Newsletters
July 2009 - President’s Report
Dear Friends,
The young male BTRW from the Jenolan Caves area that was translocated to a Kangaroo Valley colony last September, has settled into the colony and it has been observed that two, maybe three, of the females have pouched young. The male, named "Twelve" after a land formation somewhere near Jenolan Caves, was recently trapped by NPWS staff with the assistance of members of the Friends. His radio-collar was removed and he was given a health check. He has been observed a few times since and is bouncing around and looking good without the collar and aerial. The genetic diversity of this particular K.V. colony will also be greatly improved with the introduction of Twelve.
At a second colony in the Kangaroo Valley, NPWS have set up four remote monitoring cameras, and there is evidence of a young-at-foot with a female, a male, and possibly a total of five or more animals in the colony.
At another BTRW colony in the area, the young-at-foot which was sired by Roxy and Adam, has been seen recently on the on-site monitoring cameras. This particular colony was reduced to one animal and approximately 18 months ago, and also more recently, a total of five BTRW were translocated to this colony. Some have survived and some have not, however, the fact that Roxy's young-at-foot is now old enough to be much less vulnerable to foxes is encouraging news.
Fox control in the Kangaroo Valley, Bugong and Illaroo areas is intensive and ongoing in all these areas. The majority of bait stations are operational during the first full week of each month, although NPWS is trialling the use of continuous baiting at a dozen bait stations in the Kangaroo Valley area. Fox shooting and/or trapping is continuing twice per year.
The situation for the BTRW's has improved beyond "fragile" and they are persisting, however just one fox or a feral cat slipping through the protection can do a lot of damage in one night, and cause any given colony to go into decline.
A little further a field - in April this year the largest ever release of captively-bred BTRW's took place at Square Top Mountain, The Warrumbungles. There were 23 animals including 8 pouched young. Unfortunately, mainly due to predation, the original number has been reduced to 60%. Nonetheless, the potential to raise the Square Top Mountain colony to viability still exists. All feasible efforts are being pursued to prevent further mortalities. The remaining 60% are healthy and doing well. This project was made possible due to funding by an Australian Government Caring for our Country grant.
Many thanks to those who support the work of the Friends and NPWS.
Susan Robertson,
President, Friends of the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby
