Work is underway at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary north-west of Alice Springs to create a feral animal-free zone by building a 44-kilometre fence. It has been described as the largest feral cat eradication project in the world, and will eventually span 100,000 hectares. It’s ambitious, audacious and visionary.
Australian Wildlife Conservancy want to get rid of feral cats. At the moment the best method is building a fence, eradicating feral animals from within it, and reintroducing native animals. Also, weeds, mismanaged fire, and other feral animals were the biggest threats to Australia’s native animal population. So, by keeping feral animals out, it is hoped the sanctuary will see the return of 10 native species, including the central rock rat, mala, numbats, bilbies and phascogales.
The Shark Bay Mouse is one of 10 creatures to benefit from a $10million cat-proof fence being built in the central desert region to help combat an extinction crisis. Australian Wildlife Conservancy chief executive Atticus Fleming said 30 native mammal species had disappeared since European settlement — the worst extinction rate on the planet.
(image: Shark Bay Mouse - https://www.sharkbay.org/nature/animals/)
Fleming’s being very cautious- easy to blame the “feral animals” out there, and they are the local threat, but he’s silent about urbanisation, livestock industries, land clearing and agricultural expansion? He claims there are up to 11million feral cats across the country, “threatening at least 60 native mammals that are currently in danger of extinction. They include bilbies, numbats, bettongs and rock wallabies.”
Cats are domestic animals, pets owned by people. People fail to care for them, allow them to over-breed, and then escape, and they end up feral- eking out a living by killing! They are a human-caused problem and cat ownership must be more regulated, with mandatory desexing and microchipping.
Allard maintains that, once the feral animals have been culled, the native population will be reintroduced and at least 10 native species should begin to thrive once more.
Once the fence is complete and feral animals are cleared from inside, at least 10 endangered mammals will be reintroduced, including some species that have been gone from the region for decades. Among them is the mala, or rufous hare-wallaby, which was once common in central Australia but has existed only in captivity since 1991. Local Warlpiri men and women have been employed by the AWC to construct the enclosure, first by operating the machinery needed to establish the fence.
19th-century explorers such as Ernest Giles, who encountered an abundance of native mammals, wrote in his journal that the hills in central Australia “swarmed” with rock-wallabies. (now they would be described as a “plague” and “over-abundant”) That species is now seriously endangered. Australians colonial expansion has been devastating on our wildlife, and now we are the biggest mammal exterminators of the modern world!
The Newhaven eradication fence will reportedly be nearly two metres high, with a curved top and netting at the base to deter animals seeking to get in or out of the premises. “There will be two electric wires as well that run on the outside,” Newhaven manager Joe Schofield confirms.
-The feral-proof fence will be constructed by early 2018.
-The removal of feral cats and foxes will occur during 2017/18.
-The reintroduction of endangered mammals will start in early 2019.
-Stage one will cost around $5 million over the next four years.
Bandicoots are a unique marsupial abut the size of a young rabbit and are closely related to the much adored bilby. Females have a pouch like kangaroos but their pouch is opening backwards so that the young have to get in and out through the “backdoor”. This is because bandicoots dig in the soil for grubs and, hence, would fill their pouch with soil.
They have a long nose with a highly developed olfactory system. Their long nose is lined with lots of sensitive receptors and neurons in order to detect food buried deep in the soil. They can detect the exact location of a grub 20 cm deep under the soil and pin-point exactly to it when digging for it.They dig very rapidly with their long fore-claws and within seconds they find their meal.
In addition, their conical diggings left behind are of great importance to the environment (Patricia Flemming etal). These diggings increase soil turnover, alter plant community composition and structure, trap rainwater for better water infiltration, capture bio-mater for nutrient cycling, and add to fungal and seed dispersal.
The presence of diggings can also prevent tree mortality and tree-die-off while the dispersal of fungal spores will speed up leaf-litter break down and so reduce the fire hazard.
Sadly, bandicoots are extremely vulnerable to the introduced predators such as dogs, foxes and cats as well as the reduction and fragmentation of their habitat. They are now on the national endangered list. One would think that the extreme usefulness and aesthetic value of these cute animals would be enough to want them to be protected at all cost but thus is not the case.The problem: they are not as popular as a kangaroos, or a koalas and are not quite like bilbys.
