Ltd
Newsletter
2014 Issue 01
Photos courtesy B Jackson. Above (l-r): 1) Idnya (Western Quoll) Project Co-ordinator Dr Katherine Moseby and DEWNR Senior Ecologist Rob Brandle with Western Quoll at the Adnyamathanha blessing ceremony conducted by Vince Coulthard (Chairperson of the Adnyamathanha Traditional Land Association). 2) Mark McKenzie and Cliff Coulthard, Adnyamathanha Elder, provided the traditional Welcome to Country at the quoll release event. The Quoll is a totem of the Adnyamathanha people and an important part of their dreaming. At the conclusion of the Welcome to Country, Cliff Coulthard delighted the crowd with the Adnyamathanha story of how the quoll got her spots. 3) L-R Trevor Naismith (until recently DEWNR’s Regional Director of Arid Lands); FAME Life Member Proo Geddes; FAME Executive Task Force Chairman Peter Kay; and John Schutz of DEWNR (Chairman, Flinders Ranges National Park Co-Management Board and Director of National Parks and Wildlife South Australia).
2014: the year of the Western Quoll The 1st of April 2014 was not your ordinary April Fool’s Day. In fact, April 1 2014 was the date of a remarkable achievement for Australian wildlife when the Western Quoll came back to arid Australia after local extinction of over 100 years. The return of the Western Quoll or Idnya to the Flinders Ranges was the result of a unique partnership, and the outcome of seven years of dogged persistence by one of Australia’s most visionary conservationists, Dr David Peacock. David was a Ranger in the Flinders region of outback South Australia when the devastating impact of rabbits on the vegetation and the
What’s Inside… • Genetic Rescue the future for wildlife conservation • At last, a sanctuary for Leadbeater’s possum • Quolls • Burrowing Crayfish • Cane Toad Control • Reviving the Mary River Turtle
landscape first hit home, especially when he saw the immediate changes after calicivirus killed most of the rabbits. However rabbit control diseases like myxomatosis and calicivirus can only do so much, especially with developing rabbit resistance, and on their own have been generally unable to keep rabbits at a level that allows many palatable, often
rare, native plants to re-establish. Operation Bounceback, a successful government ecological recovery program through reducing the numbers of foxes, rabbits and goats, has achieved amazing vegetation recovery over approximately 220 km2 of open country by mechanically destroying the area’s many rabbit warrens. Continued on page 4
Western Quolls will be translocated from Western Australia to the Flinders Ranges in stages. Stage 1 on April 1 saw the return of 22 quolls, 18 of them females. Around 18 males will be brought in on April 29th. Assuming that they settle in and begin to breed, the Flinders quoll population will be supplemented by further releases over the next few years. FAME needs your help to continue this vitally important project and make it the success it deserves to be. If you have already contributed we thank you sincerely. If you are still considering your support please don’t wait! These quolls are pioneers and they will battle to survive without our help. Efforts to keep fox and cat numbers down via the ‘invisible fence’ of Operation Bounceback’s feral control program must continue and we must do everything we can to maintain the best possible conditions for survival.
PLEASE SEND YOUR GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION TO FAME’S WESTERN QUOLL PROJECT AS SOON AS YOU CAN.
Photo courtesy Steve Parish.
Births may lift endangered wombat numbers Scientists say they are hoping to see new additions to a colony of endangered wombats in Queensland’s southern inland later this year. Located only in Epping Forest National Park in North Queensland, the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat’s numbers dropped as low as 40 in the 1980s. By 2010, thanks to some extra management and protection from dingos, that number had increased to 163 and the management team turned their attention to a plan for a second wombat colony in original territory further to the south. 15 wombats were sent from a central Queensland colony to a nature refuge near St George five years ago and have settled in well despite having to cope with very
dry, hot weather and severe competition from kangaroos for the small amount of feed available. The tough conditions resulted in the survival of only one of three baby wombats born in 2010 at St Georges. This year conditions have improved and monitoring cameras have picked up mating behaviour. Scientists are hoping for a few births later this year to revitalise the St Georges colony, but with an estimated total of 200 northern hairy-nosed wombats in both colonies the picture is slowly improving for Australia’s second most endangered mammal.
Above: Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat.
