native species – Michmutters

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Koala sighting near Lithgow raises hopes of unmapped colony after Blue Mountains bushfire destruction

Koala sighting near Lithgow raises hopes of unmapped colony after Blue Mountains bushfire destruction

Unexpected sightings of koalas near the Blue Mountains have given hope a disease-free colony is recovering after the Black Summer bushfires.

A koala seen this week at Hassans Walls, near Lithgow, is the first time the native species has been reported in the area for five years.

It follows sightings in the past 12 months in the Newnes Plateau, Wollemi National Park, and Kanangra-Boyd National Park.

More than 80 per cent of the World Heritage-listed Greater Blue Mountains Area was burned during the 2019/20 bushfires, sparking fears and unmapped koala populations had been destroyed.

Local Margot McGinnes said she was “extremely surprised” to see a koala while walking in an area “generally not known to have koalas”.

“It was just a magnificent sighting. It really was very, very exciting,” she said.

A women in a pink jacket and another women in a black jacket looking up at some trees
Margot McGinnes (pink jacket) and Kate Smith spotted the koala while walking along Hassans Walls.(Supplied: Margot McGinnes)

Research group Science for Wildlife has been studying koala populations in the Blue Mountains and Lithgow area.

CEO Kellie Lee said it was a promising development for the recovery of the species in the region “because that area was really badly hit” and indicated a possible koala colony near Lithgow.

“We weren’t sure there would be any koalas left,” Dr Lee said.

A satellite map of Lithgow and Blue mountains indicating koala sightings.
The cartoon koala indicates the recent sighting, the first near Lithgow for five years.(Supplied: Science for Wildlife)

“It is suggesting that there could be another colony or perhaps that the Newnes Plateau colony might be connected up with koalas close to Lithgow.

“The fact they are popping up in these areas where they are just not common is a good sign they are out there and expanding.”

Disease-free koalas

Earlier this year, the New South Wales government listed koalas as an endangered species amid fears the animal could become extinct by 2050.

A close up of a koala eating leaves.
Early testing indicates the koala population near Lithgow is free of diseases.(ABC News: Curtis Rodda)

Habitat destruction, bushfires, road accidents, and chlamydia are all reasons behind the decline.

Chlamydia causes blindness, and cysts in koalas’ reproductive tracts lead to infertility or, in some cases, death.

The antibiotics used to treat the disease can destroy the koalas gut, leading some to starve to death even after being cured.

Dr Lee said the koalas they had found were disease-free, making them crucial for the native species survival.

“All of our testing so far has come back negative so we haven’t seen any signs of chlamydia in these populations,” Dr Lee said.

“That is obviously very good news and one less threat that they are facing.”

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Australia

Bandicoot numbers boom in Dunbogan and Camden Haven after 2019 bushfires

A small brown marsupial, with short ears and brown fur.

Residents in the township of Dunbogan on the NSW Mid North Coast have been noticing an increasing number of small, conical holes appearing in their gardens and lawns.

They are created each night, under the cover of darkness, and those in the know are quick to point out what’s been digging around.

Bandicoots are experiencing a boom in the town and surrounding Camden Haven region, south of Port Macquarie.

Andrew Marshall, with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), lives on a rural property near Dunbogan and sees the small nocturnal marsupials outside his home most evenings.

He said it was the highest number of bandicoots he had seen in decades and the increase came after the region’s severe 2019 bushfires.

“In the past couple of years, it’s been very evident there has been a massive increase in the number of bandicoots … probably three to five-fold on the numbers we were seeing before the fires,” he said.

Mr Marshall said conditions after the fires had allowed bandicoots to thrive.

A small mammal with long nose and little arms standing upright spotlighted by flash in dark
A long-nosed bandicoot, which is among those being spotted in larger numbers in the Camden Haven region.(Supplied: Barbara Wilson)

“The bush has come back after the fires; the undergrowth is really dense and I think the bushfires probably also removed a large number of the local predatory animals,” he said.

“Things like foxes and feral cats, and the fires have potentially also displaced things like dingoes or wild dogs.

“In the coastal strip, where I am, the species that are doing really well include the northern brown bandicoot and we occasionally also see the long-nosed bandicoot.”

New green shoots emerge on a blackened eucalypt tree.
New growth is already emerging in the Lake Innes Nature Reserve.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)

Species adapts after hardship

Professor in Ecology at the University of Sydney Chris Dickman said certain bandicoot species typically did well after bushfires.

“It has been observed before, there have been some studies in the Top End and also the Myall Lakes area and in Victoria,” he said.

A small brown marsupial among barks on the ground.
A southern brown bandicoot.(Supplied: Ken Stepnell, Department of Planning and Environment)

Professor Dickman said the northern brown bandicoot in particular readily adapted to different environments.

“It does well after fires … it occurs from north of the Hawkesbury all up the east coast and across the top end to the Kimberley,” he said.

“They are quite mobile and very opportunistic.

“After a fire has gone through it opens up the habitat and provides new food sources that animals like bandicoots can access.

“The heavy rains [on the Mid North Coast] after the fires have probably also led to an increase in the complexity and density of the undergrowth and an increase in food sources.

“The bandicoots can move in and do quite well, that is if there aren’t many foxes and cats in the area.”

Professor Dickman said monitoring elsewhere in NSW had shown predators were not bouncing back as quickly after the 2019-20 fires.

“In some areas, like the Blue Mountains, there’s been a lot of monitoring happening after the big fires. Fox and cat activity hasn’t seemed to be as extensive after the fires as we might have expected,” he said.