The Eastern Barred Bandicoot is one of Victoria’s most endangered marsupials, with over 99% of their native grassland habitat cleared for agriculture and urban development. The species in Victoria is now classified as ‘Extinct in the Wild’, and small Eastern Barred Bandicoot populations only exist due to captive breeding programs in wildlife parks and key locations around the state.
Wildlife rescuer and carer, Rebecca Koller, has observed an unprecedented number of Spectacled flying fox casualties in a traditional breeding site located near a new hotel construction in Cairnes. The spectacled flying fox is a threatened species.[1] Despite many attempts to get the Australian government to investigate and or intervene, the government has failed to get back to her. This is even though the problem has received extensive publicity and the species is about to have its threatened status upgraded from vulnerable to endangered. The source of this article is correspondence between Ms Koller and The Australian Wildlife Protection Council.
On Wed, 3 Jan 2018 at 11:51 AM, Rebecca Koller wrote to Craig Thomson, the president of the Australian Wildlife Protection Council (AWPC), asking for his advice and or assistance based on his knowledge of our government and wildlife protection.
Ms Koller is a flying fox carer from Far North Queensland and the Wildlife advisor of the Cairns Flying Fox advisory board.
Here is the website she posts to: https://www.ouranimalsourearth.com/
She has been documenting the Spectacled flying fox deaths and orphans at the Cairns Library flying fox colony. Despite numerous attempts, she had received no communication from the Australian federal government regarding her requests for it to intervene or investigate the unprecedented number of pups from this breeding season found dead or orphaned.
The camp referred to carries about 4000 flying foxes. Ms Koller says that this is a huge reduction on previous seasons. Since September 15th 2017, there were 898 flying foxes dead or orphaned from this one camp, compared with 366 last season. In her opinion and that of other wildlife carers, the increased casualties are attributable to the construction work directly across from the roost trees.
Wildlife carer observations deserve respect; they are often all we have
The Cairns Library Colony flying fox camp is considered federally of national significance. Ms Koller has been documenting both orphans and deaths . See the record of deaths and orphans for this season and the previous one. (Females spectacled flying foxes give birth to one young per year, in the October to December period. Juveniles are nursed for over five months and, on weaning, congregate in nursery trees in the colony.)
This record of casualties in the colony has been criticised as only “anecdotal and observatory” by a spokesperson for the company, who says there is no history for comparison. Candobetter.net would say that careful observations from wildlife carers, who know the history of the colony and can point to photographs of corpses and to the animals in their care, cannot and should not be dismissed so easily. If this is the only source of a count on this species, then it is precious and deserves respect. We note that official counts do not monitor the Cairns breeding colonies, which is convenient for the massive development going on there, but needs urgently to be remedied.
The construction company began building what will be a multimillion dollar hotel development just prior to the birthing season. Ms Koller describes, as the only new factors in this birthing season from the previous one, the clearing of trees once occupied by the flying foxes, the presence of equipment such as pile drivers, and multiple cranes, with arms swinging directly over the roost trees. She says she has written to EHP, the threatened species commissioner, the media, and raised the subject in council meetings on numerous occasions but to no avail.
Greater protection needs to be afforded to the animals due to their decline as a species, their importance as a keystone species and the significance of this particular maternity camp.
Where to make Go Fund Me contributions to the Spectacled flying foxes in Cairns
Ms Koller has over 50 orphans in her care and had to arrange the transport of 100 orphans to the Australian Bat Clinic in Brisbane, because there were simply not enough carers in her area to cope with the number of flying foxes orphaned this season. Ms Koller crowd funded money to help support carers’ costs to care for these animals. See the wonderful baby bat pictures at https://www.gofundme.com/4m5qayg. Although she raised just over $10,000, all of this has already been used up for necessary supplies. There are still three to four unfunded months remaining before carers can begin to release the flying foxes they have raised. In addition, the birthing season has not yet ended and rescuers are still finding dead and orphaned on a daily basis.
Ms Koller met with the ecologist conducting the monitoring for the construction company and has been keeping him abreast of the bat casualty totals this year compared to the previous year.
