam quite freely and have established long term independence in Australia , New Zealand and several Pacific Islands along with small populations of semi-feral animals roaming

697-414: The bird , reptile , and mammal populations. A local population of feral cats living in an urban area and using a common food source is sometimes called a feral cat colony . As feral cats multiply quickly, it is difficult to control their populations. Animal shelters attempt to adopt out feral cats, especially kittens, but often are overwhelmed with sheer numbers and euthanasia is used. In rural areas of

738-618: The iron ore deposits in the Hamersley Range . The station was isolated by floodwaters in 1947 when the station manager's son became ill. Lang Hancock rescued the boy in his plane, a Moth Minor , after the Royal Flying Doctor Service plane was thought to be too heavy to land safely. The property was still carrying sheep and producing wool in 1954, but later switched to cattle. In 1967 Mulga Downs encompassed an area of 750,000 acres (303,514 ha) and

779-399: The mallard duck , wild boar , the rock dove or pigeon, the red junglefowl ( Gallus gallus ) (ancestor of all chickens ), carp , and more recently salmon . Other examples of genetic swamping lie in the breeding history of dingoes . Dingoes are wild true dogs that will interbreed with dogs of other origins, thus leading to the proliferation of dingo hybrids and the possibility of

820-464: The 19th and early 20th centuries, thrives in the Australian interior today. Water buffalo run rampant in Western and Northern Australia. The Australian government encourages the hunting of feral water buffalo because of their large numbers. Cattle have been domesticated since the neolithic era, but can survive on open range for months or years with little or no supervision. Their ancestors,

861-637: The Pacific Islands. Pigs were introduced to the Melanesian and Polynesian regions by humans from several thousand to 500 years ago, and to the Americas within the past 500 years. In Australia, domesticated pigs escaped in the 18th century, and now cover 40 percent of Australia, with a population estimated at 30 million. While pigs are thought to have been brought to New Zealand by the original Polynesian settlers, this population had become extinct by

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902-505: The US, excessive numbers of feral cats are often shot. The " trap-neuter-return " method has been used in many locations as an alternative means of managing the feral cat population. The goat is one of the oldest domesticated creatures, yet readily returns to a feral state. Sheep are close contemporaries and cohorts of goats in the history of domestication, but the domestic sheep is vulnerable to predation and injury, and thus rarely seen in

943-557: The biodiversity of a human-altered area by being able to survive in it in ways local species cannot. Feral zebu have been reintroduced in Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in order to replace their ancestor, the aurochs . Animals of domestic origin sometimes can produce fertile hybrids with native, wild animals which leads to genetic pollution (not a clear term itself) in the naturally evolved wild gene pools, many times threatening rare species with extinction . Cases include

984-670: The end of the last ice age . In both Australia and the Americas, modern "wild" horses descended from domesticated horses brought by European explorers and settlers that escaped, spread, and thrived. Australia hosts a feral donkey population , as do the Virgin Islands and the American southwest. The pig has established feral populations worldwide, including in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, New Guinea and

1025-427: The export for their meat trade. At certain times, animals were sometimes deliberately left to go feral, typically on islands, in order to be later recovered for profit or food use for travellers (particularly sailors) at the end of a few years. Populations of feral animals present good sources for studies of population dynamics, and especially of ecology and behavior (ethology) in a wide state of species known mainly in

1066-492: The extinction of pure wild dingoes. Researches in Scotland have remarked on a similar phenomenon of the genetic mixing of feral domestic cats and their wild counterparts. Feral animals compete with domestic livestock, and may degrade fences, water sources, and vegetation (by overgrazing or introducing seeds of invasive plants). Although hotly disputed, some cite as an example the competition between feral horses and cattle in

1107-462: The feral category animals that were genuinely wild before they escaped from captivity: neither lions escaped from a zoo nor the white-tailed eagles re-introduced to the UK are regarded as feral. Domesticated plants that revert to wild are referred to as escaped, introduced, naturalized , or sometimes as feral crops. Individual plants are known as volunteers. Large numbers of escaped plants may become

1148-428: The lease has: Feral A feral (from Latin fera  'a wild beast') animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species , the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some cases, contributed to extinction of indigenous species . The removal of feral species

1189-545: The leaseholder and the affected native title group. Australian jurisdictions have land management legislation that affects the administration of pastoral leases. As of November 2023 the legislation and management arrangements are as follows: The statutory provisions of pastoral leases are covered by the New Zealand Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998 and the Land Act 1948 . The holder of