Genetic rescue may revolutionise management of disappearing wildlife species Thanks to the genetic rescue program of Dr Andrew Weeks and his colleagues from cesar, with a little help from FAME, the Mt Buller population of Mountain Pygmy Possums is steadily growing for the first time in over a decade. Genetic analysis in January 2013 showed that about half the wild population (including first, second and third generations) contain genes from introduced Mt Higginbotham males. Levels of genetic variation have doubled and other indicators have also improved. The population are now at much less risk of inbreeding. The hybrids are heavier, have more pouch young and an increased chance of surviving winter, and over time to adapt to changing climatic conditions. The next step, to further reduce the risk of extinction, is to continue translocations of small numbers of males every two to four years while the population remains relatively small. Plans are now underway to make this happen in spring 2014, three years after the last translocations in 2011.
The potential of gene-pool mixing The Mountain Pygmy Possum genetic rescue was the first of its type in Australia and rare in the world, but it may be the future of endangered species conservation and may
soon be called on to rescue other shrinking populations of endangered species. Genetic erosion is probably common, particularly in the southern half of Australia where the top threat for terrestrial wildlife is loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitats. Small populations are vulnerable to extreme weather or fire, to inbreeding, genetic drift and loss of the capacity to evolve. Benefits of gene-pool mixing (genetic rescue) include: • rapid genetic improvement with minimal intrusion and no removal of animals from the wild • problems of captive management such as heightened disease risks, human ‘mate selection’, artificial breeding cues, adaptation to captivity and accidental deaths have been avoided • the costs of gene-pool mixing are generally a small fraction of those for captive breeding programs. With mountain pygmy-possums access to
Above: Mountain pygmy possum. Photo courtesy Andrew Weeks. Page 2
genetic information warned us what was happening before it was too late. We suspect that the same message would be evident in the DNA of many species. For instance recovery efforts for species such as the Southern Brown Bandicoot, Eastern Barred Bandicoot, the New Holland Mouse, Tuan (Brush-tailed Phascogale), Grey-crowned Babbler, Striped Legless Lizard, Swamp Skink, Growling Grass Frog, Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby and Leadbeater’s Possum are being hampered by small population size and shrinking genetic diversity.
Genetic Rescue will have an important place in the future of wildlife conservation Conservation policies have long recognised the importance of genetic diversity. Up to now focus has been on ‘quarantining’ populations to protect the local gene pool. The presumption is that local populations are best adapted for local conditions. But in small fragmented populations, often the process of random genetic drift over-rides local adaptation, resulting in these populations at best having reduced evolutionary potential, and at worst, being maladapted to their environment. For the sake of saving animals and plants in cost-effective ways and helping them survive rapid climate change we call for the taboo against gene-pool mixing to be relaxed, particularly where there is evidence of genetic decline. Conserving local genetic variation can be important but should not be dogma. Rather than ‘quarantining’ a depleted genetic base, we should aim to optimise genetic vigour by enhancing local variation and restoring lost diversity. Dr Andrew Weeks, cesar (a partner organisation of FAME).
At last, a sanctuary for Leadbeater’s Possum One of Victoria’s most precious and fragile patches of the environment, home for two of the state’s endangered animal emblems, will be protected in a new conservation network. Photo courtesy Steve Smith.
In response to intense pressure from conservationists around Australia the Victorian government recently announced that it will set up a new 2940-hectare conservation area consisting of several fragmented areas of vegetation in and around the Yellingbo region, near Healesville. At its heart will be the existing Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve, a small region of swamp forest that has been in rapid decline as a result of landscape fragmentation, altered water courses and feral species. Only half the original native vegetation remains. It is hoped that creating the conservation area and putting a better management plan in place will not only reverse the decline of important habitat vegetation, but better protect two of Victoria’s most endangered species. Victoria’s faunal emblem, the critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum, calls Yellingbo home. The reserve holds the last of the lowland sub-species of the possum which is genetically distinct from its cousin in Victoria’s central highlands. Yellingbo is also home to the last wild population of the critically endangered Helmeted Honeyeaters, a species endemic to Victoria and one of the state’s emblems. Both species are supported by local volunteers who welcome having government support for their efforts after many years of lobbying and hard work.
Above: Leadbeater’s Possum.
