A native rat vulnerable to extinction and known for its chubby cheeks has been found at Victoria’s Wilsons Promontory for the first time in three decades.
Key points:
The broad-toothed rat has not been seen on the promontory for 32 years
Scientists manage to track one of the chubby-cheeked rodents, trap it and release it back into the wild
The discovery suggests efforts to keep invasive species out of the area are working
The broad-toothed rat, or Tooarrana, is a tiny rodent historically found throughout south-eastern Australia.
The catastrophic Black Summer bushfires tore through much of its habitat in the Victorian high country, but studies showed its population was significantly declining in the decades before that.
The tiny rat has been vulnerable to predation by cats and foxes, habitat loss from an overabundance of grass-grazing animals, bushfires and climate change.
The rat is an indication that work to keep invasive species away from Wilsons Promontory could be beginning to be successful.(Supplied: Zoos Victoria)
It had not been seen at Wilsons Prom for 32 years.
A team of researchers, led by Zoos Victoria biologist Phoebe Burns and Parks Victoria ecologist Brooke Love, managed to track and trap one of the rats at the promontory before releasing it back into the wild.
“It is a very exciting time,” Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said.
“And it actually really does underscore the importance of us maintaining Wilsons Prom as a safe haven for a lot of our endangered species.”
Scientists say the discovery provides renewed hope for the future of the tiny native animal.(Supplied: Zoos Victoria)
The rodent is known for having chubby cheeks, a flat face and short tail.
It is also known for its bright-green droppings, which helped the researchers find the rat during surveys of the promontory, south-east of Melbourne.
“We thought, of course, that they had no longer existed and certainly, it hasn’t been spotted [at Wilsons Prom] in more than three decades,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.
“But some really clever scientific work that’s been done by our dedicated scientists in the field … discovered one of them still alive and thriving.”
The rat feeds on grasses and sedges in cool, wet habitats.
The rat’s diet of green grass and sedges helped scientists track its droppings.(Supplied: Zoos Victoria)
Native rats are essential to many ecosystems and can be indicators of environmental change.
The rat found by researchers is an indication that work to keep invasive species away from the Prom could be beginning to be successful.
The state government said the discovery underscored the importance of a plan to turn 50,000 hectares of Wilsons Prom into a sanctuary.
“This is great news for the Prom Sanctuary project,” Parks Victoria biodiversity science manager Mark Antos said in a statement.
“It provides a further reason to control introduced predators and grazing animals to help protect this unique species and give it the best chance of survival.”
After a decades-long absence, brush turkeys are reclaiming Sydney’s inner-city and southern suburbs, but not everyone has welcomed the distinctive birds back.
Key points:
Brush turkeys are thriving on the south side of the Sydney Harbor Bridge
It is unclear how the flightless birds made it to the other side
Their arrival has prompted a mixed response from residents in inner-city and southern suburbs
From the odd sighting south of the Sydney Harbor Bridge a few years ago, brush turkeys are now widespread.
Research ecologist Matthew Hall told ABC Radio Sydney it was only a matter of time before the native birds returned to the areas they once inhabited before hunting, land clearing and introduced species threatened their survival.
“They’ve been slowly coming back. But we’ve been taken by surprise just how fast they’re spreading into the city,” Mr Hall told Cassie McCullagh on Mornings.
Brush turkeys are thriving thanks to their ability to adapt to the urban environment.(ABC Radio Sydney: Rosemary Bolger)
On the brink of extinction in the 1930s, some birds took refuge in national parks in the north and north-west.
Since hunting brush turkeys were outlawed, their numbers have increased steadily on the northern beaches and surrounds.
But many residents south of the Sydney Harbor Bridge are seeing the birds in their backyards and parks for the first time.
How did brush turkeys cross the harbour?
Researchers may have predicted the population would expand, but one question has them scratching their heads.
Given the harbor separates the city’s north and south, how did the brush turkey get to the other side?
“It truly is a mystery,” Dr John Martin, research scientist at Taronga Zoo, said.
“These birds do not fly very well, so flying hundreds of meters across the harbor or across the [Parramatta River] is just not something they are capable of.”
Brush turkeys cross the road in Gladesville on Sydney’s Lower North Shore.(Supplied: Paula Marchant)
One theory is that residents in the north wanting to rid their backyards of the pesky bird may have captured them, driven them across the bridge and released them into new territory.