1230-419: The leases falls mainly to state and territory governments. Leases within state jurisdictions have variations as to applicability from state to state. Under Commonwealth of Australia law, applicable only in the Northern Territory , they are agreements that allow for the use of Crown land by farmers. Native title can co-exist with pastoral leases, and Indigenous land use agreements may be made between

1271-534: The modified traits in other plants as a result of cross-breeding is known as "adventitious presence (AP)". Certain familiar animals go feral easily and successfully, while others are much less inclined to wander and usually fail promptly outside domestication. Some species will detach readily from humans and pursue their own devices, but do not stray far or spread readily. Others depart and are gone, seeking out new territory or range to exploit and displaying active invasiveness. Whether they leave readily and venture far,

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1312-404: The point where it was thought the station had been abandoned. They switched from sheep to cattle in 1909 then switched back again in 1910, stocking the property with 2,700 sheep in 1911 and adding more fencing and wells. The property was in decline from 1902 to 1915 when Wittenoom employed George Hancock as the manager. Hancock turned the fortunes of Mulga Downs around and Wittenoom rewarded him with

1353-414: The southwestern United States and northern Mexico . Such cattle are variously called mavericks , scrubbers or cleanskins. Most free roaming cattle, however untamed, are generally too valuable not to be eventually rounded up and recovered in closely settled regions. Horses and donkeys , domesticated about 5000 BCE, are feral in open grasslands worldwide. In Australia , they are known as Brumbies ; in

1394-525: The subject of the documentary film, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill ) being particularly successful outside of their native habitats and adapting well to suburban environments. Wild cocks are derived from domestic chickens ( Gallus gallus domesticus ) who have returned to the wild. Like the red junglefowl (the closest wild relative of domestic chickens), wild cocks will take flight and roost in tall trees and bushes in order to avoid predators at night. Wild cocks typically form social groups composed of,

1435-533: The time of European colonization, and all feral pigs in New Zealand today are descendants of European stock. Many European wild boar populations are also partially descended from escaped domestic pigs and are thus feral animals within the native range of the ancestral species. Rock doves were formerly kept for their meat or more commonly as racing animals and have established feral populations in cities worldwide. Colonies of honey bees often escape into

1476-450: The type of activity permitted. According to Austrade , such leases cover about 44% of mainland Australia (3,380,000 km (1,310,000 sq mi)), mostly in arid and semi-arid regions and the tropical savannahs . They usually allow people to use the land for grazing traditional livestock, but more recently have been also used for non-traditional livestock (such as kangaroos or camels ), tourism and other activities. Management of

1517-539: The ultimate criterion for success is longevity . Persistence depends on their ability to establish themselves and reproduce reliably in the new environment . Neither the duration nor the intensity with which a species has been domesticated offers a useful correlation with its feral potential. The cat returns readily to a feral state if it has not been socialized when young. Feral cats, especially if left to proliferate, are frequently considered to be pests in both rural and urban areas, and may be blamed for devastating

1558-487: The western United States. Another example is of goats competing with cattle in Australia, or goats that degrade trees and vegetation in environmentally-stressed regions of Africa. Accidental crossbreeding by feral animals may result in harm to breeding programs of pedigreed animals; their presence may also excite domestic animals and push them to escape. Feral populations can also pass on transmissible infections to domestic herds. Loss to farmers by aggressive feral dog population

1599-470: The wild from managed apiaries when they swarm ; their behavior, however, is no different from their behavior in captivity, unless they breed with other feral honey bees of a different genetic stock, which may lead them to become more docile or more aggressive (see Africanized bees ). Large colonies of feral parrots are present in various parts of the world, with rose-ringed parakeets , monk parakeets and red-masked parakeets (the latter of which became

1640-407: Was carrying a flock of 3,200 sheep, 300 cattle and 230 horses. Improvements listed included having 30 wells, 70 mi (113 km) of fencing, and three secure sheep paddocks with numerous huts and sheds. The country was described as "first class mulga saltbush, cotton and blue bush, heavily grassed with weeping, silver plain, flinders and other grasses". In 1894 Burges and Sons sold Mulga Downs to

1681-429: Was still owned by Lang Hancock and his sister. In 2006 large bushfires burnt across the Pilbara for over a week with over 150,000 ha (370,658 acres) of bushland and rangeland in and around the station being consumed. Approximately 6,500 head of branded cattle and 1,200 feral cattle were grazing the property in 2009, which had an annual turn-off of 3,500 head. In 2013 Hancock Prospecting lodged documents with

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