This week I received a copy of the latest Arid Recovery Newsletter. Arid Recovery is a project that aims to reintroduce native animals to Australia's arid zone and is based at an enclosure near Roxby Downs in South Australia. It is a private project but it has received various Government grants.
The reserve is protected by a fox, cat and rabbit proof fence that covers 86 square kilometres and is Australia's largest enclosed conservation area. So far five locally extinct mammals- bilbies (see picture), greater stick-nest rats, burrowing bettongs, numbats and the Western-barred bandiccot have been released into the enclosure.
Highlights detailed in the latest Newsletter include:
- the release of 20 "predator trained" bilbies outside the enclosure to see if they can survive cat and fox predation. A scholarship student is tracking the bilbies to see how they go.
- ongoing fox and cat 1080 baiting in a buffer zone around the perimeter of the enclosure.
- the number of burrowing bettongs has increased from the 29 animals released in 1999 and 2000 to over 1,000. This demonstrates how well our smaller native mammals can thrive in a cat and fox free environment.
- seven species of eremophila (poverty bush or emu bush) are known from the reserve.
I haven't visited the Arid Recovery reserve yet but I hope to do so in the not too distant future. I find these types of private conservation initiatives very inspiring and a worthy recipient of donations of time and money. Hopefully one day a biological fox and cat control method will be available so that we will no longer have to use fences to protect our precious wildlife.
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