Keep your gear clean in the wild Nothing beats getting out and exploring Australia’s wild places – camping, bushwalking, boating or fishing. And what a place we have to explore! Australia is home to some of the most remote, pristine and beautiful places on the planet. But while we have a strong ethos of ‘treading lightly’ when out in the bush, it’s all-too-easy to unwittingly spread weeds and diseases that can kill wildlife and destroy wild places. Weeds, pests and diseases are major threats to Australia’s native plants and animals. Leave hitch-hikers behind! They can hitch a ride on muddy hiking boots, in wet fishing gear or even hidden on the dirty rims of your car.
Our biggest threats • Chytrid is a fungal disease blamed for frog extinctions both here and overseas. • Phytophthora is a root rot that destroys native plants. It is spread in mud and soil on walkers’ boots, bikes and vehicles. • Didymo, also known as ‘rock snot’, has not yet made it to Australia but can be transported on wet fishing gear. It has devastated riverbeds in New Zealand. • Weeds radically alter natural ecosystems, smothering and outcompeting native plants, robbing wildlife of food and shelter.
What you can do
Above: A number of invasive weeds (non-native grasses, fennel, artichoke thistle, bamboo and olives) can be seen in photo taken in a gully above Para Hills, South Australia.
Here are some simple techniques you can use to keep your gear clean and our national parks and other wild places free of deadly pests and diseases: • Thoroughly check footwear, waders, equipment, bikes, boats and vehicles for mud, soil, algae and plant material before arriving at or leaving each location. • Clean your boots, socks, waders, equipment, bikes, boats and vehicles
by scrubbing in local or town water before arriving at and leaving each location. Ensure all mud, soil and debris is removed and left on site. • Disinfect the soles of your footwear using a spray bottle filled with disinfectant before entering and leaving a location. Use methylated spirits (70-100%), bleach (dilute to 25%) or F10 solution. Wait for one minute then step forward to avoid recontaminating footwear. • Before use at another location, completely dry all waders, footwear, equipment, boats and vehicles. • Avoid clothes or footwear that capture weed seed. ‘Sock protectors’ are widely available these days. • Keep to walking tracks to avoid spreading diseases into untracked areas, especially on wet ground. • Pick off seeds from shoes and clothes, and check your gear to make sure seeds are not hiding in pockets or on Velcro straps. Adapted from a bulletin by the Invasive Species Council http://invasives.org.au/project/keep-gear-clean-wild/
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Continued from Front Cover
2014: the year of the Western Quoll In his new job as Biosecurity Research Officer for Biosecurity SA David and his colleagues unfortunately observed that even at very small numbers (less than 1 rabbit per square kilometre) rabbits were still preventing some species of important native vegetation from establishing new seedlings. They discussed the problem without finding a solution. It wasn’t until later when David was discussing the problem with his wife that he hit on the idea of bringing in a natural solution…why not bring back a native predator, long extinct in the region, that could go down rabbit burrows and penetrate inaccessible areas to predate these few but very damaging rabbits. David began to research the Western Quoll and to talk about his idea to anyone who would listen.
Despite the logic of David’s idea he could find no-one to provide the funds needed to bring back the quoll. Finally David found FAME, and we were inspired not just by the opportunity to help a unique Australian species, but also by the opportunity to restore a key predator to a damaged ecosystem and witness the flow-on effects to other species and the landscape in general. To cut a long story short FAME agreed to raise the money for a four year project and entered into partnership with the South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources to bring back the quoll. A budget of $1.7m over four years was set, and in 2012 FAME embarked on the biggest and one of the most important projects in our 20 year history.
David had already laid the groundwork through his seven years of quoll research and talking up the project. Enthusiasm and cooperation from important players such as the Chuditch (Western Quoll in Western Australia) Recovery Team, the Schultz Foundation and others was quick to flow. Much talking and planning followed. Approvals were obtained, a team of key community leaders identified to help with fundraising, a Steering Committee and a Reintroduction Team were established. And now, 2014, the first Western Quolls to be seen in the Flinders Ranges for over 100 years are out there making their homes.