Flying Foxes, Government, wildlife carers and wildlife protection on the ground
Craig Thomson, President of Australian Wildlife Protection Council (AWPC), congratulated Ms Koller on her actions to date and commented,
”The information to be found about this flying fox species, is a perfect example of both federal and state governments appearing to do the right thing by undertaking steps to improve protection. Such protection is, unfortunately, rarely if ever enacted or carried out on the ground, leading to the species’ existence being threatened further.”
“This is highlighted with the Spectacled flying fox species being listed as vulnerable in 2002 and a more recent public consultation seeking recommendations for its conservation status at the end of 2016.
“It would be interesting to know if the Spectacled flying fox conservation status is to be upgraded from this process or whether it was part of the work that the officer Rebecca Koller has had correspondence with, stating that “federal and state governments were working to have the same conservation status for the species”.
Disingenous governments
Mr Thomson added,
“It seems disingenuous to me that the federal and state governments and agencies have been making statements such as “This spectacled flying-fox has been subject to appreciable research, monitoring and management over the last 20 years. It is a high priority species under Queensland’s “Back on Track program.” See the following link http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/0e526f41-7db6-4e21-b2a2-8aa9b2b45352/files/consultation-document-pteropus-conspicillatus.pdf. It appears, despite this, that licenses can still be obtained for lethal control. Furthermore, attempts by carers and advocates like Rebecca Koller, to raise welfare concerns about these flying foxes are met with complacency and threats. Yet, they are still being called upon to rescue, rehabilitate and release them back to the wild.”
“Fortunately there is a recovery plan for the species and it is internationally protected and recognised, as such this is where we need to focus for the best outcomes. Below is a list of the 8 recovery objectives, if we are able to find proof that these objectives are not being met. It could be possible to proceed legal action.”
Recovery Objectives for the Spectacled Flying Fox
Recovery Objective 1: Research practicable and cost effective flying fox deterrent systems for commercial fruit growers.
Recovery Objective 2: Identify and protect native foraging habitat critical to the survival of the spectacled flying fox.
Recovery Objective 3: Accurately assess the short and long term population size and population trends of the spectacled flying-fox.
Recovery Objective 4: Improve the public perception of the spectacled flying-fox and the standard of information available to guide recovery.
Recovery Objective 5: Increase knowledge of P conspicillatus roosting
requirements and protect important camps.
Recovery Objective 6: Improve understanding of incidence of tick paralysis and actions to minimise paralysis mortality in flying foxes.
Recovery Objective 7: Implement strategies to reduce incidence of electrocution and entanglement of P. conspicillatus.
Recovery Objective 8 Investigate the causes of birth abnormalities such as cleft palate syndrome.
Spectacled Flying Fox threatened status nominated for upgrading from Vulnerable to Endangered
SFF have been nominated under the Commonwealth threatened species legislation for up-listing from Vulnerable to Endangered.
Qld government (Labor 2015) promised to match Commonwealth threatened species listing for SFF, so when they move up the EPBC list, they should also move up the Qld thretened species listing from Vulnerable to Endangered. The Minister (Commonwealth) is expected to announce his decision on uplisting on 18 February. nomination has been considered by the TSSC and the Minister is expected to make his decision on 18 February. It has been a long wait.
International obligations for the Spectacled flying fox under CITES
The international obligations are as follows: “The spectacled flying fox is listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Populations of the spectacled flying fox are recognised as values of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area and therefore under the protection of World Heritage Convention”. In this regard we can always contact both CITES and the World Heritage Convention to embarrass the government’s into action. The same could be said of the hotel development who is currently claiming that values of Queensland Wet Tropics World heritage area is damaging their business. While making a point of this, it would be a great opportunity to advocate for the Spectacled bats ecological and economical services. The link below is the recovery plan for the species which has both the objectives and international matters.
[1] The spectacled flying fox was listed as a threatened species under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1991. They were considered vulnerable due to a significant decline in numbers as a result of loss of their prime feeding habitat and secluded camp sites.
Sent to:
Minister for Environment, NSW Gabrielle Upton,
Premier of NSW, Gladys Berejiklian
Dear Premier and Minister,
I am writing on behalf of the Australian Wildlife Protection Council, a group that’s been in operation since 1969 as a voice for wildlife, and issues relating to their conservation and welfare.
