How prickly pear, one of the 'greatest biological invasions of modern times', was defeated

Farming has been in the Geldard family for four generations, but one plant almost brought them to their knees early on.

Ashley Geldard's great grandfather walked off his property in the 1920s because of prickly pear infestation, returning five years later. Prickly pear infestation devastated large parts of Queensland and NSW during the early part of the 20th century. The cochineal bug was used to make the red dye for British soldiers' uniforms and they loved to feed on prickly pear.

By 1932 the moth had caused the general collapse and destruction of most of the original, thick stands of prickly pear, and almost 7 million hectares of previously infested land was made available to settlers.Townships like Chinchilla sprang back to life after the prickly pear was defeated."This is where the bug farm was, where all the experimental work took place to develop the eradication of the pear.

Still a lot round the Bunya Mountains.

I live in Gundy, the story out here is a little different. And in my eyes not so nice.

Would this work on New Zealanders too?

The dumbest thing is that no one in Australia has ever realised it can be eaten 🙄🤦🏻‍♂️

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