Top row (l-r): 1) A crowd of about 100 celebrated the return of Western Quoll to the Flinders Ranges on April 1. Included were Adnyamathanha people, FAME members and supporters, local landowners, DEWNR staff, and volunteers. 2) Kelly Rayner, Brent Johnson and other staff from Western Australia’s Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) with quoll nest box at Julimar near Perth. The National Chuditch (Western Quoll) Recovery Team is based in WA, along with the last of Australia’s quolls. FAME’s Quoll Recovery Project is indebted to DPaW for their support and cooperation in making it possible to return the Western Quoll to the Flinders Ranges. 3) Pilot Matt Graham and David Peacock arriving with Idnya at Wilpena on the evening of the release after a full day’s flight from WA. Bottom row (l-r): 4) “I’m glad that quolls are back in the Flinders Ranges and I hope they have a good life and settle in.” Jack Maguire, aged 6, at the April 1 quoll release. 5) Quoll Project Executive Task Force Chairman Peter Kay with Jake, Katherine, Rhianna and Erin Peacock. Peter acknowledged the support of the Peacock family for David Peacock’s devotion to the return of the Western Quoll to the Flinders Ranges. 7) The banner display at the release event represented South Australia’s first ever private/public partnership for wildlife restoration, between FAME and the South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. 8) Female Western Quoll “Chitty” inside release pen on the night after the quoll release. Twenty two quolls (eighteen females; four males) were flown from Western Australia and released into the Flinders Ranges National Park on April 1st. Photos courtesy E Davis, K Moseby, J Maguire & B Jackson.
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Photo courtesy Mt Rothwell Sanctuary.
The alarming case of Tasmania’s disappearing wildlife Eastern Quolls are presumed extinct on the Australian mainland, and Tasmania is their last remaining refuge.
Above: Eastern Quoll family at Mt Rothwell Sanctuary. Right: Feral cat.
After many years as an Australian wildlife mecca (once everyone who visited Tasmania came back impressed by the amount of wildlife that could be seen), Tasmania is now struggling to come to terms with a severe reduction of many previously abundant species such as bettongs and quolls and of course the Tasmanian Devil. In the case of the Tasmanian Devil a full-blown national recovery effort is underway and FAME is heavily involved in the establishment of the mainland insurance population at Devil Ark in NSW’s Hunter Valley. Some wildlife experts feel that it is time to crank up efforts to support mainland populations of species other than the
Photo courtesy Mark Woods.
We don’t know why they disappeared from the mainland but disease, foxes, poisoning, persecution, feral cats and even rabbits have all been implicated. In the absence of direct evidence we can only speculate about what drove them to extinction. In Tasmania, quoll numbers have been declining over the past 12-13 years, with declines of more than 50% state-wide over the past decade. Studies are underway to investigate which, if any (or a combination of several) potential factors are responsible for this decline. In Tasmania there are additional factors to consider, such as the decline of devils due to DFTD, a severe and prolonged drought, the introduction of poisons such as fox baits, new second-generation anticoagulants in rodent baits, and the extensive conversion of large tracts of foraging and denning habitat to tree plantations. While we can’t yet point to a single cause of Tasmania’s recent species decline, it is alarming to note that infrared camera surveys around Tasmania reveal higher densities of feral cats at sites where eastern quolls and bettongs have declined.
Tasmanian Devil before the situation deteriorates further. For instance captive breeding of Eastern Quolls is well established at several sites. Mt Rothwell in Victoria has a healthy program of captive breeding and release into the Sanctuary, and efforts are underway in NSW to trial a release of Eastern Quolls into the wild.
Photos courtesy Steve Parish.
Far North Queensland Quoll Seekers Network report good sightings of Northern Quolls The Far North Quoll Seekers Network regularly undertakes surveys of the trends in population and distribution of both Spotted Tailed (Tiger Quoll) and Northern Quolls in the region.
Above top: Northern Quoll. Above bottom: Spotted Tailed Quoll.
Sightings continue to come in with a total of six Northern Quolls and one Spotted Tailed Quoll seen in the past six months. It appears that Northern Quolls are becoming very abundant once more in areas between Cooktown and Herberton. These quolls are thriving in urban environments, agricultural land and remaining natural areas. Northern Quolls in the region are adapting to the presence of cane toads and no longer eat them. The team is very confident that as a result these animals will start recolonizing large areas of their former range. This is a great success story of nature coming up against a dramatic threat but adapting to the situation. This gives us great hope that NT and WA quolls will also have a chance. This might also encourage some translocation of these animals into those areas to prevent further decimation of animals as cane toads continue to advance
across the country (note that NT and WA quolls have not adapted to the threat as yet). This points to the need for collaboration between quoll groups across the country to secure the future of these animals through appropriate management of populations. For those travelling to far north Queensland, if you would like to see a wild Northern Quoll, the Quoll Seekers Network recommend Mareeba Wetlands as a great place to stay and see them. Areas for camping or spotlighting which have good numbers include Tinaroo Creek Road Mareeba, Granite Gorge, Tinaroo Dam below the Dam Wall, Bibhoora, and parks and gardens around Cooktown. FAME thanks the FNQQSN (Luke Jackson; Glenn Kvassay and Alberto Vale) for providing regular updates and insights into quoll behaviour and survival in the north. Page 5
Burrowing Crayfish Australia has several species of Burrowing Crayfish, some of them critically endangered. They are found in moist soils near creeks and rivers across southern mainland Australia and in Tasmania, but very few people even know they exist. Photo courtesy Brocklyn Inaglory CC-BY-SA-3.0.