We are horrified and deeply concerned to read a report in the media about annihilation of koala habitats. Freedom of information request by North Coast Environment Council (NCEC) exposed that the state-owned corporation, Forestry Corporation, has conducted “unauthorised” clearing and intensive logging across 74,906 hectares of public native forests between Coffs Harbour and Taree since 2006! So this covert operation, illegal and lethal, has been allowed to continue for over a decade without intervention?
How are we meant to be assured that wildlife in Australia have ANY legal protection or status when such blatant and long-term vandalism is allowed? Surely this can’t be covered-up for such a long time with collaboration between logging industry and government?
NCEC spokeswoman Susie Russell said: “Public native forest has been cleared and converting it to quasi-plantation. What is meant to be multi aged forests, with diverse under-stories, providing habitat for a plethora of native animals, is being converted into younger and younger regrowth where the under-storey is bulldozed bare.”
So public native forests have now transitioned to an industry resource, rather than being “public” and a reserve for rightful inhabitants- native animals?
“Many animals, including koalas, need the resources provided by older trees to survive.” How would we survive if bulldozers were allowed to demolish our homes, and leave us without food or protection? She said that about one in every three hectares of forest cleared was high quality koala habitat, according to the mapping recently released by the Environment Protection Authority.
“Now we can see why koala numbers have declined by 50 per cent on the north coast in the last 15-20 years.”
This is an appalling case, of koala genocide in the name of $$$ – in a country famous and renown as a leading mammal exterminator!
WWF say that once the habitat has been redeveloped, that this brought new threats to the koala, such as more cars, more dogs, “more accidents waiting to happen for koalas.” So “redeveloped” habitat is a grotesque euphemism for vandalism of habitat, of destruction by bull-dozing?
Numbers of koalas are down 53 per cent on average in Queensland, 26 per cent in NSW and in a pocket ironically known as the Koala Coast, numbers have declined by 80 per cent over the past two decades. What sort of nation are we, to just kill off so callously, for short term profits , the animals we are famous for?
WWF has warned of “localised extinctions” if more was not done to stop development encroaching on koala habitats. “Government has to bite the bullet and put in strong protections, not just for koalas but for all our wildlife,” conservation manager for WWF, Dr Taylor, says!
Extinction is not an event, but a process – and each tree cleared, each patch of habitat destroyed, means fewer koalas!
We demand a response to this horrific situation, and ask to put an end to land clearing in NSW. We demand higher levels of protection to all wildlife – especially koalas.. Indigenous wildlife should not have to justify their existence, or be priced out of their homes and lives!!
Thank you
Vivienne Ortega, secretary AWPC
Eve Kelly, Treasurer
Sheila Newman, Policy adviser, and Evolutionary Sociologist
Michael Bayliss,
President, Sustainable Population Australia Victorian and Tasmanian branch
PO Box 556
Hawthorn 3122
bayliss.michael@gmail.com
Dr. Ernest Healy
President, Protectors of Public Lands, Victoria
P.O.Box 197 Parkville 3152
ernest.healy@monash.edu
For the first time in more than five years, ecologists have found a rare New Holland mouse at Wilsons Promontory. The rodent was once found in populations dotted across Victoria, including in parts of metropolitan Melbourne as recently as the 1970s. In the past 15 years, it has only been recorded in three areas: the Gippsland Lakes, Wilsons Promontory and Providence Ponds, between Maffra and Bairnsdale.
The New Holland mouse is listed as vulnerable in Victoria and federally and endangered in Tasmania. In 1994, the New Holland mouse was found at 25 sites at Wilsons Promontory. However regular surveys since have failed to find the native rodent, which was last documented in early 2010.
(image:Original source: Flickr: New Holland Mouse Author: Doug Beckers )
Ecologist Phoebe Burns from Museum Victoria and Melbourne University caught the 42-gram adult male in a trap, enticed by peanut butter.
The species also occurs in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
The New Holland Mouse is similar in appearance to the introduced and relatively common House Mouse (Mus musculus), but can be distinguished by its relatively large eyes and lack of a ‘mousey’ odour. The species appears to have undergone a major decline since European settlement. Historical and ongoing threats to the species include loss of habitat and predation from introduced predators, ie “human activities”! Habitat for the New Holland Mouse includes coastal open heathlands, open woodlands with a heathland understorey, and vegetated sand dunes.
