Neil bought up the issue at the book launch yesterday with an enthusiasm that suggested amusement. Discussion on this is a new one on me. I think we should
go beyond just to get back to the chat line with the results in a few weeks and actually progress the issue. I agree with the Gang-gang as suitable, for its clear relevance
to the area. I agree with Mark and for the reasons given that both the Short-beaked Echidna and the Eastern Bettong
are not good choices and we could do a lot better. I also agree that
the Northern Corroboree Frog is a far better suggestion, also to raise its profile and to think of local in-need species.
Then again, we don’t have a very high bar to beat on these issues. I have not seen evidence of many lions or unicorns in Britain. Something coming up in a new
book review of mine to come out soon in CBN, comments on this issue in passing. Of which I have just seen another example. Last weekend there was an open day at the Philippine Embassy. I noted a display banner of the Canberra Branch of the Australian-Philippine
organisation (whatever it is called). Featuring various relevant Philippine scenes and also included - guess what – a very obvious Bald Eagle......... How dumb is that......... I asked and was told “we have an eagle in the Philippines”. Yes I know, their national
emblem. Some ignorant local designer couldn’t be bothered checking the facts.
I have seen a Philippine Eagle and a Bald Eagle (one captive bird each). The former is a far more imposing bird - why wouldn’t they know and use it. And that
is not an analogy on Rodrigo Duterte or Donald Trump, who are both dangerous nut cases.
Philip
From: Mark Clayton [
Sent: Wednesday, 13 December, 2017 9:20 AM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] Faunal emblem for the ACT
Hi all,
Recently in the press and on TV there has been discussion that the ACT needs a animal emblem so I thought that I would stir the pot to see what people think. Most states and the Northern Territory have a bird, animal and flower to represent
their states. – in the ACT we have the Gang-gang Cockatoo as the bird emblem and the Royal Bluebell as our floral emblem. Two species have been suggested as a possible animal emblem, the Short-beaked Echidna and the Eastern Bettong which is the species being
reintroduced to the Mulligans Flat reserve and elsewhere locally. Initially I thought that the echidna was more appropriate than the bettong as the echidna is far better known than the bettong which hasn’t, to the best of my knowledge, been recorded in the
ACT in local European history.
After thinking about the topic it occurred to me that neither of the suggested species is really suitable as the echidna is found all over Australia and in Papua New Guinea, and the bettong, as I have noted above, hasn’t occurred in the
ACT for quite some time. One species that I think would be an ideal animal emblem is the Northern Corroboree Frog, a species that has much of its known habitat and range in the ACT. It is a spectacular little frog with lime-yellow and black markings, and is
a threatened species.
I would be very interested to see any other suggestions for any species for the three categories as emblems for the ACT. I will collate the answers and get back to the chat line ith the results in a few weeks
Cheers,
Mark
