Wildlife

Mike Gillam. Travelling south, I leave Alice Springs before first light and I’m rewarded and indeed frustrated by a brilliant meteor plummeting to earth in the south west. The heavenly body is primarily bright green with an orange tail and I fail to capture it even though the camera sits on the seat beside me ready for such moments.

The Northern Territory Government’s Saltwater Crocodile Management Program 2024-2034 will allow for the targeted culling of crocodiles in specified areas to ensure the safety of swimmers. The new Program provides a clear direction for the management of the NT’s saltwater crocodile population for the next 10 years.

The 2024 Victorian duck season has been nothing short of a success, marked by outstanding hunter compliance and an exhilarating experience for participants. As the season progresses, it is clear that responsible hunting is a positive force, not just for those involved, but for conservation and the environment.  

The government’s own research on the north coast has confirmed that forestry does not affect koala numbers ... New data from field surveys of 1000 sites, trumpeted by the incoming Environment Minister and commenced a year ago, will not be released in time to stimulate or inform public submissions on the Koala Strategy ... The result is preordained.

Hundreds of native seedlings are set to be planted on flood-affected land, helping to bolster native habitat and reduce future flood damage. The project area, adjacent to and including Lions Park, Lower Tenthill, consists of two recently acquired lots which were bought back under the Voluntary Home Buy-Back (VHBB) program.

The State Government’s record-breaking fish stocking program has again hit a high-water mark with 10 million fish stocked this year, so more recreational fishers can wet a line close to home across the state. Minister for Outdoor Recreation Steve Dimopoulos, last week stocked more brown trout at Lake Wendouree in Ballarat and announced the major milestone for Victorians.

Shaun Hollis. A trio of majestic wedge-tailed eagles rises out of the paddock stubble as our farm ute approaches ... Honiton farmer Matt Smith said he likes the huge birds living in the scrub beyond the bottom paddock because they help clean up the remains of any lambs which have become too weak to survive on their own. He said he has never seen an eagle kill a healthy lamb on his farm.

The Richardson River, Donald, and Lake Buloke are among the areas closed to hunting for the season beginning tomorrow. The Victorian Government has closed or partially closed thirty-two wetlands to hunting for the 2024 duck season to prevent losses or disturbance to significant numbers of threatened species and breeding waterbirds.

Brian Lea and David Dore ... The call of the Plains-wanderer is like the moo of a cow. The song metres are programmed to record in the evening and the early mornings ... over a period of time the song metre on George Cullinan’s property picked up a number of calls over a matter of a few weeks ...

When I started as a young forester in the late 1980s, I yearned for the opportunity to work in our native forests. While assessing a coupe to plan for a tree harvesting operation, I knew I was inheriting a forest structure that benefited from silvicultural practices adopted by foresters a few generations before me. Foresters aim to make the forest more productive by applying scientific principles to aid in the regeneration of the next crop of trees and to encourage the best growth of the retained trees. My responsibility was to continue that tradition for foresters a few generations ahead of me.

About 150 people gathered at Nornalup on March 23 to protest about the State Government’s plan to burn 80ha of nearby mostly-unlogged tingle forest. Nornalup community members are angry about the planned burn which environmentalists say is counter-productive to fire mitigation and destructive to the environment.

During the 2019 bushfires, Ember was severely dehydrated, her fur was black, coated in soot and she was badly singed. She suffered from congested lungs from smoke inhalation and had significant burns to her rump and all four paws.

Anne Hughes. The ground-walking, weak-flying birds you see on your trip down the Sunraysia Highway to Ballarat are one of Australia’s most amazing birds - the White-winged Chough (pron. chuff).  With their sooty-black livery, startling ruby-red eyes and, when they take to the air, black-edged white wings they are obviously not crows (we don’t have ’em down here) or ravens either.

"The decision regarding the proposed Great Koala National Park does not belong to a single voice but should involve many voices, mostly from the Mid North Coast. The Labor Government is attempting to blindfold us. Rather than using its chance to engage in authentic discussion with the community, it chooses to undermine us by including carefully curated elitists pretending to be our community representatives": Michael Kemp MP ... A good point that needs to be spelt out in more detail.

Patricia Gill. Denmark school students are part of a landscape-scale move to re-establish the breeding of black cockatoos in the region. To spark their students’ enthusiasm, environmentalist Simon Cherriman visited four schools recently and helped the students build four nesting boxes at each school from recycled materials ... The Denmark Men’s Shed will build 40 nest boxes ...

A CSIRO study recently identified balloons among the top three most harmful pollutants threatening marine wildlife, along with plastic bags and bottles ... Plastic Reduction Denmark has been providing an alternative for the past five years – ‘borrow and return’ bunting is made from pre-loved fabrics in many colours and designs to suit every occasion.

Monique Dawson. Recent public commentary about the closure of VicForests has included numerous false and misleading claims.  VicForests knows there are individuals and organisations who are opposed to native timber harvesting who will be celebrating VicForests’ closure ... The most offensive category of false claims being made is the suggestion VicForests is “rogue” or a “cowboy agency”.

Michelle Daw. Concerned members of the public have called on Barunga West Council and the state government to take action to help protect a lone dolphin from interactions with people. There are reports some people have interfered with the dolphin, which has been seen along the Port Broughton foreshore.

The Ovens River Challenge at Myrtleford Victoria is again on for young and old ... Widely renowned wildlife artist and fly fisher, Trevor Hawkins, will be present to show some of his fantastic works of fish and bird art ... we are researching the abundance of the endangered Macquarie Perch and Trout Cod.