Bawley Point Virtual Fencing

Shoalhaven Council has installed virtual fencing along Murramarang Road at Bawley Point following the successful trial at Long Beach (see newsletter October 2023).

The virtual fencing uses sensors at 25-metre intervals that emit light and sound when a vehicle approaches.

Shoalhaven Mayor Amanda Findley said “This area is known to have a lot of wildlife fatalities, which puts our motorists at risk of injury,” (Not to mention the wildlife!)

The public is encouraged to use the iNaturalist App and website to report roadkill incidents and so identify hotspots. Also they can contact Council on 1300 293 111 to remove deceased animals.

Ref: Shoalhaven Council trials virtual fence to save wildlife, Moruya Mail 23 February 2024, p. 13.

Oldest Known Platypus

A platypus pulled from a Melbourne creek last year had been initially tagged in 2000. He was estimated to be 24 years old, which is a record for a wild platypus, as far as we know. He was still healthy and seemed to be sexually active.

The male platypus had survived years of flooding as well as drought. According to Australian Platypus Conservancy conservation biologist Melody Serena 21 years "was about the maximum life span scientists had thought the platypus could reach in the natural world”.

Wild platypus are near threatened nationally and vulnerable in Victoria. In captivity the platypus have lived up to 30 years, the age of Fleay, a female platypus at the Healesville Sanctuary that can still catch prey, despite her diminishing senses (sight and hearing).

Ref: Peter de Kruijff, Oldest-known wild platypus gives new insights into longevity of enigmatic Australian species, ABC News, 15 February 2024.

Why Farmers Need Snakes

Macquarie University professor of evolutionary biology Rick Shine has studied the advantages to farmers and graziers of having snakes on their properties.

Brown snakes, for example, eat mice and rats and, since very few people or farm animals die from snake bites, the benefits outweigh the risks, according to Professor Shine.

"We had transmitters on snakes, so we knew what they were doing and they're basically wandering around in those burrows catching mice, and they don't actually come out all that often.

"[If] each of those brown snakes is eating two or three mice per week you start multiplying those numbers and you end up with several thousand mice per year being taken out per square kilometre.

"That can actually have a big impact on agricultural productivity."

Ref: Elsie Adamo, The economic and environmental reasons why farmers should stop killing or removing snakes, ABC News, 5 February 2024.

Changed Rules to Protect Gliders

Our last newsletter reported that the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) had removed the need for Forestry Corporation of NSW to do surveys and maintain a 50m exclusion zone around greater glider den trees. Instead, Forestry Corp would have to keep 14 large, hollow-bearing trees per hectare in high-density glider areas (up from 8).

Since then, following pressure from environmental groups the EPA has announced that Forestry Corp will be required to do nocturnal surveys for southern greater glider dens in forests where the gliders have been recorded. The 50-meter exclusion zone around known den trees will be kept. The tree retention changes will remain.

In response, South East Forest Rescue claims the new rules only require Forestry Corp to walk or drive a few kilometres over 2 nights and that this would only cover 10% of the logging area and only find a fraction of the den trees the greater gliders will need for their survival.

“Unfortunately the EPA seems to think that Gliders all live next to a road” said Scott Daines of South East Forest Rescue.

Ref: New EPA announcement on Greater Gliders, Moruya Mail, 16 February 2024

Man Gives Kangaroo CPR

Some men returning from a fishing trip discovered a kangaroo struggling in the ocean about a half mile out from the WA shoreline.

They tried to pull him on board their boat with rope but he kept escaping the rope. When he was finally so exhausted he lost consciousness, the men swam out and pulled him onboard.

“We dragged him onto the platform on the back of the boat and he was pretty much gone,” Dillan Elliott said. “After a suggestion from the skipper I started to pump his chest and stomach and started seeing water pumping out of his mouth and nostrils.”

After the kangaroo came alive again he “lifted his head and then eventually he touched his nose on my nose which was pretty special,” Elliott said. “He also grabbed me with his claws like he was holding, too. He then opened his mouth and I thought he was probably dry and I grabbed some fresh water and poured it over his mouth and he started to drink it.”

Once onshore rangers checked him out then took him to a safe place to release him.

Ref: Caitlin Jill Anders, Men Pull Drowning Kangaroo From Ocean And Give Him CPR, The Dodo, 25 April 2019.

Caring for Pangolins in Zimbabwe

"He’s the size of a golden retriever puppy and covered with scales. With his tail stretched out parallel to the ground for balance, Tamuda holds his little arms in front of him like a T. rex.

"The caretaker gently guides the young pangolin toward a dirt mound that he starts to break apart with a pick. Look, he encourages Tamuda: ants. Tamuda catches on and begins to eat, his nearly body-length tongue searching the crevices, his long claws mimicking the pick.

"After a few minutes of eating, it’s time to move on. Tamuda lumbers a little farther. The caretaker shows him a new ant mound. This time the pangolin isn’t interested. He flops on his side like a toddler about to throw a tantrum. He curls his body around the boot of the caretaker, who bends down and gently tries to peel him off, but Tamuda wants attention.

"Looking up into his human’s face, he reaches high, begging to be picked up. The caretaker tries to be strict—he’s supposed to be teaching Tamuda how to fend for himself—but the plea is too much to resist. As any good pangolin mother would do, he lifts Tamuda up and cradles him.”

Pangolins are endangered because their scales (used in traditional Chinese medicine) and meat are in high demand. Pangolins freed from illegal wildlife traffickers are rehabilitated at the Tikki Hywood Foundation, near Harare in Zimbabwe.

Ref: Rachel Bale, Poaching is sending the shy, elusive pangolin to its doom, National Geographic, June 2019 (subscription needed).

Farmer Fined for 74 Koala Deaths

Elderly farmer, James Troeth, bought a 62 hectare blue gum plantation in 2019. He then built a 1.8m fence around it and hired contractors to knock down the trees.

In early 2020, after repeated calls to the authorities by concerned citizens, they visited the property and found 74 koalas that were either dead or had to be euthanised because of their injuries, malnutrition and dehydration.

There were so few gum trees left that the remaining 184 koalas had to be caught and relocated, many after treatment.

Troeth, who claimed he did not realise he was harming the koalas, was fined $34,000 as a deterrent to other farmers thinking of large-scale land clearing without thought to the native wildlife living there. The contractors that carried out the clearing, Bryant's Forestry and Earthmoving and DR and KR Hutchinson Rural Contractors, have also been fined.

Ref: AAP, 74 koalas died in Victoria. One farmer has to pay thousands for his role in their demise, SBS News, 24 February 2024.