Green Sea Turtle Release

Paddy, a green sea turtle, was rescued after beaching herself at Middleton in South Australia in March. She came ashore with a large amount of seaweed that may have restricted her movements.

She was cared for by Zoos SA for two weeks before being fitted with a tracker, getting a large red P painted on her back, and released near the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula. Her travels since release can be viewed online at seaturtle.org.

Paddy, at 80kg, is 35 years old and “on the cusp of sexual maturity. Green turtles are fairly rare in that region.

Ref: Caroline Horn, Green turtle rescued at Middleton, south-east South Australia, in March is tagged, released, ABC News, 10 May 2023.

Logging Ceases in Victoria

The Victorian government will end native forest logging at the end of this year and there are now calls for the NSW government to follow suit.

Logging had previously been scheduled in areas that provide habitat for over 50 rare and endangered species, including the greater glider and the Leadbeater’s Possum at risk.

ANU researchers have "catalogued the damage done to produce low-value products such as woodchips and paper pulp. The industry never made economic sense. The state-owned logging company, VicForests, has been running at a loss for many years. The industry can switch to our abundant plantations of eucalyptus and pine."

Ref: David LIndenmayer and Chris Taylor, After the chainsaws, the quiet: Victoria’s rapid exit from native forest logging is welcome – and long overdue, The Conversation, 23 May 2023.

Nest boxes at Two Thumbs

The Two Thumbs Wildlife Trust Koala Sanctuary in the Peak View district, west of Tuross Head, was badly affected by the black summer bushfires.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has been working with Habitat Innovation and Management to restore the sanctuary. They have installed 100 Habitech nest boxes that are supposed to mimic the natural tree hollows that were lost during the fires.

20 of these boxes have two chambers (see photo) to house more than one species at a time, such as birds and microbats, which is what occurs in nature.

"The nest box installation was part of a week-long restoration blitz which included the planting of 2000 native grasses and trees to encourage birds including the glossy black cockatoo (vulnerable under NSW and Australian legislation) back to the sanctuary.

"Other activities included carving out 20 tree hollows to provide more homes for small hollow-dependent animals, seed dispersal to enhance biodiversity, and important soil erosion control and fencing work to aid landscape recovery."

Ref: Gail Eastaway, New homes for homeless critters at Two Thumbs Sanctuary, About Regional, 1 June 2023.

Rottnest Island Quokkas

Quokkas are small, mainly nocturnal macropods that seem to smile. They were once commonly found on the mainland of Australia but now are mainly confined to Rottnest Island, offshore from Perth.

Ever since Roger Federer's "2017 stage-managed pre-Australian-Open publicity grab 'blew up' on social media” a long line of "unquestioning, compliant semi-professional attention-seekers” have copied him. Many tourists now feed the quokkas inappropriate food and pick them up, treating them like pets rather than wild animals, and ignoring the rules of the island.

SMH travel writer, Steve Madgwick, describes:

"It started sweetly enough. A cherubic quokka sidled up to my stinky sneakers a minute after I planted my keister on a shady picnic bench. Seconds later, he/she took our relationship to the next level, hopping up onto the seat and gently resting a tiny paw on my sweaty thigh. Awww, isn't that heart-warming, I thought, until 'the happiest animal in the world' lunged clumsily over my lap at my succulent sausage roll."

Ref: Steve Madgwick, Rottnest Island quokkas: The big problem with selfies with 'the world's happiest animal’, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 February 2023.

Threats to Rescued Wildlife

A team of researchers from Deakin University examined data from Wildlife Victoria, the main wildlife rescue service in the state.

Each year the service responds to over 30,000 callouts, more than 400 of them involving threatened species, mainly grey-headed flying foxes caught in fruit tree netting.

The researchers found that human activities posed the largest threat to wildlife, particularly motor vehicles but also animals in inappropriate places (presumably due to habitat loss), and attacks by cats of dogs.

The number of rescues since 2010 have increased dramatically but the number of volunteers have not.

The researchers point out that data from wildlife rescue organisations "can help pinpoint where measures such as educating the community on responsible pet ownership, banning the sale of dangerous netting or wire and reducing speed limits would be effective depending on the wildlife affected in specific areas."

Ref: Elodie Camprasse and Adam Caroline, With hundreds of call-outs every day, wildlife rescue services can help us understand the threats to our native animals, The Conversation, 22 May 2023.

Feral Species Distinct in Australia

Animal evolution can happen quite rapidly in the right conditions and it seems that feral species in Australia are mutating to suit Australian conditions and could eventually become distinct Australian species. Australian dingos could already be distinct species.

Feral cats are getting larger, commonly 7kg and up to 15 kg. One feral cat killed in 2005 was 1.5m long. Cane toads at the forward edge of their expanding habitats tend to have longer legs and some have become nocturnal.

Ref: Bill Bateman, Could feral animals in Australia become distinct species?, The Conversation, 20 January 2023.

Eurobodalla Road Safety Survey

The Eurobodalla Shire Council's Road Safety Plan aims to reduce road fatalities. Information from this survey will be used to inform the next version of this plan.

It would be useful to remind Council of animal fatalities if you are filling in this survey.