What's new?
from Australian-Wildlife.com
Please note that links to older stories may have been taken down.
July 6th 2010
Australian Reptile Park promotes dingo cause to save native wildlife.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/indepth/pure-bred-dingoes-on-verge-of-extinction-due-to-cross-breeding-with-dogs/story-e6frewsr-1225886880892
New national park to protect cassowaries.
http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2010/06/26/115425_local-news.html
Rainforest drug being touted as possible cure for Devil facial tumours.
http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpps/news/rainforest-drug-may-save-tasmanian-devil-dpgonc-20100619-jd_8205109
Tarkine road alive again!
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s2924726.htm
Nasty pesticide banned in US and 60 other countries, Australia wants to decide for itself.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/insecticide-use-under-review-after-us-joins-ban-20100610-y0mp.html
Dingoes more clever than domesticate dogs.
http://sify.com/news/dogs-have-turned-dumb-due-to-years-of-domestication-study-news-international-kgjruefajge.html
Camera traps are changing the way National Parks manage parks.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/08/2921419.htm?site=southeastnsw§ion=news
June 2nd 2010
Tarkine road officially dead.
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/06/02/149781_tasmania-news.html
May 31st 2010
Bob Irwin's plea to Australians to care more about their country.
http://www.gattonstar.com.au/story/2010/05/31/bobs-irwin-plea-to-get-back-to-nature/
Three new breeding colonies of devils to be established in Tasmania.
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/05/29/149135_tasmania-news.html
Red-tailed phascogale under threat in WA. What kills it? Cats and foxes. What kills cats and foxes? Nothing since the dingoes we removed.
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/a-species-under-threat-from-sex--among-other-things-20100527-wh1o.html
Gladstone's dugongs and river dolphins to suffer due to more development.
http://www.sandandgravel.com/news/article.asp?v1=13082
Saving kangaroos with dingo urine.
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/dingo-urine-saves-kangaroos-study-says.htm
Govt considers making koalas 'conservation dependent'.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/25/2908224.htm?section=justin
Continuing concern over fate of Fraser Is. dingoes.
http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2010/05/06/dingoes-on-way-out/
Some hopeful signs in finding genetic immunity in devils.
http://sciblogs.co.nz/chicken-or-egg/2010/04/13/tasmanian-devil-facial-tumour-disease-too-good-a-match-for-the-immune-system/
April 13th 2010
Big funding boost for killing wild dogs, including dingoes, in WA.
http://fw.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/finance/wild-dog-funding-benefits-ag-and-public/1796821.aspx
The issue of using the pet market to save endangered aminmals.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/11/2869458.htm?section=justin
First success in cane-toad aversion therapy for quolls.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100413095853.htm
March 18th 2010
Tourists seen as a real problem for dingoes on Fraser Island.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/tourists-threatening-dingo-extinction-20100317-qe1o.html
Dingoes may be oldest dog breed.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/18/2849004.htm
Disease free devils soon to be relocated to Maria Island
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/19/2850246.htm
Farmers choose to destry wombat burrows with wombats still inside.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/19/2850215.htm?section=justin
March 5th 2010
Third colony of Gilberts potoroo set up.
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/rarest-marsupial-back-from-the-brink-20100305-pmxq.html
February 23rd 2010
Are foxes a problem in Tasmania?
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/outfoxing-the-foxes-a-pesky-question-20100222-oqay.html
Forestry NSW see koalas as a 'hurdle'.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/25/2829814.htm
Last koala habitat in far south NSW to be logged.
http://www.merimbulanewsonline.com.au/news/local/news/general/logging-cops-a-flogging/1765802.aspx
Real community action to save species.
http://www.merredinmercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/farmers-befriend-phascogales/1767599.aspx
February 17th 2010
Spotted tail quoll seen in Canberra
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/17/2822370.htm
What is cross-fostering?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8520268.stm
Koala 'AIDS" spreading at an alarming rate.
http://news.discovery.com/animals/koala-aids-spreading-at-an-alarming-rate.html
February 4th 2010
Quolls to get cane toad sausages
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/content/2010/s2808157.htm?site=darwin
Why top predators matter, why the dingo matters.