Prolific breeders

Two eastern barred bandicoots being held in humans hands
The eastern barred bandicoot remains on the endangered species list but new populations are thriving after successful breeding and release programs.(Supplied: Zoos Victoria)

Professor Dickman said when conditions were right, bandicoots were also prolific breeders.

“They can produce three, four, even five litters a year and have a gestation period of just 12 or 13 days — incredibly short,” he said.

“They give birth to these baked-bean-sized youngsters that attach in the pouch and within a couple of months they are weaned, and the female is free to breed again.”

Learning to live with bandicoots

Professor Dickman said it was encouraging to see some east coast bandicoot species thriving, as other species had not fared so well.

“The east coast bandicoots are doing pretty well in general, including the northern brown bandicoot and common long-nosed bandicoot, and the southern brown bandicoot, which is not doing quite so well, but is still about in reasonable numbers from Sydney and south into Victoria and South Australia,” he said.

A small round hole in a sandy dirt.
A bandicoot hole at a Dunbogan nature reserve.(Supplied: Suzanne Siossian)

“Those species are exceptional because bandicoots, as a group, have done exceptionally poorly over the past couple of hundred years, with many species pushed to extinction.”

While not everyone enjoys having bandicoots in their backyard, Mr Marshall said they did a great job removing pests and turning the soil, helping plants regenerate.

“The bandicoots are digging up other grubs and insects, which would otherwise be damaging my garden,” he said.

“They leave the little conical holes and piles of dirt as a reminder they are there but, at the same time, the ground is pretty healthy.

“I’m happy to have bandicoots in my garden.”

dunbogan nature reserve
Bandicoots are often spotted at this Dunbogan nature reserve and experts say they help keep the vegetation healthy.(Supplied: Suzanne Siossian)

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Categories
Australia

Wildlife does use highway underpasses, Southern Cross University study reveals

Wildlife does use highway underpasses, Southern Cross University study reveals

Have you ever driven past special road crossings for wildlife and wondered if they actually work?

There’s new evidence to suggest they are effective, based on the first long-term study of road underpasses in Australia.

The research from Southern Cross University (SCU) was published in the journal Ecology and Evolution and based on a two-year study of underpasses located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales.

During that time wildlife cameras detected close to 5,000 medium-to-large mammals and goannas using highway underpasses at Port Macquarie and Grafton.

The researchers studied 12 underpasses in those two areas– five under the Oxley Highway at Port Macquarie and seven under the Pacific Highway south of Grafton – comparing camera trap detections of animals at underpasses with those at nearby forest sites.

A koala at night walking through a highway underpass
A koala is captured on camera using a highway underpass on the Mid North Coast.(Supplied: Southern Cross University)

The lead researcher, SCU Associate Professor Ross Goldingay, said the results were encouraging.

“More than 4,800 detections were made; that number was quite astounding,” he said.

“These crossing rates suggest animals used the underpasses to forage on both side of the freeways.”

Associate Professor Goldingay said certain species, including eastern gray kangaroos, swamp wallabies, red-necked wallabies, red-necked pademelons, and lace monitors crossed some underpasses more than once per week.

A road underpass with trees in the background.
A dedicated wildlife underpass at Port Macquarie where there have been regular animal sightings.(Supplied: Southern Cross University)

“We actually got quite a bit of traffic of animals passing through those underpasses, particularly in Port Macquarie … it’s a wetter forest type there so it seems there’s a greater abundance of animals,” he said.

“We were getting eastern gray kangaroos and swamp wallabies moving through two to four times per week and other species, including the red-necked pademelon was going through once every two weeks, so quite frequently.

“At Grafton we’ve got a very high use of a couple of underpasses by echidnas and another small wallaby called the rufous bettong, which is actually a NSW-listed threatened species.”

‘Prey-trap’ concerns dismissed

The study also dispelled concerns that underpasses could become a “prey-trap” used by introduced feral pests and that animals could become caught in the relatively confined area.

A cute rufous bettong, a small grey, furry animals that looks like a cross between a wallaby and a rat.
The rufous bettong is a small, nocturnal marsupial species that has been seen using the underpasses.(Supplied: Mt Rothwell)

“We looked at that in detail as there have been a couple of other short-term studies where they have had frequent occurrences of foxes in a few underpasses, and in one case in Western Australia that coincided in a decline in the bandicoots using that particular underpass,” Professor Goldingay.

“Because we had more underpasses and a longer period for this study, we were able to look at this in more detail than anyone has before.”

Professor Goldingay said predators which were detected at the underpasses included the introduced red fox, feral cat, and dingo.

“What we found was feral cats were very rare at both sites. We did have dingoes at both sites, but they weren’t very frequent in the underpasses,” he said.

“The red fox is the main concern, particularly in Port Macquarie. Of the five underpasses there, there were three that were used relatively frequently.

“However, the fox activity coincided less than expected with the activity of the mammals most at risk and it seemed potential prey were possibly avoiding using the underpasses when foxes were about.”

Caution still needed

A concrete highway underpass tunnel.
A combined wildlife and drainage underpass at Grafton.(Supplied: Southern Cross University)

Despite the positive study results, Professor Goldingay said any expansion of road networks in Australia still needed to be done with caution.

“Australia’s wildlife species are increasingly threatened with extinction by habitat clearing and fragmentation,” he said.

“One leading cause of this is the expansion of our road network, particularly the upgrade and duplication of major highways.

“Underpasses are a useful generic tool to enable wildlife to move across landscapes with roads. But not all ground-dwelling species of wildlife will find underpasses to their liking but so far, many do.”

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