Hello
I was over at Hattah Kulkyne and Murray Sunset national parks in Victoria¹s northwest for the first few (very hot) days of this year and dismayed to find, next to a working malleefowl mound in Hattah Kulkyne, a newly dead malleefowl, killed, assumedly, by a fox. It was a female malleefowl probably in the process of laying an egg as a large chunk of eggshell was with the pile of feathers. I first came across this mound nearly thirty years ago and it¹s been in almost constant use since then. During the long drought, the current pair kept working this mound long after others had stopped and only gave it away towards the end of the drought.
Foxes are now in huge numbers all through these mallee parks due to the mouse plague following the big rains over the last couple of summers. Just about every track in the parks has fox tracks along it. I think there was a serious fox baiting program in Hattah Kulkyne until about five years ago but seemingly nothing since. The mice have gone and the foxes are starving and now eating anything they can catch.
Feral goats have also bred up over the last couple of summers and are all through Hattah Kulkyne and Murray Sunset. It would appear the parks¹ management are putting their (undoubtedly meager) resources into managing rabbits and doing a good job but the fox and feral goat situation is out of control. Probably the only viable way of controlling goats is to trap them at feeding or watering points. I read somewhere that 80 percent of a goat population had to be eradicated each year just to stop the population from increasing. Baiting is the only effective way to control fox numbers. We cannot afford to lose adult malleefowls.
I’ve written a letter to Parks Victoria about this situation.
There is a photo of the malleefowl remains in the trip report. http://www.philipmaher.com/MalleeJan2013DecieandDan.html
Regards
Philip Maher Deniliquin +61 3 58813378
Australian Ornithological Services Pty Ltd PO Box 385 South Yarra 3141 Victoria Australia Tel: + 61 3 98204223 Mobile: 0417310200 http://www.philipmaher.com http://www.youtube.com/user/AOS3141
Australian Ornithological Services Pty Ltd PO Box 385 South Yarra 3141 Victoria Australia Tel: + 61 3 98204223 Mobile: 0417310200 http://www.philipmaher.com Skype: patricia.maher3141 http://www.youtube.com/user/AOS3141
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Sorry, I didn’t mean to broadcast that request to the whole group.
Phil,
On behalf of the Victorian Malleefowl Recovery Group I would be very interested to know some more details on this, such as the location and if you happened to collect some feathers from the dead bird. We have had a PhD student conducting a DNA survey of malleefowl distribution and knowing the DNA identity of a breeding bird at a nest mound can be very important data.
Also, if you would be willing to share what you have been recording the history of the mound’s activity, it would be useful. We record this type of information on our national database for known mounds. FYI, among the 40 monitoring locations we visit annually in NW Victoria (1200+ nest sites,) 4 are in Hattah NP.
Cheers,
Ross Macfarlane
Secretary
Victorian Malleefowl Recovery Group, Inc.
) 0417 370 371
+ rm@rmtheriskmanager.com.au
: http://www.malleefowlvictoria.org.au
3 Cambridge Road
Bentleigh East VIC 3165
Rabbit numbers are as high as they’ve ever been Phillip and vegetation in Sunset Country is taking a hammering.
Foxes, rabbits, pigs and goats (dare I mention cats) are not getting the attention they should and the land managers’ budgets are dwindling.
Adequate control measures are labour intensive and that is going to be a problem for a while. Given adequate resources, know how and dedication, problem species can be controlled; as they are at Neds Corner.
It must have been distressing to find the dead Mallee Fowl, particularly in the circumstances you describe.
Writing to PV can’t hurt but going direct to the Minister and/or Premier may be more effective.
Cheers
David
Sent from my iPhone
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