Large Herbivorous Mammals: Exotic Species in Northern Australia

Abstract

Northern Australia lacks an extant, diverse fauna independent, or regulated by a mechanism of food limitaof native, large herbivorous mammals. The native large tion unlikely to occur among species in their native habimammal fauna became extinct during the Pleistocene, and tats. Control of these populations is central to the has been replaced by introduced ungulates during the past conservation of northern Australian savannas, and may be 150 years. The introduced fauna is as species rich as many best achieved by the introduction of pathogens. native tropical savanna megafaunas. Carrying capacities for the introduced species are greater than would be expected from their body sizes, and greater than the species achieve