The tail is longer than the head-body length and is dusky brown on top, whitish below and darker at the tip. Broadly similar in appearance to the introduced House Mouse, with larger rounded ears, larger eyes and lacking a notch on the inside of the upper incisors.
The charismatic little species has only been recorded in three areas across the state in the past 15 years, whereas historically it was recorded in ten, including metropolitan Melbourne. That’s why PhD student Phoebe Burns embarked upon this venture to determine the status of NHMs across Victoria and help protect this species from further decline. She says “One of the greatest challenges for studying the status and conservation of New Holland mice (and many native Australian rodents) is that they can be very difficult to find; you can’t just see them with your binoculars or hear them calling in the bush…. sometimes when a species is at low densities, it takes a huge amount of effort to be reasonably confident that the species isn’t there, which in a world of limited time and funding drastically reduces the area you can survey. This is a real challenge when your species moves in the landscape.”
Now she’s got the IDs sorted, she’ll be using cameras (and live traps) to survey across Victoria and see where the New Holland mouse is persisting, so that the team can do their best to halt the species’ further decline. It’s a great challenge, and we congratulate Phoebe Burns and her team for persistence and their contribution to conservation of our precious and unique wildlife.
The Federal Government is attempting to speed up action over a fatal disease in Australia’s most critically endangered wild bird, the orange-bellied parrot. The Beak and Feather Disease virus is known to be present in common species, including sulphur-crested cockatoos and rainbow lorikeets.
Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews said he wanted to boost the parrot’s captive population as part of an urgent response to an outbreak of beak and feather disease. “This bird is right on the edge of an extinction precipice in the wild,” Mr Andrews said. With such few numbers struggling against “developments” and environmental destruction, any disease could destroy their stronghold on existence.
The threatened species breeds in Tasmania’s Southwest National Park and the birds migrate to Victoria and South Australia every winter. A captive breeding program for the orange-bellied parrot has been in place since 1986. It’s a real Aussie battler!
Around 64 wild parrots flew out of their single Tasmanian breeding colony this autumn for Victorian coastal wintering grounds. 27 were captive bred and released to the wild. The young are listless and shedding feathers. With such small numbers, fewer than 70 in the wild, there’s no room for disease, neglect or complacency. Such small number don’t encourage genetic diversity, or robustness in the species.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has urged the government to reconsider plans to allow logging and mining in the 1.5 million hectare area. Tasmania has some of the tallest forests in the world … big jagged mountains, tall eucalyptus forests, some very unique species like the orange bellied parrot,” Bob Brown Foundation spokeswoman Jenny Weber said.
The food plants that they rely on—plants that—provide seed on an annual basis rely on high salt tolerance. Their odd adaptations have contributed to their current predicament because their large geographical range and specific habitat needs make them harder to legislate for. Coastal salt marsh generally has been looked upon as a wasteland, prime for development for things like petro-chemical plants, even housing, marinas, that sort of thing. The sort of habitat that they live in is so close to the coast that it is highly desirable for development. So, the greatest threat to Orange-bellied parrots is human encroachment and destruction of the specific habitats, what we call “developments”!
Dr Stojanovic from the Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Society said he felt for the many scientists who had invested so much of their time and emotion into saving the species. He says that there’s a tendency to say ‘it’s too hard, let’s put our resources where there is more bang for buck’, but I don’t think we can put our hands on our hearts and say we have put serious money into this. We haven’t done everything we can.
(Sign at Carpenter Rocks, South Australia 2015)
There is a call for a boost in breeding parrots in captivity as a response to the outbreak responsible for their decline.
Although we acknowledge that some extinctions are inevitable and part of the evolutionary process, we believe every creature has the right to a chance to survive, and not be eliminated by hostile economic activities and human encroachments.
Australia, famous for mammal extinctions, is also ramping up our world record to include native bird extinctions.
Wildlife rescuer and carer, Rebecca Koller, has observed an unprecedented number of Spectacled flying fox casualties in a traditional breeding site located near a new hotel construction in Cairnes. The spectacled flying fox is a threatened species.[1] Despite many attempts to get the Australian government to investigate and or intervene, the government has failed to get back to her. This is even though the problem has received extensive publicity and the species is about to have its threatened status upgraded from vulnerable to endangered. The source of this article is correspondence between Ms Koller and The Australian Wildlife Protection Council.