They may have come down from existing populations in the Blue Mountains or up from Wollongong, which may explain sightings on the city’s southern fringes.
Dr Martin and Mr Hall have been tagging brush turkeys to get a better understanding of how far and wide they can travel. People can also log sightings using the Big City Bird app.
One thing is clear: now that brush turkeys have made it to the other side, they’re thriving.
Causing havoc for gardeners
After five years of studying and tracking their movements, Mr Hall has developed a fondness for the tenacious birds.
“I have a lot of respect for how hardy they are. I love their attitude. And I think they’ve got a lot of personality,” he said.
Nick Baker spotted this brush turkey in Summer Hill in Sydney’s inner-west earlier this year.(Supplied: Nick Baker)
But not everyone loves having them around. Brush turkeys rake up to three tons of soil and leaf litter to form a mound for their eggs as part of a prehistoric nesting behaviour.
Diane Barker was trying to rent out her apartment in Dulwich Hill in the inner-west in 2019 when a brush turkey moved into the front yard.
Bare patches of dirt caused by a brush turkey in Dulwich Hill.(Supplied: Diane Barker)
“It was pretty persistent and it was probably the first time I’d seen a brush turkey in the area,” she said.
Ms Barker wanted the place to look its best for potential tenants, but the brush turkey had other ideas.
“It started to dig around pretty ferociously right from the beginning,” she said.
After doing some research she tried using a mirror to determine the bird.
“It quickly figured out it wasn’t a threat, they’re quite intelligent birds, and it soon came back,” she said.
Eventually laying some chicken wire did the trick and it moved out just in time for the new tenants to move in.
Mr Hall recommended using gravel or some other heavy kind of mulch that the birds find difficult to scratch, rather than chicken wire, to avoid injuries.
‘An Aussie Battler’
Sightings reported to ABC Radio Sydney confirmed brush turkeys were widespread, with some people complaining about their destructive habits and others happy about the native birds’ resurgence.
With so many Australian native species threatened or endangered, Mr Hall said it was an unusual success story.
“Brush turkeys are the rare case of an animal that used to be rare and possibly endangered and has come back from the brink and is now thriving right alongside us,” he said.
Researchers Matthew Hall and John Martin have been tagging brush turkeys in Sydney to track their movements.(ABC Sydney: Amanda Hoh)
Dr Martin hoped residents in the south appreciated that the bird was a survivor that had managed to adapt to an urban environment.
“It’s an Aussie battler and they are actually just returning to their natural habitat. Ideally, their return is a positive not just for humans, but for the landscape,” he said.
The WA government has announced three new marine parks, covering thousands of kilometers of the Kimberley coastline in Western Australia’s far north.
Key points:
The marine parks will cover more than 600,000 hectares of the Buccaneer Archipelago
The parks have been jointly designed by the area’s traditional owners
The state government wants to create 5 million hectares of new conservation estates in total
Formally unveiled this morning, the Bardi Jawi Garra, Mayala and Maiyalam Marine Parks cover more than 600,000 hectares of the Buccaneer Archipelago.
In a first for Western Australia, the parks have been co-designed and will be jointly managed by the area’s Bardi Jawi, Mayala and Dambeemangarddee traditional owners.
The new parks cover waters surrounding the Dampier Peninsula, north of Broome, land and coastline to the north of Derby, and the thousands of islands that make up the Buccaneer Archipelago.
This island in Yaloon (Cone Bay) is part of the newly created Maiyalam Marine Park.(Supplied: Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions)
Through amalgamations with existing parks, the new reserve includes high-profile Kimberley locations such as Horizontal Falls and Yaloon on the shore of Cone Bay.
Speaking at this morning’s announcement in Broome, Bardi Jawi traditional owner Kevin George said the formal recognition was a significant step forward.
“We’ve got a duty of care to the environment, and a duty of care to our people,” he said.
“It’s very much important to our people to be part and parcel of designing all of this … and we’re pretty happy with the process.”
Dambimangari Corporation director Leah Umbagi said the park was an important recognition of her people’s connection with the sea.
Rowena Mouda, Kevin George, and Leah Umbagi at the signing on Sunday morning.(ABC Kimberly)
“By doing this in collaboration with the other groups … I think coming forward as a group as the saltwater people it’s a big [step] forward,” she said.
Mayala Inninalang Aboriginal Corporation chair Rowena Mouda said the cultural health of the coastline was imperative to the health of traditional owners.
“The cultural belonging, the cultural maintenance and preservation is so important. If we lose sight of that, then we’ve lost sight of our identity of who we are,” she said.
“With this process, there have been families that have returned to the country for the first time.
“There’ve been families that have returned after many years and been able to plant their feet on that country, and we’ve seen healing take place with people who have not gone back to country since they were there as a child.
“There’s a healing in oneself, your body, your spirit, your mind that comes into play, and it’s hard to explain when you don’t have that belonging.”
Dambeemangarddee traditional owners hold a smoking ceremony at Yaloon Bay.(Supplied: Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions)
Parks’ troubled birth
While the mood at today’s announcement was celebratory, the planning process for the marine parks had been divisive.
Draft plans to ban and restrict recreational fishing from nearly 40 per cent of the park were met with a tense reaction from local and statewide fishing groups, who argued they had been left out of the consultation process.
The government returned to the drawing board to consider their concerns, which ended in concessions including access to Dam Creek, the Graveyard, Kimbolton Creek, Strickland Bay, and areas of reef near the Cone Bay Barramundi Farm.
Broome fishing club members were briefed on the proposed marine park for the Buccaneer Archipelago.(ABC Kimberley: Erin Parke)
Recfishwest chief executive Andrew Rowland says the government needed to learn lessons from the process.
“We were really disappointed with the original draft plan. The government essentially railroaded the process and fishers were excluded from putting in comment,” Dr Rowland said.
“We’re pleased fishers got to sit down with traditional owners following the draft plans, and we’ve now, as of today, seen a much better outcome for fishing.”
But the conservation group Environs Kimberley dismissed concerns from the recreational fishers’ lobby about access restrictions.
“We’ve got a very balanced marine park,” Environs director Martin Prichard said.
“More than half of it is open to recreational fishers.”
Mr Pritchard said the co-design process involving traditional owners was a “shining light” for the rest of Australia when it came to designing conservation areas with Indigenous people.
“This is an outstanding win for conservation in the Kimberley and conservation in Australia,” he said.
“The thousand islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago have coral reef systems, seagrass beds, really productive river mouths, very important cultural areas.”
Martin Pritchard says the marine parks are a welcome first step in protecting at-risk parts of the Kimberley.(ABC Kimberley: Andrew Seabourne)
Mr Pritchard said the group was now lobbying for the state government to extend protections to more areas of the Kimberley coast.
“What we’ve got left now is an opportunity for the McGowan government to actually put the whole of the Kimberley coast in a marine park,” he said.
“What we would have would be the Great Kimberley Marine Park to rival the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.”
One million hectares protected
Environment Minister Reece Whitby said he understood the concerns of fishing groups but said he made no apologies for the government’s commitment to the co-design process.
“All stakeholders are involved, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
“The traditional owners have said that they’ve found time to listen to the commercial fishers, the recreational fishers, and the other users of this country.
“It needs to be managed in a way that everyone’s interests are taken note of. There will be areas that are set aside in terms of zones to protect conservation values and Aboriginal heritage values.
Traditional owners sign official marine park declarations at an event on Sunday.(ABC Kimberly)
“But there are zones also that acknowledge that this is about recreation, it’s about tourism, it’s about commercial businesses.
“My experience with commercial operators is they actually want this environment protected for the long term so that their industry is sustainable — the best way to do that is with the marine park where the conservation estate is recognized and protected.”
As part of the government’s plan, a sector support package will be provided to support commercial, charter, and recreational fishers operating in the park and impacted by its boundaries.
“[The package] will be developed with the community to ensure the continuation of sustainable fisheries, high-quality fishing experiences, and support for local industries,” Fisheries Minister Don Punch said.
Cascade Bay is a popular destination for recreational fishers in the archipelago.(ABC Kimberley: Ben Collins)
The creation of the parks also marks a key milestone for the McGowan government, with more than 1 million hectares of new conservation estate established since it took office in 2017.
The government has set a target of 5 million hectares in total.
The three marine parks’ borders take effect on July 1, 2023.