Above: Burrowing crayfish in burrow.
Finding out about these creatures is challenging because they live almost entirely underground in burrows often covered by thick vegetation. Often the only clues to their presence are small holes in the mud that may lead to an elaborately branched underground world, a world about which virtually nothing is known. Burrowing crayfish live in muddy burrows that can be simple and shallow or complex, deep and extensive, and can often be the product of several generations of crayfish families. Burrowing crayfish are small (less than 5cm in length) but their important role in the ecosystem has led them to being dubbed “ecosystem engineers”. They perform a similar role to worms in the soil by aerating and draining the soil and encouraging plant growth. Crayfish burrows also provide habitat for other invertebrates like insects, crustaceans and, even snakes.
Burrowing crayfish are particularly vulnerable to local environmental disturbance. Fire, drought or soil movement can have drastic effects. Grazing cattle trample burrows, erode stream sides and damage native vegetation and water quality. Recreational fishers sometimes mistake these crayfish as ‘yabbies’ and use them as bait. On the other hand, they can usually avoid predation and survive all but the most severe floods and fires on their own. But we still need to manage their habitats, protect native vegetation and keep the creeks and rivers clean so that existing populations can be maintained into the future. Education is essential for the conservation of burrowing crayfish, because unless we know that these gorgeous little creatures are digging in the soil under our feet we can’t help them.
In Western Australia the Department of Environment and Conservation is working with community groups to preserve native vegetation along water courses and to fence off areas of known crayfish habitat. In Tasmania the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment is working to protect crayfish habitat where possible, and in cases of urban development to relocate the crayfish to safer habitats. In Victoria research is underway to better understand the habitat and behaviour of the crayfish and education programs are making locals more aware of their little underground neighbours. Contact your local environment department for information about burrowing crayfish in your area and how you can help preserve some of Australia’s least known but most important little animals.
Photo courtesy Matt Greenlees.
Latest news on cane toad control on the southern front Professor Rick Shine’s team at the University of Sydney is conducting an ecological research program on the continuing spread of cane toads (Rhinella marina) through southern Australia, under a grant from the Australian Research Council. FAME is supporting that work, as a partner organisation. The toad’s devastating impact on wildlife in tropical Australia is well-known, but the other toad invasion front - in northeastern New South Wales - has not been studied. Progress has been excellent. First, we now know what happens to the native wildlife when toads invade. There is both bad news and good news. The bad news is that large lizards (like goannas and water dragons) are fatally poisoned when they try to eat the toxic toads, so their populations crash. The good news is that this is fairly short-term, with populations recovering after several years. Goannas soon learn to avoid eating toads – so if they aren’t killed by the first one they eat, they can coexist Page 6
with toads thereafter. Still, toad invasion disrupts the ecological functioning of these subtropical ecosystems by killing many of the apex predators – so we urgently need to find ways to control the invader. Fortunately, we have made exciting progress on that issue as well. We have discovered that toad tadpoles produce a special waterborne chemical that kills their major competitors – other toad tadpoles. If a toad embryo encounters this chemical before it hatches out of the egg – even at very low concentrations – it doesn’t survive. If we can identify the specific chemical involved, we will have by far the most effective toad-
control weapon yet devised. We already know that the chemical doesn’t affect native wildlife (including native frogs) so it offers the promise of highly targeted, environmentally friendly toad control. Work is ongoing and more updates will be provided as results are confirmed and a strategy for rollout of findings is established.