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0202-hance_toppredators.html
Mining legislation trumps planning legislation - koalas beware.
http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2010/02/04/koalas-to-put-state-to-the-test-over-quarry/
Adelaide Hills "needs fewer koalas"
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/why-we-need-fewer-koalas/story-e6frea83-1225826080219
February 1st 2010
More Tasmanian
Devils going into quarantine.
http://www.examiner.com.au/news/local/news/environmental-issues/more-tasmanian-devils-going-into-quarantine/1733458.aspx
Logging
is set to start within weeks in a forest that supports the last known koala
colony on the NSW far south coast.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/logging-plan-poses-threat-to-precious-koala-colony-20100124-msm7.html
Wilderness zoning planned
for Nullabor.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/22/2799176.htm?section=australia
Healthy roos
breed males.
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20102201-20528.html
Humans caused the extinction of the megafauna. Now I know
we all suspected that anyway, but apparently there was still a little doubt.
Some still disagree.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100121141109.htm
The destruction caused
by the cane toad continues and spreads.
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/special-features/cane-toad-red-alert-issued/story-e6frg19l-1225818086118
Tassie devils:
origin of cancer found.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/01/science/01devil.html
and in more detail..
http://www.genomeweb.com/arrays/international-team-characterizes-tasmanian-devil-facial-tumors
December 21st 2009
Devil roadkills
to be mapped.
http://www.media.tas.gov.au/release.php?id=28877
Are the Fraser Island
dingoes starving to death?
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,26506852-3102,00.html
Fascinating study on
how dingoes still recognise some human gestures, many thousands
of years since last encountering them.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Human-Gestures-Still-Awake-Memories-in-Dingos-129610.shtml
Some new work on the
evolution of koalas.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/12/23/drying-climate-turned-possum-like-critter-into-the-strange-koala/
General report on the
plight of koalas - not good reading.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/12/13/australia.koalas/
The Tarkine
Wilderness are has been given emergency heritage listing, necessitating
a more rigorous study before the much criticized new road can be built.
Good news.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/11/2768714.htm
December 8th 2009
70% of assessed plant
species are threatened with extinction, 21% of mammals,
according to the lated UN report.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/life-on-earth-is-vanishing-before-our-unseeing-eyes-20091105-i04m.html
Developers in QLD say
that of course they want to save koalas, they just don't
want it done by saving koala habitat. Transparent.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26350088-3102,00.html
There is criticism
that the number of devils in the insurance population is
only 200 and that collecting of healthy animals from the wild has halted
because of a lack of anywhere to put them. This column has long sdaid that
devils, and all naimals, need space to thrive, so if the govt is serious
about saving the devil it will provide funds for a large mainland enclosure.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/16/2743501.htm?site=idx-tas
Tarkine
road decision delayed by Garrett.
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2009/11/23/111425_tasmania-news.html
A leaked e mail from
the dept of environment says that they would rather list the koala
without using the AKF's data. Clearly no love lost there then.
http://www.gympietimes.com.au/story/2009/12/02/koalas-fate-in-data-debacle/
The QLD govt is to
provide a big boost in funds for research into koala diseases.
http://www.mysunshinecoast.com.au/articles/article-display/bligh-govt-provides-koala-disease-research-funds,15706
New national
park in the Riverina.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/04/2761757.htm
November 12th 2009
Dog attacks areresponsible for a large number of koala deaths. Is the cause of this ignorance on the part of the owners, or a lack of concern?
http://www.echonews.com.au/story/2009/10/26/koalas-under-threat-from-dog-attacks/
The decision re the Tarkine road proposal is getting closer.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/27/2724938.htm
QLD's koala protection measures are 'laughable' says the AKF.
