A shocking incident took place when the biosecurity officers in Australia destroyed valuable and "irreplaceable collection" of plant specimens of rare daisy flowers. A major mistake with the irrecoverable loss.
According to BBC News, the biosecurity officers in Australia have destroyed a rare collection of plant specimens of daisy flowers that came from France. Those flowers dated back to the 1850s. Reports say the collection was sent by the National Museum of Natural History in Paris to Brisbane.
Reports say the box that was containing the plant samples came to Australia with incorrectly filled documents. Specimens of those rare daisy flowers were incinerated in March. The Australian quarantine authorities have already ordered an urgent review into this incident.
Chair of the Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria, Prof Michelle Waycott, reveals that the French museum authority is very upset due to this incident. The painful fact is these rare specimens of the daisy flowers were truly irreplaceable. Prof. Waycott says that most probably the habitats of these flowers may no longer exist.
Most of the times, rare specimens indicate the only remaining examples of rare species. Though, Prof. Michelle Waycott thinks this should not be the case this time. She says it is obvious that these pressed samples of the rare daisy flowers are surely very valuable.
These daisy flowers were collected so many years ago and this increases their value. Prof. Waycott says that sharing the specimens help them to conduct their research work properly, ABC News reported. Currently, the Federal Department of Agriculture and Water Resources controls the Australian Biosecurity. The department is not ready to provide any interview about this incident.
A spokesperson for the said department responded with a written response that points out the material that arrived from France to Australia in January. But, they were destroyed because the documents related to the material did not properly comply with the import conditions of Australia. This was the second similar incident that happened within a couple of weeks. No doubt these plant specimens of rare daisy flowers carried huge importance for the future research studies.
