Australia's Cactus Attack

#Geography #Australia #Cactus
In the early 1900s, Australia was in the grips of a cactus epidemic. The prickly pear cactus was covering an area the size of the Great Britain, or the state of Oregon. Farms were strangled and other plants crushed beneath the weight of a sea of thorny cladodes.
Until the Cactoblastis cactorum moth, another introduced species, miraculously destroyed most of the cactus in less than a decade.
This is a fascinating story of introduced speceies, poison guns, and before-and-after photos!
More about CAM photosynthesis:
• CAM PLANT PHOTOSYNTHES...
Kurzgesagt's ATP video:
• Why Are You Alive - Li...
SUPPORT TTK
--- MERCH 🎽:
Like my T-shirt? Get one here:
teespring.com/cactus-attack
--- Or if you would rather donate money 💰:
paypal.me/TicketToKnow
Credits
Almost all black and white/sepia photos are from the Album of Prickly Pear Photographs, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Australia.
These photos are out of copyright and available here:
hdl.handle.net/10462/eadarc/7410
A few photos are from the collection of Margaret Cameron and Cole family collection - used with permission (many thanks for help with researching and source material!)
In particular the photos of:
Prickly pear poison
Second colour photo of Cactoblastis in cactus
Man delivering cacti with horse and cart
Man and woman by Cactoblastis breeding enclosure
Farmers waiting for egg delivery
Cactoblastis Monument Chinchilla
Photo of Dalby memorial courtesy of John Huth (via Memorials Australia, used with permission)
Photo of Boonarga Hall - Queensland Heritage Register CCBY 3.0
Photos of tree pears and Wardian cases from The Progress of Biological Control of Prickly Pear In Australia, Dodd, 1929 (out of copyright)
First colour photo of Cactoblastis in cactus CSIRO CCBY 3.0
Cane toad image CSIRO CCBY 3.0
Below photos attributed to listed photographers, and sourced from Flickr:
Photo of very spiny prickly pear with fruits and yellow flower: NH53 CCBY 2.0
Photo of prickly pear fruits: Ken Bosma CCBY 2.0
Photo of crushed cochineal: Katja Schulz CCBY 2.0
Photo of cochineal on cactus: Mad Ball CCBY 2.0
Colour photo of prickly pear in Australia: John Tann CCBY 2.0
Sources
Lots of great info on the State Library of Queensland website - start here:
www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/green...
Alan Dodd sources from Commonwealth Prickly Pear Board available here:
nla.gov.au/nla.obj-52813806/v...
nla.gov.au/nla.obj-52813806/v...
More info on the spread:
apps.des.qld.gov.au/heritage-...
Nature article from 1926(!):
www.nature.com/articles/11762...
About how Cactoblastis sense Opuntia (using CO2 and other compounds):
academic.oup.com/chemse/artic...
www.jstor.org/stable/4220967?...
And more overview of the cactus in Australia:
www.jstor.org/stable/215199?s...
I'm on Twitter: / tickettoknow

[@TicketToKnow]

Thanks for watching and for all the nice comments!! Like my T-shirt? Get it here!: teespring.com/cactus-attack

[@realkingxyro]

well, at least Australia didn't have to use machine guns

[@tallguy2882]

Lol we lost them all to the emu ........ during the war we lost to them 😬

[@72marshflower15]

They don’t want lead poisoning like the US does 🤣🤣🤣

[@lovingangel204]

😂😂😂

[@leapdrive]

You may have to use machine gun this time for the increasingly overabundant CCP spies and bad businesses they bring. This is one cactus that’s thorns on your sides.

[@72marshflower15]

Can’t see the responses.. I don’t know why they’re being deleted. Would love to be able to counter bullshit, but I can’t if KZbin won’t allow others to post responses to me that I can see..

[@robertohvargas]

In Mexico we call it "NOPALES". There in Australia could be a tremendous source of biomass, to fed cows or sheeps. The plant is entirely edible. Had a lot of sugars, and nutrients and can grow in the most hostile enviroments whit no water or man care. In México, we cut the taller part, or "leaf", cut the spikes of the leaf with a kinife, wash it, cut slots on it like a fork, roast it in a frying pan with salt, and serve with a big steak and fries. It is a little slimy, but the more you fry it, the less slimy becomes. Very delicious I can say. Vegetarian people eat it a lot even in snacks. Here it cost 50 cents (USD)/ kg.

[@danielibarra3670]

Estaba pensando en eso, pudieron haberlos usado para comercelos o para el ganado

[@mildsoup8978]

Candied Nopales are good, but I've never comes around to enjoying eating them just like that, despite having one on my forehead lol.

