Newsletters
December 2008 - President’s Report
Dear Friends,
The Friends of the BTRW held their 13th AGM on 20 September, 2008. The Executive Committee for 2008/2009 is: Susan Robertson, President; John Rowntree, Vice-President; Melinda Norton, Secretary; Brian Care, Treasurer; Ernie Dumpleton, Carla Jackett and Mick Delmenico, Non-Office Bearing members of the Committee. Our thanks go to Warwick Deacock, who has retired from the Committee, for his contribution over the last few years. We welcome Mick Delmenico as a new member of the Committee. Thank you to all the other Executive Committee members for another year of dedication and effort for the conservation of the BTRW.
The Friends have recently been advised that an application by the World Wildlife Fund Australia and The Department of Environment and Climate Change for funding to the Federal Government Caring for Country Open Grants, July 2008, has been successful. This application was supported by the Friends in writing, and the project for the funding application was titled "Pulling the Brush-tailed Rock-Wallaby back from the Extinction Vortex". There were approximately 2,000 applications. The funds that have been made available from these grants will be shared between the Warrumbungles and the Shoalhaven BTRW programmes. Approximately $35,000 will be available for the Shoalhaven, and will be spent on the introduction of captively-bred animals into Shoalhaven colonies, fox control, monitoring, and some genetic work. This news is very encouraging as much still needs to be done to move the colonies beyond the "persisting but not increasing", or the "declining", situation.
On 2 September, 2008 a young male BTRW was trapped in the Jenolan Caves area and translocated to one of the colonies in the Kangaroo Valley to boost reproduction, as there had been no evidence of males in that colony for a period of more than one year. This radio-collared young male seems to have settled in well, and has been sighted and picked up on the monitoring cameras with the females doing all the right things. It should not be long before there will be a new generation of young BTRW's.
Each Spring and Autumn the DECC has the fox shooter/trapper come through the Kangaroo Valley, Budgong and Ilaroo, for the purpose of shooting or trapping any "bait-station shy" foxes. There are still pockets of these areas where no shooting or trapping can be done because landowners have not given their consent. There is a real need for more landowners to consent to shooting and/or trapping on their properties, as it only takes one fox on one night to kill off the young in a BTRW colony. The Friends urge you to consider or reconsider your decision regarding this matter.
Many thanks for your support.
Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year to you all.
Susan Robertson,
President.
NPWS News
It has now been one year since the release of three Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies into one of our colonies in the Shoalhaven the join the last remaining individual – Roxy. We have had some triumphs and some tragedies since then. While two of the three rock-wallabies released (Rosie and Hunter) have disappeared from the colony and are presumed deceased, we now have a young-at-foot rock-wallaby (Thumper) sired by Roxy and Adam. Our on-site cameras reveal continued interest between the two adults and we hope their next young is on its way. Obviously with the small size of Thumper at the moment he/she is highly vulnerable to predation. For this reason we are increasing our fox control efforts and would ask local landholders to do so too. We are now hoping that with the successful Caring for Country funding application for further rock-wallaby releases in the Shoalhaven, we will be able to release some additional rock-wallabies into this colony to increase our chances of getting further reproduction happening. It is so tenuous to be pinning all our hopes for the survival of this colony on the survival of an individual young.
In January 2009 we are planning to put some remote cameras at another colony in the Shoalhaven (funded by the Caring for Country grant) to establish information on the identity and gender balance of individuals at this colony. This may lead to an additional release of rock-wallabies into this colony later next year.
With all of these plans of rock-wallaby releases in our area we are reviewing our current fox baiting efforts to ensure they are adequate. We are looking to set up additional bait stations on consenting properties in the Illaroo, Kangaroo Valley and Budgong areas where this will provide additional protection to our local colonies. The timing of this review has coincided with the recent gazettal (October 2008) of the new Pesticide Control (1080 Liquid Concentrate and Bait Products) Order 2008. Local landholders need to be aware that this new Order allows landholders/NPWS to use 1080 baits on their land in locations as close as 150m from neighbouring dwellings. The previous Order had only allowed for baiting as close as 500m from a neighbouring dwelling. This is a major reduction in the distance requirements under the Order and will obviously necessitate that landholders ensure their dogs are contained on their properties at all times. All dog owners need to be aware that dogs will consume a bait if allowed access to a bait station, dogs are highly susceptible to 1080 poison and that there is no known antidote for 1080. If you suspect your pet has consumed a 1080 bait, contact a Veterinary Surgeon immediately.
A second change to Pesticide Control Order is that where 1080 fox baiting programs are continuous and ongoing, such as our program on private and public lands in the Kangaroo Valley and Budgong areas, public notification of baiting is only required every 6 months. Based on this change, our baiting efforts are now going to be conducted in the first full week of each month and notification of these dates will be sent out twice a year to any landholder within 1km of any of our bait stations. The timing of our fox baiting program in the Illaroo area will remain unchanged (a 2 week session every second month) and landholders will be advised prior to each baiting session.
Prior to our implementation of the above changes to the NPWS fox baiting programs in the Illaroo, Kangaroo Valley and Budgong areas, a notice of these changes will be sent out to all landholders within 1km of any of our bait stations and will also be put in local papers. A full copy of the Pesticide Control (1080 Liquid Concentrate and Bait Products) Order 2008 can be viewed at: www.environment.nsw.gov.au/pesticides/pco.htm
Other news on the BTRW front is that another session of fox shooting in Kangaroo Valley and Illaroo has just been completed with a total of 14 foxes shot. As mentioned by the President, there are pockets of areas where foxes are persisting uncontrolled. Please consider getting involved in our control efforts to further assist in the preservation of the local Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies. The next shoot is planned for February-March 2009.
Many thanks to those that continue to support our efforts and Merry Christmas.
Melinda Norton
Project Officer, NPWS, Highlands Area