QLD farmers are renewing calls for state-wide dingo culls. The complaint is that wild dogs and kangaroos are causing huge losses.
The lastest koala survey from the AKF is has now been released and it shows a shocking picture of a poulation in free fall. This is a catastrophic story and signals the very real possibility of the effective extinction of the koala in the coming decades.
October 25th 2009
Tim Flannery is probably the best known of Australia's conservationists. Here he outlines his fears for our wildlife and issues an appeal to expats to donate to the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.
Hopefully we all now know that what plants and animals need is large areas of unbroken habitat in order to get on with their lives. So when a mining company wants to strip bare a large area of pristine rainforest it undertandably worries a lot of people.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,20797,26200299-3102,00.html?from=public_rss
It's hard to know where to stand on the Fraser Is. dingo debate, this excellent article gives good background information on the issue.
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/features/20091910-20025.html
Australian mammals have suffered so tremendously in the last 200 years that it always gives me such a lift when a good news story comes along, such as this one about the golden bandicoot.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/golden-bandicoot-makes-a-comeback-20091019-h43a.html
Graziers are planning a new attack on dingoes in order to protect their livelihoods. What they don't seem to grasp is that it is a fight they can never win and a fight which can only make things worse for themselves. Less dingoes means more feral dogs and dingo crosses, and these are the real problem. When will we learn to live with our wildlife?
October 5th 2009
The commonly held view is that monotremes are an evolutionary backwater whose day has long gone. If so, why are they still here? This article gives an explanation based on new genetic evidence.
http://www.livescience.com/animals/090921-egg-mammals.html
All about the marsupial lion.
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/features/20092309-19810.html
A massive new protected are has been unveiled in the Top End, covering 1.4 million hectares. This is exectly what is needed.
http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/28729
This is starting to get repetitive, but just in case anyone out there hasn't yet got the message, koalas are in big trouble.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h6LLh_wgF538VONNOkrpAmjsoQTgD9B145080
A SA wombat carer has claimed that farmers are illegally killing large numbers of souther hairy nosed wombats. Killing wombats as a means of protecting property is allowed under licence but only in a prescribed manner. The DEH say they need evidence to prosecute and this is undeniably difficult to come by.
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,26149686-2682,00.html?from=public_rss
I post this article just so that you know what happens to kangaroos around the Bathurst race track.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i2CNhBVgkIaOL4ZzlAmb_W2WxtlQ
September 22nd 2009
For those interested in the Gorgon gas project, recently given the go-ahead for Barrow Island, here's an interesting article on what it's all about.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,26077154-5017963,00.html
Ten years ago Dr. Jon Hanger sequenced the koala retrovirus. Here he outlines how the double whammy of the disease and shrinking habitat could spell extinction for this national icon. Remember, there are very roughly 100,000 koalas left in the wild. In the last month of Queensland's open season for hunting koalas in 1928, something like 800,000 were killed. 100,000 really isn't that many.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26101095-421,00.html
Good news for albatrosses.
http://inventorspot.com/articles/under_32675
In Tasmania, more than 83 per cent of lowland native grasslands have disappeared as a result of clearing, changing land use and weed invasion. The federal government has decided to do something to try to reverse this situation. Tasmanian farmers ar e happy to help, just as long as it doesn't impact them too much.This is such a familiar story of vested interests and a lack of real concern for the environment. I say well done to Peter Garrett, shame on you small minded farmers.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26101733-30417,00.html
September 13th 2009
A Gold Coast vet has predicted that, unless major changes to development are made, koalas will be extinct there in less than 10 years. This is a familiar story now, and not just in that part of Australia. It seems that the big problem for koalas is that they happen to live in the same areas as do us humans. We all say we care, but we all want a home to live in, a car to drive and pets to keep.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/09/13/136425_gold-coast-news.html
1300 new species discovered in Australia in the last decade alone. 1700 species threatened. What this tells me is that the many Australian species are likely to become extinct even before we know they exist. That, surely, is a tragedy for us all.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0909/1224254135488.html
More reaction to Laurrie Corbett's report on Fraser's dingoes.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/07/2678229.htm?site=news
A QLD farmer says that pig traps are a real threat to cassowaries. Oh how we mess with the environment,
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/07/2678229.htm?site=news
Hendra virus has been in the news recently, with the death of a QLD vet. This article gives a bit of background information on this and other animal borne viruses.
