“Saving one animal won’t change the world, but it will change the world for that one animal” 2016 JULY - Report
Spots Newsletter #4
Newsletter Snapshot
CRC Report on STQ’s Wet Tropics STQ’s Survey Ecofiesta 2016 Sightings Report Collaboration QPWS/WTMA Donations DENUNES Canister Member Snapshot MIKI - a beautiful chronicle Spots Around Cassowary AWARDS AQC AGM [1]
CRC REPORT ... Report to Cairns Regional Council (CRC) on the Population & Distribution of the Spotted Tailed Quoll (STQ) in the CRC area The AQC received a $2,600 grant from Cairns Regional Council (CRC) in May 2015 to purchase 10 motion sensor cameras to perform a study on the population and distribution of Spotted Tailed Quolls (STQs) in the CRC area. The grant has been acquitted, the surveys completed and the final report has been submitted to CRC. A copy of the full report is
quolls were found in other areas, it is considered likely that quolls still persist in many of these areas given recent sightings. Analysis of all sightings in the CRC area indicates a total of 48 sightings of STQs since the first record in 1888. Mapping by the AQC shows the sightings distribution of STQs in the CRC area.
also available at the AQC website at www.quolls.org.au The results of the report are briefly summarised below.
This report determines that there are existing stable populations in two locations and likely populations at lower densities in other locations as well as linking corridors which STQs use. The report recommends further targeted studies over a longer period in certain areas, as well as pest management and protection of corridors. It is recommended that the AQC undertakes this work in collaboration with rangers from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS).
52 cameras were deployed for 17,752 camera trapping hours and hundreds of images of a range of species were taken. STQs were found to be present in two locations, these being the Mt Bartle Frere Massif and the Bellenden Ker Range. A total of 5 different animals were photographed in these two locations. Whilst no
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WET TROPICS SURVEY ... Wet Tropics Survey of STQ population and distribution National Park, Dinden National and parks in the Atherton Tablelands area. So far the AQC has successfully identified populations at Mt Lewis, Mt Windsor, Lambs Head, Bartle Frere and Bellenden Ker. This project now involves considerable driving times between areas at 2 to 3 week intervals. Our new long term baiting canisters are allowing bait to stay longer in situ without the usual interference by rodents, pigs, wild cats and dogs. This project is required to be completed by January 2017 – so AQC has a lot of work to do in that time.
Wet Tropics Survey of STQ population and distribution The AQC received a $12,000 grant in January 2016 to undertake a population and distribution survey of STQs across the wet tropics. Work on this project is underway in earnest. The AQC now has 30 cameras, which have been deployed in a range of locations, including: Mt Lewis, Mt Bartle Frere, Gadgarra National Park, Goldsborough Valley, Mt Bellenden Ker, Misty Mountains, Lamb Range, Mt Baldy, Mt Windsor Surveys of these areas will continue as well as additional areas in the later half of the year, such as Thorntons Peak, Devils Thumb, Paluma National Park, Girringun National Park, Daintree • • • • • • • • •
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CAIRNS ECOFIESTA 2016 ...
The AQC attended the Ecofiesta at the Cruise Liner Terminal 29th May 2016. Information was available to the public and we received a lot of questions about quolls as well as several very useful sightings. The day was a great success, was a great way to promote our cause and also to educate people about these wonderful creatures. Pictured left to right Alberto Vale and Luke Jackson AQC Co-founders.
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SIGHTINGS ...
The past 6 months has seen some fantastic sightings of quolls. In this time 14 quoll sightings were made, 8 of these being northern quolls (unfortunately several of these were road kill as seen above) and 6 of them being Spotted tailed quolls. We can’t stress enough to people the importance of being vigilant and careful when driving at night. Despite being able to move very fast, quolls seem to be startled by car lights and either freeze or walk slowly when a car approaches. Northern quolls have again been turning up in unusual places. The AQC was called down to the Cairns Wharf to help release a male northern quoll that had been captured at sea on a freighter. The quoll was in good health and was later released into the wild. Win news reported this. Visit our Facebook for video links. Northern quolls also had to be
relocated from a house in Kewarra Beach and from Cairns Base Hospital Medical Records and while on this ... We all have possibly seen the animation "Ratatouille" - the Mouse that wanted to be a Chef - the latest animal cappers with Northern Quolls is about a male finding its way into the Medical Records of Cairns Private Hospital. This impromptu recruit - as signed posted at the medical records entrance door - had what staff described as a real interest to become a records keeper. Unfortunately the Medical Profession is not yet open for Northern Quolls and the AQC had to relocate him to the correct natural environment department rather than a medical one!
