Wildlife

Koalas, long-nosed potoroos and powerful owls are among more than 20 threatened species to benefit from three additions to the NSW national parks estate. Minister for Environment James Griffin said more than 2,000 hectares has been acquired in three locations – in Monaro, near Yamba, and north of Taree ... ARR.News asked some questions of the Minister and received a response from a departmental spokesperson.

Eighteen Helmeted Honeyeaters have been released into a special patch of forest within the Yarra Ranges National Park, which houses one of two wild populations of Victoria's faunal emblem. Only 250 Helmeted Honeyeaters currently exist in the wild.

"There are a number of opportunities for the team at Narrandera’s Koala Reserve to seek financial support and I have actively encouraged them to do so" : Federal Minister for the Environment, Sussan Ley ... With no sightings in the Narrandera area for decades, koalas were re-introduced to the area in the early 1970s and have increased their population from 19 to more than 200 in that location ... "Reading between the lines I'm confident they don't have an overall strategy" : Australian Koala Foundation CEO, Deborah Tabart.

Scientists have uncovered evidence that suggests the diet of saltwater crocodiles has shifted away from marine prey towards land-based animals. Researchers at Charles Darwin University compared bone samples from saltwater crocodiles killed around the 1960s, held at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, to those of contemporary saltwater crocodiles.

Suzie Christensen. Recent heavy rain on the eastern coast of New South Wales provided some unprecedented challenges for our biosecurity team both on and off the Island. The Hastings River rose very high and ran fresh for some time. Potentially tens of thousands of frogs were washed out of the surrounding lands and found themselves searching for refuge. Now, if you were a frog, where would you go? It seems the logical choice for our amphibian friends was the giant green lily pad also known as the Island Trader.

Kate Foran. On 1 November last year, Gladys Brown, Dianne Stokes, Ann Marie and Janita Waistcoat and Joyce Benson happened upon a Bilby that had been hit by a car, out bush north of Tennant Creek. They found a tiny joey in her pouch and brought him into the Barkly Vet clinic for a checkup.

Small native mammals including bandicoots, antechinus and Bush Rats are showing remarkable recovery two years on from the Black Summer fires, long-term camera monitoring in State forests south of Eden shows. Forestry Corporation of NSW Senior Field Ecologist Rohan Bilney said Forestry Corporation of NSW has been monitoring wildlife at 40 sites in State forests south of Eden since 2007 as part of the Southern Brown Bandicoot Species Management Plan, and every monitoring site was impacted by fires in 2019-20.  

The NSW Government has released its new Koala Strategy, backed by an unprecedented amount of funding and more than 30 actions to conserve and grow koala populations ... ARR.News sought a response from Minister Griffin and received a response from a departmental spokesperson.

“After the first flood in late February there was no oxygen in the river between Ballina and Coraki. That’s around 60 kilometres of river and estuary with no oxygen and therefore no fish. A lot of the dead fish were washed out to sea during this event due to the magnitude and duration of the flood”: Professor Damien Maher, Southern Cross University.

For the past three days, a high-tech team from Sunshine Coast Council, University of the Sunshine Coast and the Friends of Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Gardens have worked together to uncover how many koalas live in the reserve and how healthy they are.

Steve Smith and Ian Hutton. Thanks to everyone who participated in the 5th Lord Howe Island Sea Slug Census. While conditions were challenging, we nevertheless managed to find and photograph 61 species. Seven of these are first records for the island.

A second influx of little red flying foxes has arrived in McAuliffe Park  in Casino. Little reds are highly nomadic and will move on again before too long but with a lot of habitat destroyed by recent floodwater, the flying foxes may make their way into residents’ yards.

Speakers: Emeritus Professor Helene Marsh FAA FTSE, Chair of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee; Cheyne Flanagan, Port Macquarie Koala Hospital; Audrey Koosmen, Hunter Wildlife Rescue; Vic Jurskis, Ecologist and Author; Peter Rutherford, Forest Scientist, South East Timber Association.

Two new marine parks have been established at Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean, home to life found nowhere else on earth. Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said the spectacular seascapes cover 744,000 square kilometres, an area greater in size than the Great Barrier Reef.

The very large wildfire in the Perth hills catchments in January 2005 had the potential for severe consequences on water quality in domestic water supply reservoirs ... full recovery will take some decades. This large fire was eventually contained when it reached areas that had been prescribed burnt and carried low fuels.

Peter Rutherford. The article published in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald on 15 March once again highlights how activist networking paints native forest harvesting as THE threat to the sustainability of NSW native forests. Like many reports advocating for the closure of the native forest industry, the article contains a mix of academic opinion, anti-native forest harvesting rhetoric from a green politician, creative accounting, words to trigger outrage, such as "woodchip exports," and opinions from an activist non-government organisation, that monetise the outrage to generate more outrage and a reporter to join the dots.

One hundred critically endangered Southern Corroboree Frogs have been reintroduced to their native habitat at Kosciuszko National Park ... The frogs were badly affected in the 2019/20 bushfires, and the field enclosures have been fitted with irrigation systems for fire-proofing, as well as remote cameras for monitoring.

A Charles Sturt University researcher hopes to conserve wombat populations and minimise road accidents by exploring the use of ‘virtual fences’ ... “Virtual fencing implemented in regions that have high wombat roadkill rates may aid in reducing road deaths and  species conservation”: Dr Hayley Stannard.

Council continues to support a submission for their key breeding ground – named the Cuttlefish Coast Sanctuary Zone – to be placed on the National Heritage List under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Council continues to support a submission for their key breeding ground – named the Cuttlefish Coast Sanctuary Zone – to be placed on the National Heritage List under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

A rescued orphaned koala joey is one of countless native animals rescuers expect will need urgent care amid the flooding catastrophe in New South Wales and Queensland. The 14-month-old male koala, named Gulliver, was rescued amid the torrential downpours in Tregeagle in the NSW Northern Rivers region on February 28.

Serena Kirby. A rare specimen of a ruby seadragon, found washed up at Ocean Beach, has piqued the interest of experts at the WA Museum. The pristine body of the seadragon was the lucky find of Annika Engstrom who regularly walks the beach picking up rubbish and plastics.

The Game Management Authority (GMA) has announced the arrangements for the 2022 duck season, including changes to the start times, daily bag limit and hunted species ... State Member for Bendigo, Maree Edwards told the Times that she has read the GMA’s release regarding the decision to open duck hunting this year and feels it is imperative that the Government takes significant advice from the GMA.