Wildlife

The Morrison Government has released a new five-year Action Plan to underpin the Threatened Species Strategy. This plan aims to coordinate effort for the recovery of 100 priority species and 20 priority places over the next five years with key targets to drive action.

Research using effective survey methods shows that koalas are generally increasing with expanding National Parks and Lock It Up and Let It Burn conservation polices. The valleys are occupied by towns, so the koalas are moving in. Disease, dog attacks and road trauma are symptoms of irruptions, not causes of decline.

Friends of the Koala  welcomes  the federal government’s decision to up list koalas in Queensland, New South Wales  and the Australian Capital Territory from ‘vulnerable’  to ‘endangered’.  

The Morrison Government is boosting the level of protection for Koalas under National Environmental law, and will this week seek agreement from Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory on the National Recovery plan ... “The impact of prolonged drought, followed by the black summer bushfires, and the cumulative impacts of disease, urbanisation and habitat loss over the past twenty years have led to the advice." : Minister Ley.

East Gippsland in the far SE corner of Australia, has long been seen as the stronghold of many natural values including old growth and rainforests and remarkable wildlife species that evolved with and still depend on these healthy, intact habitats.

The adorable Greater Glider is in trouble. It is threatened by fire and logging and its population has crashed by over 80% this century ... VicForests – a logging company owned by the government – wants to clear much of what’s left of the Greater Glider’s habitat.

Emma Pritchard. As Irene Armstrong gazes up into the leafy canopies of the trees outside her home, she estimates the population of the newest residents, who first appeared at the end of January, has grown to more than 40000 ... Their constant shrieking, feeding, habitat destruction, offensive odour and waste products are driving locals batty ... In NSW, flying foxes are protected ... The grey headed flying fox is also listed as vulnerable ...

“Sea spurge is now reappearing in NSW, this time in more regional and remote areas of NSW, and we suspect it’s spreading from Victorian and Tasmanian beaches .... A spraying program is underway, using a highly specific biocontrol agent of sea spurge, a fungus, which is native to France" : James Griffin, NSW Environment Minister.

Barbara Linley has always been passionate about animals ... Barbara was concerned about the dwindling numbers of coastal emus, with less than 50 of the critically endangered species thought to roam local bushland.

Geographical location is no barrier in experiencing the sounds of the Murrumbidgee wetlands, thanks to Charles Sturt University researchers ... To celebrate World Wetlands Day on Wednesday 2 February, researchers are presenting the public with the opportunity to eavesdrop on the sounds of the Murrumbidgee wetlands.

Regional Victorians have been ignored in new moves to update the state’s hunting regulations. A meeting with non-hunting stakeholders last week flagged several overdue reforms but did nothing to address longstanding concerns: too many hunting grounds, too close to homes and businesses, and the three-month duck shooting season is excessive.

Forest & Wood Communities Australia is calling on the Andrews Government to close the loophole in the Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act 2004 (Vic) which has enabled activist vigilantes to devastate the livelihoods of regional Victorians. FWCA answers some further questions from ARR.News.

Gabrielle Duykers. More than 7000 hectares of land has been burnt and about 6000 livestock lost in the aftermath of a car fire that lost control on New Year’s Eve. The inferno was sparked when a vehicle caught fire and set grass alight in Wrattonbully at around 1.30pm on Friday, December 31.

The Dryandra Woodland National Park, near Narrogin, 180 km south-east of Perth, is the first national park in WA's Wheatbelt region ... Converted from a State forest to a national park, Dryandra is a key stronghold for some of Australia's rarest and most vulnerable wildlife including numbats, woylies, brushtail wallabies, chuditch, quenda and the mound-building malleefowl.

The Koala Art Trail Design competition is to encourage creative designs for decorated fibreglass sculptures that will become a feature of a Koala Art Trail. This will be a project proposed by the Tourism Department of the Narrandera Shire Council to increase engagement of visitors and locals within the various tourism and retail businesses. The aim is to create an art trail of 800mm high, decorated fibreglass Koala Sculptures in and around Narrandera.

As part of the UN’s Decade on Nutrition, Western Murray Land Improvement Group (WMLIG) with Forestry Corporation, hosted a field trip to the Pollack Wetlands, food and fibre displays and a barbecue for 40 community members. The visit to the Pollack Swamp Wetlands allowed the community to see first-hand the amazing transformation and rehabilitation of the area from recent watering events, whilst learning about its natural resources.

Geoff Helisma. The NSW Government is adding drumlines into its mix of  anti-shark measures  along the state’s coastline. Last week at Yamba, Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis met with Paul Butcher, principal research scientist with NSW Department of Primary Industries, to mark the installation of 15 SMART (Shark Management Alert in Real Time) drumlines, which will be deployed daily between Iluka Bluff and Angourie Back Beach.

Scientists are checking birds’ regurgitated ‘pellets’ for bee wings in the latest efforts to protect Australian bee populations from threats. The work – which takes place in the Northern Territory, Brisbane and Townsville – involves teams locating Rainbow Bee-eaters, who typically roost in large numbers at the same sites each night, between March and November each year.

Geoff Helisma. There may be fewer than 50 coastal emus left in existence, but the efforts of  Lions Club of Clarence – Environmental  (LCC-E) and its proactive relationships with government departments and Clarence Valley Council (CVC) have resulted in measures to protect the endangered bird. The speed limit along a 7.2km section of Brooms Head Road, Taloumbi, has been reduced from 100km/h to 80km/h and warning signs have been painted on the road.

“This idea is so ludicrous, that when it was first floated locals didn’t take it seriously – they simply didn’t believe it was for real. Unfortunately, they now know how crazy and contemptuous it is, so much so that 4000 people have signed a petition to stop it happening,” Mrs McArthur said.