They can easily kill shorebirds, short-tailed shearwaters, bandicoots and penguins. It is not uncommon to find up to 20 birds killed by a few dogs out for an evening entertainment. Man's best friend can turn out to be natures worst enemy. Once again, people need to be aware of the vulnerable species on beaches near their homes and the effect dogs can have on these populations. A weed is a plant in the wrong place, Thus a plant from Northern Tasmania such as the Tea tree Leptospermum laevigatum is a weed invading and crowding out local species further south in Swansea.
Plants escape from gardens or from dumped garden refuse.
Other species such as Gorse were introduced to create hedgerows. Gorse, African Boxthorn, Thistles, Briar Rose and Blackberry are the major weed problem along the coast here. A strategy for the control of weeds along the east coast is currently underway to ensure integrated approaches to weed removal as it is such a massive problem. Representatives from our group together with a range of other community groups and land managers make up the east coast weed strategy working group. This is an exciting developement and the only effective way so far to deal with our weed problem given our limited resources.