[@mitorresc]

Yes! Young nopales are delicious cooked with fresh onions, cilantro, beans and chilli peppers

[@adelorenita6085]

Pues sí, pero son tan ignorantes que no saben que se pueden comer.

[@adelorenita6085]

@@mildsoup8978 no seas ignorante, para eso se preparan antes, además de ignorante perezoso.

[@RaulFlores-vy7rz]

Holly plant. (AKA. Nopal) Native to Mexico and on the Mexican flag! The whole thing is edible and the root is medicinal. This Cactus is a Mexican delicacy, usually eaten cooked and the fruit this eaten fresh, tastes just like dragon fruit (which is also native to Mexico)

[@mildsoup8978]

Never heard that last part b4, for what and how do you prep them?

[@AuroraQ]

Saltyyy Kush420 Nopales

[@chainsaw_chio]

you can also manufacture glue and paint with them (search for "pintura de nopal")

[@RaulFlores-vy7rz]

@@mildsoup8978 look up "nopal recipes"

[@RaulFlores-vy7rz]

@Saltyyy Kush420 "nopal" is the name

[@crystalidx]

It’s like when you lose your arms and a new person grows out of it.

[@Roderlump02]

And that person is you.

[@richmcgee434]

Yeah, I hate when that happens.

[@josechiquito7754]

All us Mexicans watching this 👁👄👁

[@AlexisPheonix]

Jose Chiquito we eat them

[@Zodamay]

Tan ricos los taquitos de nopales en salsa verde o a la mexicana 😋

[@chrisgriffiths2533]

Firstly there are Still Many Prickly Pear in that Region of Australia, Except the Farming/ Mining is more Intensive there now. The Real Prickly Pear Failure though was Very Poor Governance. Hence the Moth Control was a Distraction to the Real Problem and Different Problems occur after this. The Poor Governance was Not Fixed and other Equally serious Problems exist Today.

[@J_Lag]

I grew up eating them; their fruit, young cactus pads basically as a stir fry vegetable. Now they're drinkable in juices. Man, Australia missed out.

[@AlexisPheonix]

Coyotl ay 😋

[@somethingsomthing2456]

Thanks TTK, i never heard about this before good job on giving information on less known topics and history with citation too !

[@flamingcoop]

Last time I was this early cane toads hadn’t be brought to Australia yet; because the government thought they’d be a great pest control measure *one ecological disaster later*.

[@pancakes4552]

BRING IN THE TOADS

[@WadcaWymiaru]

@@pancakes4552 Bring the French now...

[@dakotagordon8756]

All hail HYPNO TOAD!!!

[@pyellard3013]

Introducing new species is always highly dangerous.. We still don't know whether the moth introduced to Australia might later mutate to eat native plants..🙄

[@a.m.v.6938]

I’ve been trying to grow the same cactus in the foothills of the Sierra and am having a hell of a time. Deer and squirrels love to eat them and if they don’t get them damn gophers will eat them from underneath. 🤬

[@72marshflower15]

Then stop doing it..

[@hypercomms2001]

@@72marshflower15 I recently did a Google search on "gophers", and I was amazed how much "love" gophers get...man I was impressed how much you guys really "love" your gophers... www.google.com/search?q=gophers&rlz=1C5CHFA_enAU882AU882&oq=gophers&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j46j0l3j69i60j69i61l2.9059j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[@Alusnovalotus]

Try small patches in different areas. Odd since the Sierra madre is a second home for them.

[@aggieami13]

That shows their high intelligence! Maybe the animals are telling us something.

[@ejohnson3131]

alus nova - I think he's talking about the Sierra Nevada in California where it's much colder.

[@Globalurb]

Cactus pears are so delicious!

[@sillysallyceli]

💯 I used to eat them on the way home, lots of tongue pains lol but I got good at it you just need a rock- also anyone that eats my cactus salad is always shocked how good it is. I want cactus to be just as popular as green beans or asparagus lol 😂 too ambitious 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

[@mohamedelhaddade6371]

they are very delicious..I don't love to harvest them..so I just buy them

[@niBBunn]

It's the quenchiest!

[@Alusnovalotus]

Yesh

[@yeahokbuddy2510]

My farm here in Texas has native prickly pear cacti, I hate them cause they take up land that my goats can graze, plus they have hurt my guard dogs and goats so I have no choice to kill them. Their fruits taste so yummy though and the cactus patty (the green round bit) is also edible and supper yummy if ya cook it right.

[@rayalnaturel7394]

It became a problem because Australians didn't know of its many uses, a source of food, ecological paint, color for fibers(cochinilla), parcel borders, etc. In Mexico Many different species of cacti are an important part of the food and medicine industries!