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AQC COLLABORATIONS ... The AQC has held some very constructive meetings with Campbell Clarke and Bill Carodus from the Wet Tropics Management Authority (WTMA) as well as Andrew Millerd from QPWS. The AQC will be hoping to work on our many projects collaboratively where possible with WTMA staff and particularly QPWS rangers. In particular, it is hoped that QPWS rangers can assist the AQC in undertaking survey work in more remote and inaccessible areas. So far rangers have supported us for various studies across the region, including Chris Roach at the Misty Mountains, Dan Fitzpatrick on the Goldfields Trail and Dave Sherwell at Mt Lewis. The rangers give us a great deal of support and we greatly appreciate their enthusiasm and interest in our work. It’s great to see these partnerships forming and growing so that we can collectively work at achieving better outcomes to save these magnificent creatures.
Chris Roach QPWS GPS tagging survey cameras along with some road clearance
Alberto performing some volunteer roof iron rattling shed maintenance Mt Lewis NP
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DONATIONS ... Donations keep flowing in from the general public and various interested groups concerned about conservation. We are always extremely thankful when people put into their own pockets to support what we do. It is a gift to the quolls in ensuring that our work in securing their long term future can continue. So a huge thanks to those who donated recently, including: Dynamic Running and others are personally acknowledged on our Facebook page. We would also like to acknowledge the ongoing support of many of our corporate sponsors as well as groups that have issued grants to the AQC.
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DENUNES CANISTER ... When Luke Jackson started the Far North Quoll Seekers Network with Glenn Kvassay in 2008, the main way of placing a chicken bait in front of a motion sensor camera was by putting metal wire through it and wrapping it around a tree. This obviously had its problems, such as messy handling of chicken, the chicken was easily eaten by anything and there was the potential for animals to incur injuries on the metal wire. Glen Kvassay then invented the “Kvassay Bag” in an effort to reduce the loss of meat being taken and also to make it safer for the animals. The Kvassay Bag is a simple creation of some garden lattice, cut into a square shape and joined at the sides. The chicken is slotted in from the top, the bag is closed with zip tags and then attached to a tree. Whilst the Kvassay bag was far superior to the wire method, animals could still take some of the meat and in some cases take all the meat or destroy the bag altogether (particularly dingos and pigs). The Kvassay bag is widely used presently across the country as an effective method of holding bait. More recently Alberto Vale of the AQC has developed the “Denunes Canister”. The Denunes Canister is made of PVC pipe in which large holes are cut into it. The holes are large enough to enable the smell to emanate, but to prevent animals reaching or eating all of the chicken. The AQC presently deploys these across the Wet Tropics and is presently determining the effectiveness of these in protecting bait over longer periods. So far, the DENUNES canister has proven far superior to any other method of baiting.
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MEMBER SNAPSHOT ...
Now with 3 months of up close and personal experiences with quolls in the wild, she can’t wait for her next work day off to go quolling. Emmaline's favorite thing about quolls is how fierce and bold they can be, plus their anatomic cutest little human like hands! The remarkable connectivity of wildlife corridors - extending far over several mountainous ranges - is also one of her great interests. The animal’s dependence on wildlife corridors extending from the Lamb Range through the Gillies Range to Bellenden Ker and beyond, is mind boggling for such a small yet lighting fast animal, “she says”. Emmaline hopes that in the near future her ventures with AQC and WildCAM Australia will allow her to explore & film the Spotted-tailed quoll in it’s territory and learn even more about these amazing marsupials! So far a memorable place is Mt Lewis where she tasted the vast horizons of Australia’s Spotted-tailed quoll landscapes.
Member Snap Shot – Emmaline Hardy Emmaline Hardy is an aspiring wildlife filmmaker from Columbus Mississippi, USA. Raised amidst the southern farmland and the bush, she finds Australian landscapes like a second home. Her incessant disposition is extraordinary, always eager to shine in every job at stake, she’s a master in bush camp fire and her Southern Smore’s - which we still have to try around the campfire!! Her lifetime interest in animals and nature connected her to AQC & WildCAM Australia with the help of a mutual friend. Being uneducated about Australian wildlife, the plight of the rarely seen quoll which is largely unknown to most Australians, fueled her desire to help.
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MIKI - A BEAUTIFUL CHRONICLE ...