Platypuses and yabby traps don't go well together, but getting the message out is not always easy.
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20093108-19657-2.html
So it seems that, according to MP Graham Gunn, those who care about conserving endangered native wildlife through the appropriate re-introduction of dingoes are just 'trendy greenies'. Could he be looking after his electorate by any chance? So much for leadership.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/31/2671692.htm
Some welcome additional funds for helping research solutions to the cane toad problem.
Laurie Corbett is quite the dingo expert and has been called in to assess the situation on Fraser Island. His report gives the govt and national parks a pat on the back and so has immediately been criticised as being biased.
http://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/story/2009/09/03/fraser-island-dingo-audit-criticised/
Yet another voice calling for the re-introduction of the dingo to arid areas to prevent further extinctions.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/09/02/2674674.htm
A new report says that if we follow the path of emmissions reductions recommended by the govt then the future for the Great Barrier Reef is bleak indeed.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/09/02/2674674.htm
September 1st 2009
Possibly not many people realise that the Shooters' Party hold the balance of power in the NSW upper house. They are using this power to block govt legislation unless their demands (mainly the right to shoot in NSW National parks) are met.This weak govt has already given the Shooters' Party millions to establish a pro-hunting organisation and has overridden state planning legislation to approve a shooting centre. This has, understandably, caused a lot of anger across the state and in particular for the local residents of the town of Hill Top, where the shooting centre is to be located. Make no mistake, this single issue party are abusing their power and undermining our democracy.
The situation with the hazing of Fraser Island's dingoes is reaching boiling point. The latest episode has Qld Parks personnel raiding the home of someone suspected of feeding the dingoes. The woman in question had the Parks' people in her house for six hours, during which time all of her house was searched and computer equipment was taken away. It just so happens that she is writing a book about the practices of Qldl Parks personnel. If it is not outrageous enough that ones house can be raided by anyone other than the police, then it is even more so when it is done on the pretext of a wildlife issue.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,27574,25985378-3102,00.html
The massive Gorgon LNG plant has, of course, been given the green go-ahead by minister Garrett. After the govt had announced the sale of $50Bn worth of gas to the Chinese there was clearly nowhere else for this to go. This is a truly huge deal and the development will happen in possibly the most significant of all Australian ecosystems, with numerous rare and endangered species. Garrett says the wildlife will be fine. Succeed or fail, this will be what Peter Garrett will be remembered for.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-08-26-voa18.cfm
If you live anywhere near Brisbane and you care about koalas this is for you, a chance to demonstrate your feelings.
http://noosa-journal.whereilive.com.au/news/story/join-the-koala-rally-make-your-voice-heard/
There is a large and ongoing oil spill in the Timor sea off the north coast of Australia.
http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0830-hance_oil_australia.html
August 25th 2009
The results of new research on the behaviour of Tassie Devils has been released, showing an unusually high level of contact between all members of a social network, thereby potentially hastening the spread of the disease.
http://www.livescience.com/animals/090818-tasmanian-devil-network.html
The Green Party has questioned how the govt can announce a $50Bn deal with China even before the Gorgon project has been ratified by the Environment Minister. Garrett assures us that he does have the power to stop the project but really, do we believe him?