[@jinchey]

It had no natural predators in Australia. Anyway, it was imported originally because of its uses.

[@XoroksComment]

No, it became a problem because the plant was invasive. They don't occur in such quantities and density in their native habitat. Monocultures are typical for invasive plants and pose a threat to biodiversity and the ecosystem. In their native habitat "invasive" species are part of an ecosystem that has evolved over millions of years, which has resulted in a balance between all inhabitants. If x amount of seedlings die due to a fungal disease and x amount of them get eaten by animals, the plants are naturally selected to get spikey, produce bitter chemicals and more seeds so that a few will make it. If you take such robust plants to an environment where nothing eats or damages them, they unfold their full potential and overgrow everything else.

[@danielbruno1718]

@@XoroksComment, kudas, you explained it all so well. Lack of knowledge make people usually see things in such simplistic ways and that's what leads to approaches like thinking Australians could have got ridden of these species by simply eating them and using them for whatever.

[@madcatlover7554]

Ray Al Naturel it became an environmental disaster, whether it could be used or not it doesn’t matter if it’s destroying the native ecosystems

[@sallya422]

Thanks so much for your time and efforts in making this great clip!

[@SsspiderMonkey]

Wow, this is amazing! Great video and so well done!! Keep up the good work!!

[@ianball8555]

Love your videos! So well researched, thorough and well spoken :)

[@adelarsen9776]

The first death of a prickly pear plant from Cacto blastus was September 1926 at the control station in Chinchilla.

[@cactusland88]

Great video! Very informative! I've always loved cacti and succulents, but this is an eye opener.

[@joshandlarsa6228]

Love your channel. Nice to see Australians making quality youtube!

[@FarmerTed]

99 out of 100 ecological control relocation turns out terribly! Many disasters have occurred this way!

[@hatuxka]

Name some.

[@FarmerTed]

eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2018/05/top-10-invasive-species-when-pest-control-goes-wrong/ Use the internet! There are thousands! Cats introduced around the world are on of the worst, but hey if your to dumb to look it up I’m sorry your so lazy! Here the trouble is multiflower rose, Asian ladybugs and kudzu!

[@australianwildlifechannel4795]

And cane toads.

[@hatuxka]

Farmer Ted you’ve mixed commerce as the means or motivation for introductions with pre-scientific attempts at pest control using animals.

[@mikehunt8375]

I know. I was waiting for the moths to kill everything then they would have to bring in spiders or some shit.

[@reality8763]

Best outro! "I hope at least you enjoyed it, at most learnt something" You have my sub!

[@philpique3187]

Very interesting video! I just signed up as a new subscriber. Thanks for posting!

[@Blashko]

A very cool story and an interesting video! Keep them coming!! :)

[@wilfredpadilla6685]

Nice informative video mate!

[@guillermocruz2440]

You have earned a new Sub. Great content!

[@faridzamorano7617]

They didn't had to bring a moth from Mexico, they had to bring a mexican who knew how to cook em.

[@Alan_Mac]

That was top notch, mate. Thanks.

[@ridgoro]

In mexico we eat it, and there is also a company that is turning cactus into leather.

[@tdb7992]

If only you knew how expensive Mexican food is here in Australia. People love it, it's so exotic to us. But it's super expensive. The thought of actually eating cactus is totally foreign to us.

[@tedsowards]

I really enjoyed this video. You gained a subscriber. I lived in Victoria for a couple of years and videos like this help me feel connected and educated.

[@michaelnolan4780]

Wow great video! I live in Arizona and we view them so differently here but I totally understand why this was a major concern for the outback! Thanks for sharing!

[@vagabondrob888]

Thank you. Great vid. I enjoyed that and learnt something new. Cheers

[@DavidHargis]

Amazing info. Thank you

[@JoelReid]

Dung beetle. The most successful introduction of a species in australia

[@pyellard3013]

Do u have a link?

[@RoughTomatoHolden]

Really enjoyed this video. Cactus is one of my favorite plant in the world and I never thought that this once caused harm and inconvenience to others. Continue sharing informative contents like this. 🤗🍅

[@jasonscott7803]

Very informative and extremely well done.

[@camillenoter5061]

I so appreciate watching this video, I lived in Dalby as a child, thank you for this awesome piece of information 🤗😁

[@1RandomMiss]

I don’t understand why Australians didn’t take advantage of a plant that destroys histamine, has delicious fruit full of vitamins, is a staple food in other countries and it has perfect growing conditions. I can’t get enough of it. The pads are great in salads, bbq, with burritos and nachos, in sauces and raw. I love doing my bit for conservation and foraging for prickly pear.

[@meta.aesthetica]

Nice video bro!

[@brookxdfvfftafese3757]

Wow useful information thanks for sharing

[@MrTOOM1971]

thank you for great information.

[@jscorpio1987]

Leave it to Australia to declare war on a plant. 😂 😂 😂

[@SomeRandomGuy-us1yb]

The failure of the War on Emus is fake news

Thanks mate.. excellent history lesson.

[@chialara5302]

Very cool info thanks, I had no idea!

[@peacefulscrimp5183]

Great video 👍 you have a new subscriber

[@mimigreenmelbourne3264]

I really enjoyed your channel.

[@mariateresamaurin805]

Woow, in México this Opuntia cactus(nopales) is our national treasure...🤔

[@J_L45]

Every introduced species of fauna and flora have decimated our native environment!!!!!! We should not have ANY Hooved creatures in this country ..... at all. One day; NON-NATIVES will innerstand. ( the HARD way )

[@hamsterama]

All the best cacti seem to come from Mexico! Here in the US, a lot of cactus species native to Mexico are sold as houseplants. I have a couple different opuntia species. I also have a lot of little cacti of various species. I leave them outside as much as possible, but I have to take them inside my house when temperatures get below freezing. I live in Ohio. In Ohio, there's no chance of any cactus becoming invasive, because they can't survive our winters.

[@geoffbreen2386]

@@hamsterama You may be surprised how diverse Cacti are. There are species in Patagonia and the high Andes. Not sure if they could survive outside where you live. But they are probably best left where they grow naturally. Mexico does have incredible diversity in Cacti. Some of the smallest to some of the largest and some of the most popular for people to grow at home.

[@veganmikedizzle4303]

So much a national treasure it's in the Mexican flag.

[@hamsterama]

@@geoffbreen2386 I recently got some books from library about cacti. I'll have to flip through them and see if any species from the Andes are available for sale in the US. But yes, you're right, many species are best left alone. Not all plants can be "domesticated" and live outside their native environments. I really love the small cacti species native to Mexico. In the winter, when I have to bring them inside, they easily fit on a windowsill. Also, the small species, from my experience, don't embed itchy and painful glochids into your skin when you touch them.

[@halo2d]

That was really interesting thanks 😊

[@GeographyWorld]

Forget the emu war when there's the cactus war!

[@omaralkayal7598]

Please make more videos I love your channel

[@adriankrause7331]

Thank you - more please.

[@umaryusuf537]

That’s a tortoise heaven

[@lailaraden9461]

I'm thinking the same 😂

[@krissp8712]

Tumbleweeds 2, electric boogaloo ? Also zombie cactus pads, not even clippings stuck in the ground, but just left there? That's scary. :(

[@Fists91]

definitely not as good as the original, prickly pear would have significantly reduced the flammability of the country side rather than turning it into a death inferno

[@islooboyrashid5927]

Such an underrated channel this is

[@breakingbud2530]

Interesting mate had some land near Kingaroy heaps of prickly pear and something was killing it good video

[@juans6639]

That's what happens when you mess with Mother Nature. NEVER FAILS!

[@laurenentwistle1207]

Great video! Thank you! Helped with our homeschool lesson.

[@lm5050]

that's some good infotainment +1 sub

[@perentee77]

Nice work.. well researched. Would love to see you do a video on Australia didn't have native cacti.

[@itsNNAU]

Such a cool channel! 🌵🌵

[@grued1374]

Great video. Miles QLD also has a memorial about the cactus in the historical village

[@sebastianszefer4106]

And that’s why I more prefer KZbin than public Tv. I can learn something new whenever I want. Great Content btw. You’ve got my sub

[@ameliaandes797]

We called the fruit: tuna. The tunas grows well in the Andes mountains..so delicious.😁

[@alaaaliahmed3893]

Nice video thanks

[@MaikelRonnau]

This is very cool!

[@MarioRafaelM]

Im glad I found your channel greetings from El Salvador I do have cactus in backyard

[@Yelrebmikkim]

Would use in the classroom. Great video!

[@opabinnier]

Well presented, chum.

[@greenkiayre]

Nice information keep it up and stay safe and connected

[@Liphted]

Pretty good vid!!!

[@Ariyanasir]

great video

[@josifaydan6649]

This was fun to watch! Who knew a cactus could cause such an issue

[@philceballos2991]

Hey they are great to eat ,just take the spines off and boil

[@jinchey]

You've done it. You've solved the entirety of Australia's prickly pear problem. Just eat them!

