Johnstone Region Landcare back in business

Johnstone Region Landcare back in business

MARIA GIRGENTI

JOHNSTONE Region Landcare Group has re-opened and is back in business at Johnstone Water & Land (JWAL) site at 2 Stitt Street, Innisfail thanks to a government stimulus package.

The nursery is thriving and staff are selling local plants which are suitable for backyards, re-vegetation projects, as well as coastal and rainforest trees and is open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9.00am to 2.00pm.

There may be limited staff, so patrons are asked to be patient and mindful of COVID-19 restrictions, especially following social distancing rules and good hygiene at all times while at the site.

Johnstone Region Landcare is a group of volunteers working together and with landholders, community and council in the Johnstone Catchment with plantings and carrying out of environmental works to enhance the local environment.

For further information, please contact Fay on 0487 890 604 or via email: johnstonelandcare@gmail.com.

Johnstone Region Landcare Secretary Fay Falco-Mammone and life member Peter Rowles with some of the many nursery plants for sale at their JWAL site, Stitt Street, Innisfail

GREATER STRIKE

Diagnosis: cancer, But its a frog!

OVER the years, the frog hospital has received dozens of cases of cancer in frogs. The most dramatic cases were found to be squamous cell carcinoma but not all cancers are so obvious.

Recently a large white-lipped tree frog came in from the Ingham area with what appeared to be an aggressive flesh-eater on its face. We started antimicrobial treatment. However, the nasty looking patch did not shrink - it actually got a little bigger.

So we sent the frog off to our Consulting Vet Paul Matthews (Redlynch Valley Vets) to see if the inflamed tissues could be removed or better identified. Paul was able to remove some of the growth but decided to send this sample to the lab for ID ... just in case.

The results came back as spindle cell soft tissue sarcoma. This is our first verified case of this type of neoplasia and it is the fifth form of cancer that has been confirmed from our cases. This frog now becomes number 42 in our list of known cancer cases in our website (https://www.frogsafe.org.au). The fact that amphibian cancer cases in FNQ are at such globally significant levels is cause for concern and it needs to be independently researched.

Frog hospital Founder Deborah Pergolotti implores the public to please keep watch for any frog with lumps of any kind or any other ulcerations. She says, "We can receive animals from Cooktown right down to Mackay and we can assist long-distance with cases anywhere in Australia".

If you find a frog that needs attention, always use gloves or a plastic bag over your hand to collect it and place in an ice cream container with air holes; then bring indoors while you are contacting the frog hospital on (07) 4068-9402 or email admin@frogsafe.org.au

(Root emergence at just 72 hrs)

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