Acclimatiser

McCoy introduced only six of these Indian Mynahs in 1863. Today they are an aggressive pest, displacing native species.

Best known as a Museum Director and university professor, Frederick McCoy's involvement with Melbourne's zoo is less well known.

He helped shape a menagerie at the Royal Park depot of the Acclimatisation Society of Victoria - a location that would later become the zoo - from a transient collection of animals awaiting permanent homes elsewhere.

Not primarily intended for display, these animals were brought to Victoria in the hope of enriching the purses and psyches of immigrant colonists - introducing birds that would sing sweetly or consume fruit-attacking insects, fish for the rivers, and game and grazing animals for bush and paddocks.1

McCoy presented his ideas on acclimatisation at the Society's first annual address in November 1862. He asserted that acclimatisation, contrary to the popular notion that it referred to the adaptation of species to difficult climatic or geographic conditions, was rather:

... the bringing together in any one country the various useful or ornamental animals of other countries having the same or nearly the same climate and general conditions of surface.

This insight meant that many of the species selected for introduction to Australia were pre-adapted to the conditions that they were to encounter. As a consequence they succeeded spectacularly, subsequently becoming major pests.In 1863 McCoy received six birds from a consignment of 32 Minos, now known as Indian Mynahs. The offspring of these birds appear to have been the first of their species released in Victoria; McCoy commenting that '...the Minos liberated at the University had distinguished themselves as indefatigable grub and grasshopper destroyers'. Indian Mynahs are now an ubiquitous and aggressive pest in Victoria, displacing many native species. A lifelong member, McCoy served on the Acclimatisation Society's council from 1861 until 1872, the year 'Zoological' was added to its title.
1Gillbank, 'Animal Acclimatisation: McCoy and the Menagerie that became Melbourne's Zoo', The Victorian Naturalist, McCoy Special Issue, Volume 118 (6), 2001, pp. 297-304.

Join the mailing list and get the latest from our Museums direct to your inbox.

Share your thoughts to WIN

We'd love to hear about your experience with our website. Our survey takes less than 10 minutes and entries go in a draw to win a $100 gift voucher at our online store!