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‘The Distribution, Density and Social Behaviour of the Water Buffalo in the Northern Territory’, for which in
1967 he received the degree of Master of Science (Agriculture) from the University of Queensland. This was
a wonderful achievement for an external student, far from normal supervision and the thesis has become the
authority on buffalo behaviour.
When roads were planned across the coastal plains, questions were asked about their intended use, and the
future of the buffalo was part of this debate. The buffalo had become an unofficial symbol for the Northern
Territory. There were some tourist camps, mainly for sporting shooters. Buffaloes were of interest to other tourists,
particularly where they could be observed close to Darwin. The beef cattle industry at this time was still dominated
by British breeds that do not thrive on the swampy plains naturally favoured by the buffalo. Cattlemen were against
the buffalo in the Top End because they saw them as competing with beef cattle. People identified buffalo meat as
tough, forgetting buffalo meat eaten in the past was mostly from adult bulls, killed for their hides after a stressful
chase. The few buffalo exported live, were recently captured, difficult to handle and thus costly to load. Later,
after some short term attempts at domestication, buffalo became the target of bush slaughtering by abattoirs and
shooters, mainly for pet food.
Goff Letts talked of the potential of raising buffalo on the flood plains. Buffalo wallowing, and the creation of
wet trails allowing greater access of salt water to the natural vegetation of the plains, concerned conservationists
who categorised the buffalo as feral. Many questions about buffaloes and the environment needed to be answered
with facts derived from focussed study.
As early as 1958, Don had demonstrated how buffalo could be caught, domesticated and handled easily. This led
to a small buffalo industry, at first for pet meat, and later for human consumption on which he collaborated with
the CSIRO Meat Research Institute in Brisbane. From 1959 to 1975, he continued his research, concluding that
buffalo could survive in conditions not well suited to cattle. Buffalo congregated in certain areas, but not in others,
and he set out to understand why, by studying grazing preferences. In one study, he found an 80–85 per cent
reproduction rate for grazing buffalo against less than 60% in cattle, many of which were hand fed. He also
observed a social system of the ‘fostering’ of lost or orphaned calves by buffalo ‘aunties’ which gave the calves a
better chance of survival.
By 1960 he had begun visiting buffalo research centres overseas, including Italy, Scotland, the West Indies,
parts of South America, Malaysia, Indonesia, South China, New Guinea and Guam, to learn more and to share
his knowledge. He visited the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome in 1972. From 1961 to 1991,
he published about 30 papers that were available in Australia and overseas. Five more papers were in preparation
when he died.
In 1975, he transferred to the CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology research station at Kapalga in the
Northern Territory, to study the interactive plant and animal ecology of the coastal plains. Though his work centred
officially again on magpie geese his interest in buffalo continued. This is evident in the titles of the papers he
published until he retired in 1984.
In retirement, Don Tulloch continued his work on buffaloes. In 1984, he was founding Secretary of the Northern
Territory Buffalo Industry Council. He was involved in a project to provide tender lot-fed buffalo meat to top
restaurants. He was an Honorary Research Fellow at CSIRO, spending a day in their Darwin library each week
preparing new papers for publication, until the time of his death.
The researched information on buffaloes and the coastal plains that came from Don Tulloch’s studies was
invaluable. He showed that, with care and attention, buffaloes could be domesticated and raised productively.
Associates involved in this work on the buffalo and the early successes of the buffalo industry in the Northern
Territory include Peter Panquee, Jim McCorry, Geoff Cross, Kal Carrick, Charlie Cuff and Keith Waldock.
Later the opening of Kakadu National Park and the growth of tourist interest on the coastal plains led to
concern about there being sufficient suitable land for raising domesticated buffalo commercially so new planning
was necessary. The early 1990s brought the national tuberculosis and brucellosis eradication programme to protect
the cattle industry, leading to the killing of many thousands of buffalo. This raised concern that there might be
insufficient ‘clean’ buffaloes for the new buffalo industry. Don felt that their numbers could be restored. He also
predicted correctly that buffalo could be raised in southern Australia, away from the tropics.
Don’s reputation continued to spread internationally, with his papers being widely accepted. He assumed the
status of a consultant. He was acknowledged as the Australian expert on buffaloes, and so, in 1987 he became
Australian representative on the Standing Committee of the International Buffalo Federation. In 1988, he visited
buffalo properties on the Nile River when attending a conference in Cairo to deliver a paper entitled ‘Buffalo
Re-domestication in the Northern Territory’. His untimely death on 31 January 1991 came just as his international
status was peaking. Respect for him as a world authority on buffaloes is evident in condolences expressed at the
Third World Buffalo Congress held in Bulgaria in May 1991 where he was to have presented a paper.
He was a strong supporter of the Parap School that his children attended. His house was so badly damaged in
Cyclone Tracy that his family lived briefly in Brisbane. In 1986, he became inaugural Chairman of the Natural
Environment Evaluation Panel of the Australian Heritage Commission on behalf of the Northern Territory.
Donald Gordon Tulloch was a dedicated and practical scientist who lived and worked in tropical northern
Australia. His pioneering research into animal behaviour, particularly in relation to magpie geese and buffalo, is
of great significant in the Northern Territory and in the wet/dry tropical areas throughout the world. He became
an internationally respected expert on buffaloes, their husbandry and economic use. His contribution to the world
literature on the topic of buffaloes has been immense.
Don loved to share his knowledge and experiences with friends, workmates and anyone else interested. He had
a fine sense of humour. He liked gardening, stamp collecting and car restoration, these hobbies reflecting the same