http://www.livescience.com/animals/090818-tasmanian-devil-network.html
The shrinking population of Tassie Devils is leading to increased in-breeding. As if they didn't have enough problems. Most people who have studied the disease problem will tell you, at least in private, that wild devils have no future, no matter how much money is thrown at research. What is desperately needed is a large (500+) captive population which can be used for re-introduction once the last wild devil has died. However, publicly, not many are prepared to admit to this.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25954890-5006788,00.html
Now then, here's a story about a wombat in an urban drain, in danger from traffic and dogs, and the action taken but a couple who cared enough to rescue it. And for anyone else in NSW who cares about wildlife, how about storing the WIRES number in your mobile phone? It is 1300 556 686. The wombat in question has been successfully re-released into the wild.
http://www.wellingtontimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/wombat-found-in-drain/1602582.aspx
Garrett's new approach to conservation (see Aug 18th) has started to be questioned. Just which species are we prepared to watch go extinct?
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25964188-5013871,00.html
University of Western Sydney native animal expert Ricky Spencer says the pure dingo is now pretty much extinct.
http://www.gympietimes.com.au/story/2009/08/24/dingo-threat-of-extinction-claim/
BHP have been told that their Olympic dam expansion at Roxby Downs needs to address many substantial environmental concerns before it can proceed.
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,27574,25971059-2682,00.html
August 18th 2009
It seems the Shooters Party may have lost their battle to get into National Parks.
Dingoes in the ACT are nearing extinction.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/12/2653270.htm
Scientists call for the re-introduction of the dingo across much of Australia. They say it will require a change in livestock practices but most of all it will require a change in the mindset of graziers.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/dog-may-have-its-day-again-20090812-eidr.html
The much respected Adam O'Neil believes that the Parks and Wildlife practices on Fraser Is are close to wiping out dingoes. This is well worth a read.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,27574,25924593-3102,00.html
Today's news of a $50Bn deal with China to supply LNG from the yet to be built Gorgon project seems to guarantee that Peter Garrett will have to give it the go-ahead. Chevron certainly thinks so.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25930545-5005200,00.html
Peter Garrett has stated, quite rightly, that where money is limited, some species will have to be allowed to become extinct in favour of preserving ecosystems. Quite how this philosophy fits in with the Barrow Is LNG development, or with subsidising logging of native forest in Tasmania is not at all clear.
August 12th 2009
The World Rally Championships hit NSW next month. The organisers commissioned an environmental report which said there would be no impacts and so it has been allowed to proceed. You may be surprised to read that the organiser could produce their own report as evidence. Well, this is because the NSW govt changed the law to override existing planning laws, specifically for this event. Now, two independent reports have highlighted numerous areas of potential environmental damage.
Wondering what you can do to help? Protests are planned.
Sam the koala, made famous during Victoria's bush fire season, has died. Sam's story may be a little compromised but she highlighted the plight of native wildlife and now she highlights the issue of chlamydia in the koala population.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/5981168/Koala-who-survived-Australian-bush-fires-dies.html
A mass cull of some of Australia's 1 million camels is being considered. Camels are one of a huge number of imported pests that roam the Australian countryside doing untold damage, They have no place here. However, the dromedary does not exist as a wild animal anywhere else so maybe we should not push for complete eradication, at least not yet.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hFXuPli2zdwE5zhQMIMn0PzNDT4QD99V2UL00
Most people care about wildlife, some people actually do something positive to help.
http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2009/08/11/love-of-cuddly-icon-saluted/
August 8th 2009
More skulduggery with the Tarkine Road development.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25899023-11949,00.html
August 6th 2009
A new draft plan has been released to help protect the few remaining cassowaries around Mission Beach in Queensland. This will be an interesting test case to see how much opposition comes from the local population, since it involves traffic calming measures and dog and cat-free zones. Cassowaries are critically endangered in Australia, their range having shrunk dramatically since the arrival of whites. Cassowaries are the sole germinators of approximately 80 species of tree.