[@philceballos2991]

jinch why not Australia should start exporting them to Mexico or other countries

[@trcs3079]

@@philceballos2991 because mass cultivation would cause more ecological damage as the prickly pear will overgrown native flora.

[@philceballos2991]

Steven Nguyen I’m not saying keep planting it just use what’s there

[@mroldnewbie]

Full of seeds - do you eat them too?

[@leticiavillafranco6347]

In Mexico they are now growing cactus to feed livestock and not have to buy feed. Now it is said that to be a cattle rancher you have to be a farmer as well. Great video!

[@tinamarieussery3063]

Very interesting i will watch you again

[@terrellroederer]

Amazing!

[@katgrey6239]

Very interesting 👌

[@TheBrittMarie]

Wow this is so cool!!!

[@petercrichton5545]

Excellent video 10/10. About 20 years ago I was a forester in the Pilliga Forest in NSW. This video was really interesting for me and I watched it with my children as we are studying biological control as part of our homeschooling. Thank you very much!

[@monagustin6515]

That's amazing!

[@keijuhl]

Opuntia grows wild in Georgia in the USA. I've seen a lot of patches of them around Stone Mountain.

[@joannekucks4343]

I am surprised they didn’t use the prickly pear casts as a fruit and vegetable crop.

[@mikenealon4042]

whew! australia averts another prickly situation.

[@qualqui]

Yeah, heard about the Prickly Pear attacking the native grasslands and forests of Australia and that a parasite was found and that quickly righted the wrong of introducing the prickly pear where none had originally grown, but I thought it was imported from Mexico and South America, from the Carribbean? Anyways ya all should farm the Prickly Pear like farmers in North-Central Mexico do, harvesting the pads, obviously cutting the spines off first and harvesting the nochtli(fruit), I know you guys have a different culture, but that's one thing us humans are great at, adapting ourselves to our local ecosystem. Uprated and thanking for sharing this informative and interesting video, greetings from Central Mexico! :)

[@maddyg3208]

Thanks, I'm Australian and have prickly pear in my backyard. I will have to try the fruit

[@geoffbreen2386]

Yes your local ecosystem includes cacti naturally. None are native to Australia. They were considered as of no use and a weed, an unwanted plant. If you look closely at a lot of photos and multiply that effect over massive areas you see that its not just a few fruit and edible pads. Its a takeover of farmland here and Australians had no history or interest in these out of control plants as food in any way. They wanted them gone.

[@AlanBendi]

Most interesting video of the day

[@melo39987]

Wow, the cactus is actually medicinal and a culinary delicacy!

[@123justinheller]

Nice video

[@markmcknight2467]

What a magnificent ending! Nature really handles itself.

[@mattwales2734]

I live in New Mexico, and one of the prickly pears in my yard, has that fungus which creates that dye.

Scary. Here in the drylands of Brazil the opuntia cacti are a very important survival food for our herds. If this moth gets here it would be an economic disaster.

[@mimivistaverde5030]

You should do a video on the giant Saguaro cactus. No one has done a video on this, i been looking

[@juliussezar1550]

thanks. i like this video

[@CactusCaffeine]

Very interesting.

[@andrewjvaughan]

Wait... it’s name was cacto-blastus? Did that come before or after it blasted away the cactus?

[@geoffbreen2386]

The scientific name was given to them when formally described by scientists. That name stays with the insect wherever it may be spread. The scientific name was in place well before they were considered as a biological control to be imported into Australia.

[@echowit]

@@geoffbreen2386 You're right of course, but, Damn, it does sound like a really cool cartoon villian doesn't it?

[@JohnWilliams-iw6oq]

From Goondoowindi head east parallel to the Dumeresque river and you'll have a lovely time amongst the prickly pear cactus and for real fun there's heaps of Tiger pear.

[@lewisdoherty7621]

There is a town in Mississippi or Alabama which has a monument to the Boll Wevil. It destroyed the cotton crops. Farmers had to find another crop and began growing soybeans. They discovered that they made a lot more money from soybeans and the Boll Weevil was the best thing which happened to them.

[@restumumpuni8265]

Very great information. Subscribe already

[@BradGryphonn]

We were taught about cactoblastis in primary school in the 60s

[@yunassaxer7119]

thank you!

[@mariao.5142]

I would like to have that plant in a controlled garden... 😍🌵❤👍

[@aa91504]

Good vid ,, I shared

[@garyhuntsr71698]

2 good 2 Be Like Fable story thank you so much

[@ladycrystalr-u.s.a]

They are a hellish nightmare when stepped on bare foot.

[@hectorcardenas2171]

That happened to you?! haha!