Wildlife

The Sunshine Coast community is encouraged to register a helping hand and join a tree planting day that will supply sick and orphaned koalas with fresh leaves. Sunshine Coast Council Parks and Gardens team, in partnership with Nambour, Woombye and Maleny Rotary clubs, Hinterland Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation Inc. and Cr David Law, will come together at Mapleton to plant 500 food trees for the local koala habitat.

Farmers are asking for more resources to combat an exponential rise in the number of highly destructive feral pigs, with fears for safety and property. NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin said millions of feral pigs were breeding and rampaging across the countryside, thriving after years of high rainfall, attacking native animals and livestock, and causing massive damage to crops and infrastructure.

The Maldon in Winter festival kicks off tonight (Friday 23 June) with the long-awaited for Kangaroo Art Trail coming to life! Twenty-four life-sized kangaroos lovingly decorated by an array of local artists and community groups are creatively displayed in shop windows along Main & High Streets in Maldon throughout the festival.

In a significant step up in regional One Health and disease prevention capabilities, Wildlife Health Australia has achieved official designation from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) as a Collaborating Centre for Wildlife Health Risk Management. This new international wildlife collaborating centre based in Australia will ensure wildlife health is integrated into One Health decision-making across the Indo-Pacific region to benefit public health, biosecurity, animal health, food security and biodiversity.

A marine park ranger involved in his first whale rescue says freeing a 10m humpback whale – first sighted entangled in ropes just north of Two Rocks – was an amazing experience. Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions senior ranger Ben Leeson said the job of freeing the whale caught up in ropes from two rock lobster pots was carried out over three days.

Fitting neatly into co-curricular studies and specifically, the Connecting to Cattana Wetlands program, year 6 students at Trinity Anglican School (TAS) White Rock campus were treated to a special presentation this week about migratory shorebirds by zoologist, microlight pilot adventurer and children’s book author, Milly Formby ... TAS’ year 6 students were captivated by Milly’s presentation which provided a practical perspective to their studies of Cattana Wetlands near Smithfield...

A new app is allowing members of the public to act as citizen scientists by reporting koala sightings and providing accurate location and population data ... The Minister also announced $520,000 in grants for six projects that support long-term koala conservation in South East Queensland.

This year, the State Government - as part of its Kangaroo Harvesting Program (KHP) - has set the quota for commercial shooting of kangaroos in the central region of Victoria at 65,100 grey kangaroos. The total 2023 KHP quota for the entire state is 166,750. This means that a significant percentage (around 40 per cent) of kangaroos culled in Victoria will be coming from the central region.

A fundraising target of $505,000 has been exceeded to buy a former potato farm on Wilson Inlet’s eastern banks as a wildlife protection sanctuary. Wilson Inlet Catchment Committee and other groups comprising the Eungedup Wetlands Management Group have raised $516,000 to buy 103ha with the sale to be settled at the end of the month.

More than 5,000 trees and shrubs now call the banks of Thowgla Creek home thanks to the combined efforts of more than 30 volunteers over three days. The plantings will accelerate the recovery of the water system following the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires by stabilising banks, providing shade and housing terrestrial food items that fish love.

Vic Jurskis. Since NSW koalas were declared endangered 12 months ago, they’re turning up everywhere. Here's the latest: "... uncovered a new population of 42 koalas at Coolah Tops, north west of Sydney, when the previous government only had five documented koala sightings in the area over the past 70 years." ... The new Minister says, “all estimates have koalas on track to be extinct by 2050” ... A few questions for the new Minister ...

Pest animal control works will commence across Tweed coastal areas from 6 June 2023  after a successful program in previous years. Recent camera monitoring has recorded pest animal activity in the coastal bushland areas at Fingal Head, Kingscliff, Hastings Point and Pottsville. Species recorded on the cameras have included foxes and European hares...

The sustainable management of wildlife in Tasmania is a serious matter for Tasmanian landholders and farmers. Central to managing the issue are property protection permits, which are issued by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE).

A new survey has just been launched to gather community support to better understand the prevalence, impacts and perception of feral deer in the Northern Rivers. Tweed Shire Council, in partnership with Kyogle and Byron Shire councils, has launched a survey to understand the community’s perception of feral deer, the impacts of feral deer, the presence or absence of feral deer in the Northern Rivers and the need to control them.

A decade long study has found there is no evidence that lethal control to reduce livestock losses and for conservation of native wildlife in the southern rangelands of Western Australia is putting dingo purity at risk. The research found that lethal control did not accelerate hybridisation between dingoes and domestic dogs or have any impact on the genetic structure of the population in the study area over 11 years.

The Friends of Mt. Hallowell-Kooryunderup and the Denmark Bird Group last month hosted a bird walk and launch of an official birds of Mt Hallowell-Kooryunderup list. This aims to help identify and count birds in the A-class environmental reserve.

Tasmania's feral deer population is costing the state more than $100 million a year. The peak body for farming in the state, the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association, says the deer population in Tasmania is exploding.

Jenn Lavers. In April, the Adrift Lab team returned to Lord Howe Island ... While Lord Howe Island is the world’s single largest population of Flesh-footed Shearwaters, this same iconic species also breeds throughout the Recherche Archipelago off the coast of Esperance.

Suzie Christensen, LHIB. It’s that time of year when young Shearwater birds emerge from their burrows on LHI ... Flesh-footed Shearwaters (Ardeena carneipes) and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters (Ardeena pacificus) breeding grounds are intersected by the Island roads, increasing the risk of juveniles being run over by cars and bikes.

“Predation by wild dogs on threatened species can have a significant impact on local populations already under pressure from other environment factors ... Out of 144 koalas known to have been killed by predators in the study area, 117 were killed by wild dogs ... Wild dog attacks are leaving pet owners distraught and traumatised": Greg Mifsud.

That’s the question occupying the mind of Maureen Fritsch, who writes from her family’s home, off Avon Plains Road, between Donald and Cope Cope. "The other day, my son, Matt, discovered a 2050mm snake skin not far from our farm," Maureen wrote.