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Mountain
Pygmy-Possum
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Photo:
Linda Broome |
A recent survey in
Kosciusko National Park discovered that Mountain Pygmy-Possum numbers
have undergone a rapid decline. The Foundation-funded study also assessed
habitat quality and mapped all habitats of the species.
The population shrank
from 613 animals in 1997 to 495 in 2005. The population at Mount Blue
Cow almost disappeared with numbers dropping from 45 to three. The 2003
bushfires had a severe impact on the animals, but the main reason for
the steep decline are feral cats, and the pressure is the greatest around
the ski resorts.
Thanks to trapping
and a series of harsh winters the problem of the feral cats is slowly
coming under control. With careful management of the habitat and considered
practices within ski resorts there is some silver lining for these endangered
marsupials.
Woodchipping and Wildlife
Wood chipping in
the forests of the Eden region has been one of the most enduring and bitter
environmental conflicts in Australia. In Mumbulla State Forest and Biamanga
National Park, near Bega, bats constitute one-third of the native fauna.
The Foundation recently
supported a project to study and radio track these bats to determine whether
logging has had a long term impact. Intensive study revealed that bats
did indeed prefer roosting in trees which were found in unlogged areas.
The findings of this Foundation funded survey now provide a scientific
base for management recommendations to protect the bats and their habitat.
 Excluder
Devices Saving Australia’s Turtles
New Turtle Excluder
Devices (TEDs) are now protecting marine life while improving prawn catch
quality in Australia’s northern waters.
The Australian Fisheries
Management Authority (AFMA) supports the devices as part of a plan to
ensure ecological and commercial sustainability. TEDs allow large animals
such as turtles to swim out of prawn trawl nets. By this they protect
both the turtle’s life and the fisherman’s prawn catch, which
often gets damaged when large animals get accidentally trapped in the
nets. The fishing industry avidly supports and uses the devices, and this
success has seen AFMA now looking at implementing other bycatch reduction
devices to save precious species becoming entangled in trawling nets.
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