http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/08/06/56491_local-news.html
July 30th 2009
The WA government has all but given the go ahead to a massive LNG plant on Barrow Island. Called the Gorgon Project, (did no-one think before choosing the name - a gorgon, in Greek mythology, was a terrible monster?) it plans to produce 15 million tonnes of LNG and create up to 6000 jobs. Barrow Island is the last refuge for several marsupials extinct on the mainland and a major breeding site for turtles. The state govt says they are happy with the environmental conditions, WWF say they are not and that it should be sited on the mainland.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/30/2640643.htm?section=australia
July 29th 2009
The new home page picture is of a dingo sitting alert on a dune on the New South Wales mid north coast. These dingoes are, despite appearances, some of the purest in Australia. Still viewed as a pest by many in the farming community, dingoes are slowly beginning to be recognised for the role they play in protecting native wildlife from cats and foxes, as well as being a major predator of rabbits. To many it is now apparent that without dingoes many more native species will become extinct.
Mass extinction is upon us, or so this report says. Not something to be read if you are feeling a bit depressed today. The report outlines the causes of the problem with an emphasis on this part of the world.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/28/species-extinction-hotspots-australia
The Queensland govt has introduced certain measures to protect koala habitat. Conservationists say it's not enough and developers want compensation. A thankless task.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/koalas-only-half-protected-20090728-e030.html
July 24th 2009
Warratah Park, the original home of Skippy, closed its doors a couple of years ago. However, the stated plan was always for it to re-open after redevelopment. Now the RSPCA has euthanased two emaciated kangaroos and is looking into the welfare of those that remain under the care of Prudentia Investments. What's not mentioned in the article is the fact that the original Skippy Park was closed down due to neglect of the animals under it's care.
July 23rd 2009
The fate of the remaining koalas in SE Queensland is indeed becoming precarious. Here the AKF president says she fears extinction in 2 years and puts the blame on Premier Anna Bligh. This is such a complicated issue for a country with a growing population. Koala numbers are down from the millions in the 1920s to somewhere around 100,000 now, and declining rapidly, but as much as we care about their plight we all want somewhere to live and to be able to travel around quickly and easily, and this means development. We like to blame politicians for the troubles of the world but maybe they are only giving us what we want.
July16th 2009
The small colony of Little or Fairy Penguins in Sydney leads a precarious existence. The threat from dogs and foxes is constant and a recent dog attack has lead Parks to give them extra protection, in the form of snipers. Could the money be spent better elsewhere or should we do everything we can to help the last remaining east-coast population?
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gYGnJC-65r1VMSooMHxSB2n6sMRw
New protection measures have been announced for dugongs in Queensland waters.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/14/2625083.htm
July 5th 2009
This is an interesting and quite comprehensive article on the issues surrounding the eating of kangaroos. It misses one key issue though, that the shooting of an adult female kangaroo means the slow death of an abandoned joey-at-foot. 'Roo shooters will always try to shoot males but a large number of females are always taken (even if low in % terms) and so this issue seems unavoidable. Anyway, here is the article.
http://www.island.lk/2009/07/05/leisure1.html
July 4th 2009
The latest on the Tarkine road. A ray of light for those who object to this road being built.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25730875-20142,00.html
July 3rd 2009
A new colony is about to be started for the endangered northern hairy nosed wombat. This is an exciting and much needed development for this critically endangered species. It is not without risk, however, since taking 24 animals from what is an(albeit increasing) population of just 138 will leave the Epping Forest population more vulnerable.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25723520-3044,00.html
For those interested in the whole issue of forestry in Tasmania here is a splendid article by Jeremy Hance. It outlines the issue from both sides and shows greater depth than I have seen before. Tasmania and its' logging has become such a huge issue over the decades, mainly because, unlike many other areas, it still has large tracts of unbroken native forests. However, the issues are the same elsewhere in Australia, with huge power and influence exerted by the forestry industry, which provides relatively few jobs, and a largely powerless opposition green movement. This is a must read.
http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0702-hance_tasmania_forestry.html
Some good news for those of you who have been following the news about the rapid decline in koala numbers in SE QLD. Time will tell how effective this change will be so I'll try not to be too cynical at this stage.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/833143/qld-govt-considers-koala-protection-rule