Miki .... Japanese meaning for “beautiful story” or “ strength of a tree” just reached the old age of 4 years. In the wilds of the Wet Tropics Lamb Range National Park, MIKI has been part of a nature documentary based on the species that started in Jun 2013 with filming finishing mid 2015. During this period, she outlived her grand-mother, aunt and finally her mother. For the last year and half she was alone in a vast territory that once she shared with others from her colony. The AQC with the help of WildCAM Australia (who produced the documentary), continued to monitor this single female. Then earlier in July 2015, a new quoll appeared in the area. It was captured on camera from researchers in the field in the same area. Although this brief camera encounter didn’t result in additional sightings on the WildCAM Australia cameras, the AQC never lost hope of another sighting. As the months passed this, individual reappeared again, again and ... again. By then with special laid POV cameras, WildCAM Australia managed to identify this newcomer as a male, with further images showing him following MIKI in toe, while smelling her backside. Could it be that MIKI will at last become the Image courtesy Scott Burnett oldest “gracilis” female to fall pregnant and thus assure her genetic legacy. Follow MIKI with her latest adventures on our Facebook.
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SPOTS AROUND ... The Western Quoll is back in South Australia! After an absence of nearly one hundred years, the western quoll has now been reintroduced back into South Australia. Ninety three western quolls were reintroduced to the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park in northern South Australia between 2014 and 2016. Quolls were sourced from the wild in Western Australia where the WA Dept for Parks and Wildlife’s recent efforts have led to a successful recovery of the species in many areas of the state. The South Australian Department for Environment, Water and Natural Resources teamed up with FAME (Foundation for A u s t r a l i a ’s M o s t Endangered species) to implement the quoll reintroduction to South Australia, which has seen more than 92 new Flinders-born individuals captured since release. The quolls have successfully bred each year with the trap success increasing from 2.6 to 6.2% over the last two years. Camera grids have also shown a slight increase in the extent of occurrence of quolls in the park. The main threat to the quolls is feral cats which have killed up to one third of released individuals each year. Efforts are being made to control cats through baiting, trapping and shooting. Encouragingly there are more quolls detected on remote cameras than cats, with quoll detections averaging 4% and cats averaging 1.5%. Foxes are rarely seen on camera which is a credit to the long term fox baiting program implemented by the Ikara-Flinders Ranges Bounceback Program. Four western quolls have also been reintroduced to the Arid Recovery Reserve in northern South Australia as a trial release. The reserve is fenced to exclude rabbits, cats and foxes and is home to threatened species such as the bilby, burrowing bettong, western barred bandicoot, plains mouse and stick-nest rat. Arid Recovery is hoping that eventually the quolls may assist in
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SPOTS AROUND ... stabilizing the population of burrowing bettongs reintroduced to the reserve through direct predation on the species. Burrowing bettong numbers have reached several thousand in parts of the 123 square km reserve and are damaging seedlings and perennial plants. Scats of the quolls are being analysed to determine their diet and to understand the potential i m p a c t s o n o t h e r re i n t ro d u c e d species. Arid Recovery is also testing whether the quolls will assist in improving the anti-predator response of threatened species in the reserve which may help them co-exist with feral predators in the future. If results are positive, Arid Recovery may proceed with a full scale release. At present, the quolls inside the reserve have been doing well, putting on weight and traveling several kilometres a night within their home range. Scat analysis suggests they are eating a wide variety of mammals including hopping mice and bettongs. We are very happy to have quolls back in South Australia and hope that translocations to other areas of the state will follow. article images (transporting the quolls to the Flinders Ranges, Quoll sleeping in a cage trap, quoll being released and DEWNR ranger Darren McKenzie processing a captured quollphotos K Moseby
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2016 CASSOWARY AWARDS ...
The 2016 Cassowary Awards nominations are now OPEN. Nomination close on 31 August 2016. Go in and NOMINATE as Your Environmental Vote counts. There are several environmental contributors in North Queensland worthy of this environmental award recognition. Should you wish to nominate the Australian Quoll Conservancy, Suitable Categories are: Category 1 - Conservation and rehabilitation Category 6 - Community champions The Wet Tropics Management Authority’s Cassowary Awards has been recognising exceptional conservationists within our communities since 1999. Selected individuals and groups who have made outstanding contributions to the conservation and presentation of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area are recognised in a gala ceremony each year. The Wet Tropics Management Authority Board seeks nominations for the Awards from its partners, stakeholders and the public. Please submit online link: Direct Link Online Form: http://ow.ly/5T9F302rXUR Further Information http://ow.ly/gvPw302rXqi Nominations close on 31 August 2016. [13]
2016 AQC AGM ... The AQC will be holding its AGM in August/ September this year. All members will be notified of the date, location and time shortly. We encourage you to attend so you can participate in this important function where we can decide who does what so we can ensure our resources are well used.
NEWSLETTER sponsored by WildCAM AustraliaÂŽ www.wildcamaustralia.com
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