Environmental threats
Historic fig trees vandalised in Mosman
Mosman council was informed on Monday that a Balmoral resident had witnessed someone drilling into a fig tree along the Balmoral foreshore.
- by Laura Chung
Latest
Ban on the horizon for toxic gas used in plastic
Vinyl chloride was one of the toxic materials that contaminated East Palestine after a freight train derailed. The disaster was “100 per cent preventable”.
- by Farrah Tomazin
Opinion
Marine life
I start my first job as the world careers and threatens what enriches my life
Bad news about the Great Barrier Reef is a punch in the gut from which I am still reeling.
- by Adam Gottschalk
Thousands of rainbow lorikeets are unable to fly and vets don’t know why
Paralysed lorikeets have been found across northern NSW, appearing unbalanced and sometimes dying because they are unable to breathe.
- by Laura Chung
The venomous invader threatening koalas and platypuses
The invasive pests can injure and kill Australian wildlife, particularly defenceless hatchlings, the federal Environment Department has told a parliamentary inquiry.
- by Mike Foley
Fire ant spread to Tasmania sparks health warning
Experts warn hospitalisations and deaths due to stinging insects are likely to significantly increase if fire ants become endemic in Australia, adding to pressure on the medical system.
- by Mike Foley
Invasion is everyone’s war when little fire ants are marching south
The discovery of an imported nest south of the Queensland border makes it vital that the people of northern NSW learn how to identify the invaders.
- by The Herald's View
‘We can’t save everything’: Record number of species listed as threatened
About 144 animals, plants and ecological communities were added to the list last year, five times more than the yearly average and double the previous record year set in 2009.
- by Laura Chung
Australia ‘running out of time’ to eradicate fire ants, experts warn
The Invasive Species Council says the venomous ants are becoming increasingly difficult to contain.
- by Mike Foley
Updated
Animals
Businesses in lockdown as fire ants found further south in NSW
The red ant nest has been eradicated, and the ants are no longer considered a risk to the community living in the immediate area.
- by Sarah McPhee and Amber Schultz
Floating ‘rafts’ of deadly fire ants pose growing threat to NSW
Venomous fire ants caught in Queensland floodwaters are forming living rafts that can quickly travel long distances, raising the threat of more incursions into NSW.
- by Mike Foley