Joey survives cold in morning miracle in Barrington Tops

BY JAKSON BERTOLI

Aussie Ark Rangers were treated to a surprise appearance from a three-month-old joey this morning.

Ranger Kelly Davis found the young kangaroo, affectionately named Stanley, in the cold while on her early morning rounds.

The joey was rushed back to Ark HQ to warm up and be checked for injuries.

Fortunately, Stanley was more than okay after being warmed up and given a bottle.

He will be looked after for the next six months before joining the conservation program.

Chris Hemsworth Ventures to Barrington Tops, to Return Tassie Devils to Mainland Australia For First Time in 3,000 Years

BY ISABEL EVERETT 

WildArk Ambassador, Chris Hemsworth and wife Elsa Pataky have ventured to the Barrington Tops to release Tasmanian devils back into the wild on mainland Australia for the first time in 3,000 years. 

Aussie Ark, Global Wildlife Conservation and WildArk have collaborated to released the animals, including Lenny and Lisa, into a 400-hectare wildlife sanctuary on Barrington Tops. 

Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth Release Tasmanian Devils in the wild at Barrington Tops

Tasmanian Devil Lisa

Tasmanian Devil Lenny

“In 100 years, we are going to be looking back at this day as the day that set in motion the ecological restoration of an entire country,” said Tim Faulkner, president of Aussie Ark.

 “Not only is this the reintroduction of one of Australia’s beloved animals, but of an animal that will engineer the entire environment around it, restoring and rebalancing our forest ecology after centuries of devastation from introduced foxes and cats and other invasive predators."

"Because of this reintroduction and all of the hard work leading up to it, someday we will see Tasmanian devils living throughout the great eastern forests as they did 3,000 years ago.”

 
Tasmanian devils vanished entirely from mainland Australia in large part because they were outcompeted by introduced dingoes, which hunt in packs. 

Dingoes never made it to Tasmania, but across the island state, a transmissible, painful and fatal disease called Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD)—the only known contagious cancer—decimated up to 90 percent of the wild population of Tasmanian devils.

Just 25,000 devils are left in the wild of Tasmania today, with Australia having world’s worst mammal extinction rate.

 

For the last decade, the Aussie Ark team has been building an insurance population of Tasmanian devils all leading up to the reintroduction, which took place on September 10. 

Twenty-six total devils now call the wild of mainland Australia home.

Devil Joey 

 

Devils Shortly After Release 

“Without Aussie Ark’s incredible work and perseverance over all of these years, the recent devil reintroduction would not have been possible and instead of looking forward to the recovery of the species, we would be watching the devil slip into extinction,” said Don Church, president of Global Wildlife Conservation. 

“This is an incredible example of how to rewild our planet, bringing back the natural systems to the benefit of all life on Earth.”
 

Tasmanian Devil Jackson

Hunter Residents Koalified to Report Wildlife Sightings

BY LILLY HAINES

NSW communities are being asked to share where they have seen wildlife in their local area as a new online Community Wildlife Survey launched yesterday.

The survey, conducted by the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), asks local people to record sightings of ten key animals wherever they have been sighted across NSW in the last two years.

The survey is being funded as a part of the $44.7 million NSW Koala Strategy which is helping to secure the future of koalas in the wild.

Koala populations around the Hunter have been in decline over recent years in some areas and the NSW Koala Strategy also provides funding to set aside more than 20 000 hectares of state forest in NSW regions including the Hunter.

Port Stephens is the home to the largest population in the Hunter and even their numbers are decreasing dramatically with reports forecasting the extinction of the NSW koala population by 2050 without intervention. 

Science Director of the OEH, Dr. Tom Celebrezze, said the survey is collecting data on the populations of brushtail possums, foxes, platypus, wombats, koalas, spotted-tailed quolls, kangaroos, deer, and dingos.

"One great thing about using citizen scientists and local volunteers is that they're everywhere so this approach using people's eye witness accounts means we have millions of eyes looking for ten different common animals and that gives us some baseline information about where those animals are being seen," Mr Celebrezze said.

"This means that we then get data about these species that informs a whole range of programs and research, knowing where koalas are being seen so we know where the populations are located means that we can add that [information] to the many different programs we are doing looking at koalas," said Mr Celebrezze.

The OEH says community wildlife sightings are hugely valuable to researchers with the data from the survey helping to gain a better understanding of where wildlife is as well as information on their health and any threats to the animals.

The last survey was conducted by the OEH in 2006 when more than 16 000 people shared their wildlife sightings which helped shape research and conservation priorities for NSW, and this new survey hopes gather data showing how populations have changed in over ten years.

"We just really encourage everyone to get involved, maybe you have been on a family trip and your kids have seen an animal and maybe it's a good opportunity for them to learn more about science and how they can get involved in conservation," Mr Celebrezze said.

The Community Wildlife Survey can be accessed here.

Image: John Spencer/OEH