Description:
Koalas were introduced into Framlingham Forest, south-west Victoria, in 1971 and the population grew rapidly. By the 1990s the forest was suffering severe defoliation and many trees preferred by Koalas had been over-browsed. In 1998/99 around 1100 Koalas were captured, the males sterilised and animals translocated to other suitable habitats in western Victoria. Some habitat restoration was subsequently undertaken. In 2007 a deliberately lit fire destroyed most eucalypt foliage and many Koalas were killed or burned and removed by wildlife carers and DSE staff. A survey in 2011 found only two Koalas in the area. A Koala management plan for Framlingham Forest has been prepared.
Description:
The Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a major pest in Australia, especially in its predation of so called 'critical weight range' (35-5500g) mammals. the fox is an introduced species that can also cause serious declines in bird numbers, often killing many more than they need to eat.
Description:
The Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a major pest in Australia, especially in its predation of so called 'critical weight range' (35-5500g) mammals. the fox is an introduced species that can also cause serious declines in bird numbers, often killing many more than they need to eat.
Description:
The Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) is the world’s smallest penguin, weighing up to 1.2 kg. It lives in coastal environments along southern Australia and New Zealand and breeds on sand dunes and rocky outcrops of islands and mainland sites where it can be safe from predation. Little Penguins have bred on Middle Island, Warrnambool on the Victorian coast in Australia for at least 60 years. In 1999 a survey found 342 active penguin burrows and a population of over 500 adult penguins breeding on the island. The colony was then subjected to intense predation by the introduced Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), so that by 2005 only four birds were recorded arriving on the island to breed. Fox control methods proved ineffective and the colony seemed doomed to extirpation. However, since introduction of Maremma guardian dogs to the island in 2006, there has been an apparent cessation of fox predation of the island’s seabirds. This has facilitated a steady increase in the number of penguins breeding on the island. Data on the colony’s recovery are presented as well as a description of critical factors in this successful wildlife management process. Using guardian dogs to help protect threatened but heavily predated populations has become known as “the Warrnambool method for conserving wildlife”.
Description:
The Common or Bare-nosed Wombat Vombatus ursinus was once widespread in south-eastern Australia, ranging from Mount Gambier and Murray Bridge in South Australia, through Victoria and New South Wales and into southeastern Queensland (Troughton 1941). In Victoria it now occupies a range of habitats in hilly and mountainous regions (especially in East Gippsland, where it is common) and near the coast, but its distribution has declined. Thus, while it exists in Victoria in low numbers in the far south-west at Dergholm and Nelson (Menkhorst 1995), wombats are today almost completely absent in western Victoria. This contrasts with historical records indicating wombats were once found throughout the Volcanic Plains and the Otway Plains (Menkhorst 1995). Surprisingly, wombats are absent from the Otway Ranges and Menkhorst ascribes occasional sightings of them there to be the result of translocation by humans.
Description:
The Common or Bare-nosed Wombat Vombatus ursinus was once widespread in south-eastern Australia, ranging from Mount Gambier and Murray Bridge in South Australia, through Victoria and New South Wales and into southeastern Queensland (Troughton 1941). In Victoria it now occupies a range of habitats in hilly and mountainous regions (especially in East Gippsland, where it is common) and near the coast, but its distribution has declined. Thus, while it exists in Victoria in low numbers in the far south-west at Dergholm and Nelson (Menkhorst 1995), wombats are today almost completely absent in western Victoria. This contrasts with historical records indicating wombats were once found throughout the Volcanic Plains and the Otway Plains (Menkhorst 1995). Surprisingly, wombats are absent from the Otway Ranges and Menkhorst ascribes occasional sightings of them there to be the result of translocation by humans.
Description:
Raptors are birds of prey and under certain conditions they can be sucessfully used to manage aggregations of pest birds that disperse as a predator avoidance response.
Description:
Raptors are birds of prey and under certain conditions they can be sucessfully used to manage aggregations of pest birds that disperse as a predator avoidance response.
Description:
Henry Watts was a microscopist, botanist, marine biologist and a manufacturer of perfumes made from distilling flowers. Before this latter occupation, he was a bootmaker. The first record we have of Watts was his setting up a bootmaking shop in Warrnambool in 1858 and, in the same year, giving a lecture to the Warrnambool Mechanics Institute on 'The Microscope'.
Description:
Henry Watts was a microscopist, botanist, marine biologist and a manufacturer of perfumes made from distilling flowers. Before this latter occupation, he was a bootmaker. The first record we have of Watts was his setting up a bootmaking shop in Warrnambool in 1858 and, in the same year, giving a lecture to the Warrnambool Mechanics Institute on 'The Microscope'.
Description:
Birds are considered to be pests when they damage infrastructure and crops as well as being a health risk and a social nuisance. Here we detail some case studies where we used trained raptors to disperse populations of pest Long-billed Cacatua tenuirostris and Little Corellas C. sanguinea, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos C. galerita and Silver Gulls Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae in Victoria. We describe the situations where the technique works best and compare it with other methods of managing pest birds. Using raptors to disperse pest birds seems to be a cost-effective management tool only when the target area is small, the period over which damage occurs is limited, and when the damage caused by the pest species is costly.
Description:
Maremma guardian dogs have been protecting Little Penguins Eudyptula minor from canid predation at Middle Island, Warrnambool, since 2006. Foxes had preyed heavily on the penguins contributing to a population crash - from over 500 arrivals in the 1999-2000 breeding season, to less than 10 some five years later. Our monitoring of arrivals indicates numbers have grown to over 100 penguins. The successful use of guardian dogs to protect native wildlife and the strong community participation and support for the program constitutes what has become known as the 'Warrnambool Method' for wildlife conservation management.