A lot of native Australian animals make extremely desirable pets. Others have great potential as pest controllers. Unfortunately, their potential as pets and pest controllers is not being utilised due to government policy designed to "save" them. However, when the policy eventually changes, a lucrative industry will emerge that will be good for both business and the environment.

 The Blue-tongue Lizard is one animal suited to a life of a pet. In foreign countries, the Blue-tongues are considered the Rolls Royce’s of the pet lizard world. They have gentle personalities, longevity and undemanding husbandry. Even the intimidating tongue adds to the appeal. Such is their desirability, a captive-bred juvenile sells for around US$200.

Cockatoos also make great pets. The Cocky is a bird of tremendous expression; both with its head feathers and vocal chords. As they are able to mimic human words, they are often trained to make lewd requests of female visitors. When making the request, the Cocky may have his feathers raised to give an image of a cheeky bastard. When the shocked lady demands an explanation, the Cocky may lower the feathers in an act of contrition.

The Tasmanian Devil is another animal that may one day take the place of the cat or dog in the family home. Prior to their ownership being outlawed, a few Australians had decided to share a life with them. As long as they were treated with kindness, they showed that they were comfortable being put on a leash and taken for a walk.

As well as having great potential as a pet, the Devil has great potential as a controller of feral cats, dogs, and foxes. When their potential is realised, all the government money that is currently being used on poisoining programs can instead be redirected to breeding Devils, and re-populating them in mainland habitats.

The potential of the Devil as a pest controller is seen in Tasmania. Due to the Devil, the island state has not lost a single mammal, except the Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger), since colonisation. As the Devil is primarily a scavenger, it follows the trails of other predators as they hunt. It then uses its immensely powerful jaws to chase the predator off their kills. For this reason, the fox has never been able to take hold in Tasmania. Not only were they chased off kills, their pups were left dens where the Devil could sniff them out and devour them. As for cats, their population density in Tasmania is by far the lowest over all Australian states. If cats didn't have urban homes as their sanctuary, it would be reasonable to assume that the Devil would eventually eradicate them from Tasmania completely. (The cat was probably introduced to Australia 3,000 years ago at a similar time to the Dingo. It has been suggested that it never took hold because, until 500 years ago, the mainland had significant Devil populations. )

At present, there is opposition to reintroducing the Devil to mainland Australian ecosystems, and to raising them as pets. Part of the opposition comes from the poisoning industry that wants to retain its funding. Obviously, the poisoning industry has its own interests to protect. In addition to the poisoning industry, there exists ideological opposition in some environmental circles. The problem is that some environmentalists believe that native animals are weak creatures that can only survive when locked up in zoo-like reserves. It is an ideological thinking that is reminiscent of the mid-19th century policy of locking up Aborigines in reserves, and then giving a white "protector." It is also an ideological thinking that motivated the 1,833 km long mile long "rabbit-proof" fence that aimed to keep rabbits out of Western Australia.

Although some "environmentalists" might argue otherwise, as the Tasmanian ecosystem shows, Australian natives are not weak, and don't need saving by being locked up in reserves. The natives' main obstacle is humans preventing them from competing on an even playing field. For example, the cat’s cohabitation with humans is a big asset. If the cat is ever eradicated from a natural ecosystem, then it has urban sanctuary where it can recolonise from. Likewise, if an isolated population of cats loses its genetic diversity, breeding with family pets infuses fresh genes. If it were not for human interference, the Devil would eventually eradicate cats from natural ecosystems. Furthermore, if humans showed the same affection for the Devil that they lavish upon cats, then the Devil could replace cats in urban areas as well. Just as human support for cats results in an opportunity cost for the Devil, it also makes life difficult for herbivores. Although small marsupials have evolved great agility to avoid the slow and cumbersome Devils, they have not evolved to evade agile cats ambushing them from trees.

Fortunately, some sections of the environmental movement are evolving their ideology. The 1,833 km rabbit-proof fence designed to "save" Western Australian ecosystems now stands as a monument to stupidity. In hindsight, people now realise that there was no way it was ever going to keep out the single pregnant female that was going to make it obsolete. Although funding is still being made available for "protective" fences, it is becoming increasingly difficult to persuade people that it is doing any good. Poisoning is also being criticised as it doesn't overcome the “vacuum effect”. Once a pest is removed from a region, more just migrate in. There are also some scientists who can see the problems of the genocidal viruses being developed to eradicate pests like a silver bullet. As problems with myxomatosis show, rapid removal of pests causes problems, and more problems are caused when the species eventually recovers, and is immune to the viral solution.

With the failure of the "protectionist" psychology, some academics are proposing helping the environment take care of itself. One such academic is Professor Chris Johnson from James Cook University. Professor Johnson has argued in favour of reintroducing Dingos, Quolls and the Devils to the various mainland ecosystems that humans have eradicated them from. Although he hasn’t field research with Devils to back up his proposal, he has some research with Dingoes. He has found that in places where Dingoes are rare or absent, and foxes and cats are abundant, 50 per cent of ground-living mammals have vanished. Where Dingoes remain abundant, the rate of local disappearance is 10 per cent or less. The main premise behind Johnson’s work is that native herbivores have evolved defences against native predators that they don't have against the introduced varieties. As a consequence, they can strike a balance in a way they can't with foxes or cats. Although the native predators are not as effecient hunters as foxes and cats, they emerge dominant as they are physically stronger, and win any battle over a caracass. For example, a 10kg Devil has the same biting pressure as a 40kg dog. Paleontologist Stephen Wroe has analysed how the Devil would go in a one-on-one battle against a fox and found:

"In one-to-one situations, our results suggest that the devil would easily prevail and even give dingoes [wild dogs] a run for their money."

After more voices join Professor Johnson, government policy will eventually change. Native animals will then be given a chance as pets, and as pest controllers. When that occurs, pet shops and professional breeders will be at the forefront of lucrative industry. Best of all, it will be an industry that will ensure Australia's ecological biodiversity remains strong for a considerable time yet.

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