Julie, Our WIRES State Rep

Julie Taylor Mills represents our branch on the WIRES State Council, which was formed to advise the WIRES Board on policy and strategic direction and how to achieve it. The Board is elected from the Council and Julie is considering standing for the Board at the next AGM.

Julie studied environmental management as a post graduate after her three children were born and made a career lobbying major corporations on climate change and environmental performance. She then moved to London when her husband got a job there with a climate change investment company.

A few years ago they bought a 40 acre property in Meringo with a view to ‘rewilding’ it and Julie has since planted trees and eradicated weeds across her property. Four years ago Julie joined WIRES, realising the property would be a good release site. However she was still spending 6 months of the year in London, where her husband still works, so she did minimal wildlife caring.

However during the bushfires, when the MSC region was so badly impacted, she observed that little attention was being paid to what was happening to the wildlife. She joined in the branch's efforts to help surviving wildlife and realised that her "mission and calling was nature and, by extension, climate change.” She threw herself into South Coast wildlife and biodiversity advocacy.

Julie’s property now includes a possum cage and a macropod nursery, as well as a grand macropod enclosure funded by a WIRES grant. She has cared for and released possums, macropods and ducks that now populate her property.

Julie’s climate change advocacy includes positions on the board of the Nature Conservation Council of NSW and the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network.

Greater Glider Habitat Declining

Greater gliders were officially listed as vulnerable to extinction in 2016. Since then their habitat has been destroyed even more rapidly than before that listing and greater gliders are now listed as endangered. Yet the federal government is proposing to weaken environmental laws in Australia.

Greater gliders need the hollows of large old trees to nest in. These are being logged and cut down for urban development and because of global warming they are also increasingly destroyed by bushfires. During the 2019/20 bushfires 29% of their habitat was burnt.

One reason that the habitat of greater gliders was cleared at higher rates after they were declared vulnerable is that once development projects are approved it may be years before the tree clearing goes ahead. During that time there is no reassessment of that approval, even if a species in the area becomes vulnerable or endangered.

Also under regional forest agreements, logging can be carried out with even less protections than required by federal legislation.

Ref: Darcy Watchorn and Kita Ashman, Australia has failed greater gliders: since they were listed as ‘vulnerable’ we’ve destroyed more of their habitat, The Conversation, 26 August 2021.

Dead Frogs in Eastern Australia

In recent months dead and dying frogs have been turning up in eastern Australia, from Victoria to Queensland, in unprecedented numbers. The cause is unknown.

"Frogs are an integral part of healthy Australian ecosystems. While they are usually small and unseen, they’re an important thread in the food web, and a kind of environmental glue that keeps ecosystems functioning. Healthy frog populations are usually a good indication of a healthy environment.

The deaths could be a combination of the amphibian chytrid fungus and cold temperatures, however the fungus has been around for decades. Or it could be some new pathogen.

Please send any reports of sick or dead frogs (and if possible, photos) to the national citizen science project FrogID, or email calls@frogid.net.au.

Ref: Jody Rowley, Dead, shrivelled frogs are unexpectedly turning up across eastern Australia. We need your help to find out why, The Conversation, 29 July 2021.

Bat Flies from London to Russia

A female Nathusius’ pipistrelle bat that had been tagged by London Zoo was found in a small village in Russia, after it was attacked by a cat. It later died. It weighed only 8g and was the size of a human thumb but had flown over 1250 miles. This is the longest recorded journey of any bat in the world. It is thought the pipistrelle bat’s range has expanded due to climate change.

Ref: PA Media, ‘Olympian’ bat killed by cat after record flight from UK to Russia, The Guardian, 7 August 2021.

Rescuing Raptors

by Sandy Collins

Raptors are eagles, owls, falcons and other birds of prey. Raptor rescue is different from other bird/animal rescue and should preferably be done by experienced rescuers. Differences include:

• use a solid-sided rescue container to avoid feather damage (such as a cardboard box) and a soft towel to make a U-shape support or soft perch to stand on.
• raptors need to be assessed and stabilised before going to a vet, don’t do this yourself.
• take a photo if possible and contact raptor coordinator, Sandy Collins, preferably by text.
• If Sandy is not available , take raptor to Shane O’Keefe or Liz Spiller to hold until it can be collected.