Don’t let them drift away forever Queensland’s Richmond Birdwing Butterfly (Ornithoptera richmondia) is the largest butterfly in subtropical eastern Australia. The average wingspan for males is 125mm and for females 140mm. Newspapers from early last century reported sightings of thousands of these huge bright butterflies, yet today remnant colonies of this beautiful, unique subtropical butterfly are all that remain. Photo courtesy Tom Tarrant (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The Richmond Birdwing Butterfly is on the verge of extinction, yet rescuing this unique butterfly from the edge of extinction should be simple. There is a one special plant that the butterfly depends on and without it the butterfly can’t breed. It’s a native vine called Pararistolochia praevenosa, better known as the Birdwing Butterfly Vine. Each year the butterflies seek out this plant, sometimes from miles away, and identify it by smell. Eggs are laid on the underside of the leaves of the vine and when the butterfly larvae hatch they start nibbling away. There are no other sources of food in the subtropical lowlands for these hungry, hungry caterpillars. Much of the butterfly’s habitat has been cleared, fragmented or changed over the years and the vine is harder to find. Simply planting the Richmond birdwing vine should
Above and top right: The Richmond Birdwing Butterfly.
give the butterfly a greater chance of surviving and thriving, but unfortunately one of the biggest challenges the butterflies face is the spread of an introduced plant which looks like the Richmond birdwing vine. These plants confuse the egg-laying females and poison the caterpillars when they emerge. This means just planting the ‘good’ vine is not enough. That’s why organisations like Conservation Volunteers Australia are removing noxious weeds as well as linking habitat corridors by planting Richmond birdwing vines in prime butterfly habitat. Wildlife Queensland’s program includes planting 1000 vines for the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly in 2014. This involves propagating and growing the vines, planting them in specially chosen locations and then maintaining them to ensure they have the best opportunities to survive.
If you love butterflies and would like to help save the beautiful Richmond Birdwing Butterfly please contact Wildlife Queensland http://www.wildlife.org.au/projects/richmondbirdwing/
Reviving the Mary River Turtle! Each year between 1962 and 1974 around 15,000 eggs of the Mary River Turtle were collected, mostly by one man who sold them into the pet trade. They were traded as the Common Saw-shelled Turtle (Elseya latisternum), and hatchlings were known as the ‘Penny Turtle’. Turtle biologists knew they were a unique species. They called them ‘short-neck alpha’ but were not able to formally describe them because pet traders refused to reveal their source of supply. Turtle enthusiasts and biologists continued to search for the location of the turtle in the wild for 25 years until eventually they were ‘discovered’ at a property on the Mary River in late 1990. Four adults were collected and the Mary River Turtle was formally described as a new species within a new genus in 1994. No other turtle in the world is closely related. Legal trade in turtles in Queensland ceased in 1974, but by then the Mary River Turtle was one of the most endangered turtles in the world. It’s listed as an endangered species internationally by the IUCN and by both the Queensland and Australian governments. Today the biggest threat to the survival of the species is predation of eggs by foxes, dogs
and goannas and trampling of nests by cattle. Wildlife Queensland is working to save the endangered Mary River Turtle by making the next breeding season the most successful in over 50 years and protecting all nests. As a result up to 1,000 hatchlings could survive in 2014. Female Mary River Turtle use the same traditional nest sites each year. Each female turtle lays one clutch of 12 to 25 eggs. Immediately a female lays her eggs the turtle protection team place a specially designed plastic screen on each nest that is pegged down and lightly covered with loose sand to deter foxes, dogs and goannas. Electric fencing is installed around the entire nesting site to exclude cattle and eliminate the risk of trampling. The site is monitored, paying particular attention to any heavy rain event. In the event of flooding eggs are rescued and relocated to the highest point on the bank. Nests that are protected and fenced the morning after eggs are laid result in 80% of protected eggs producing hatchlings.
FAME congratulates Wildlife Queensland for their efforts to save this unique endangered Australian animal. For more information about the project visit: http://www.wildlife.org.au/ news/2014/maryriverturtle.html
FAME NEWSLETTER is published by the Foundation for Australia’s Most Endangered Species Ltd ABN 79 154 823 579 PO Box 482 MITCHAM South Australia 5062 Tel: 08 8374 1744 Email: fame@fame.org.au Web: www.fame.org.au Articles in this publication can be reproduced with acknowledgement.
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The status of wildlife in the Flinders Ranges and adjacent plains of arid Australia
Above left: Woylies continue to thrive in protected areas of natural habitat across several mainland states. Above right: The beautiful Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby is thriving in the Flinders Ranges thanks to Operation Bounceback.
From the editor’s desk
One of Australia’s wildlife success stories – the remarkable recovery of the Woylie or Brush-tailed Bettong – has been reversed by a shocking population crash. For a while, at the end of the 1990’s, it looked as though the Woylie was safe. Numbers increased rapidly and for the first time an animal with a very questionable future was taken off the endangered list. Wildlife experts across the country were encouraged that this success story could also indicate a better future for other small mammals. Then suddenly seemingly healthy animals were dying in large numbers with the only clue being an increase in internal parasites. In ten years the population declined by an estimated 90%. No hard evidence exists for either the original decline or its reversal, and today scientists as scrambling to find out why the Woylie is disappearing again. Some suspect that it might be stress. Just as in humans, where an increase in stress hormones can make us sick, stress may be making Woylies susceptibility to other problems like parasite infections. Woylies face a number of potential threats such as changing population density and introduced predators. Following this line of investigation researchers plan to test whether or not the presence of introduced predators such as foxes and affects the stress levels of Woylies. The answer to this research question seems obvious: predators cause stress for wildlife. That’s OK, it’s part of the natural order of things, and Australian wildlife has evolved to cope with predators like Wedge Tailed Eagles. They simply freeze and blend into the background until the predator moves on. Unfortunately freezing is the worst thing you can do when being hunted by a fox or a cat. Such strategies make small to medium wildlife easy pickings for the world’s most efficient predators, and stress climbs to a whole new level. It’s important to consider that Woylies continue to do well in protected environments - like
Wadderin Sanctuary in WA’s Central Wheat Belt, and Scotia Sanctuary in western NSW where foxes and cats have been removed and excluded by a feral proof fence. It’s also true that wildlife such as Potoroos and Bandicoots (in Victoria under the Southern Ark program) and Yellow Footed Rock Wallabies (in South Australia under Operation Bounceback) increase in numbers where foxes and cats are regularly controlled. FAME agrees that the management of rare little marsupials like Woylies must be improved. Research may offer important clues if results are available in time, but shouldn’t we check first whether only wild populations are being affected? If Woylies in protected areas are thriving then we don’t need research to tell us that our wildlife needs direct protection to survive. I’d like to see a cost benefit analysis of the relative benefits of wildlife research as opposed to direct wildlife protection. First cab off the rank should be the Tasmanian Devil recovery program. Literally millions of dollars has been spent so far on research into the deadly Devil Facial Tumour Disease, with no clear result that will save the last 10% of this species from vanishing. The best and cheapest solution for the Tasmanian Devil is the simplest: remove healthy animals from the wild in Tasmania and give them a home (like Devil Ark) in natural bush on the mainland. For the Woylie and the Tasmanian Devil, and indeed for most endangered Australian species teetering on the brink of extinction, I suggest that the solution is more protected areas of natural habitat and active protection, not more research.
Cheryl Hill, Editor and CEO
Prior to European settlement, South Australia’s Flinders Ranges was home to at least 49 species of mammal. Today, 29 of these native animals, including the Western Quoll, are regionally-extinct. The importance of the Bounceback program – and the invisible fence it provides – can’t be overrated. By reducing pressure from feral predators and competitors Bounceback has boosted populations of other iconic animals such as the yellow footed rock wallaby, echidnas and sand goannas. Plant species, such as bullock bush and slender bell-fruit, are also recovering.
Before European settlement: A full suite of arid zone mammals were present in the Flinders Ranges: rodents, bats, carnivorous marsupials, possums, kangaroos and wallabies (and one monotreme: the echidna).
1993 (Bounceback feral control program established): • 29 species of mammal locally extinct. One important species, the Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby, on the brink of extinction. • 7 species of feral animals well established, threatening remaining native wildlife and preventing the recovery of important species of native vegetation.
2014: the year of Idnya (Western Quoll) Yellow footed Rock Wallaby has returned to good numbers and spreading across the Flinders Ranges. Other species (echidnas, sand goannas, several species of threatened plants) are recovering. Idnya (Western Quoll) has returned to the Flinders Ranges for the first time in over 100 years. Vulnerable wildlife can no longer exist in the wild in Australia without direct help. FAME and DEWNR intend the Western Quoll to be the first of a series of species restorations in the Flinders Ranges made possible by the feral control program of Operation Bounceback.
Your support can help FAME restore the balance to arid Australia,
beginning in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia. Visit www.fame.org.au
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