Hi All
The kiwis have been trying out a similar idea with their "mainland island"
program; fences tall, dug deep in, and fine-meshed, after they clear out
possums, cats, dogs, stoats (not one of the better ideas in the biological
control history), hedgehogs, and rats (not mice I think; the fence mesh is not
that fine). There is one in Wellington, and its made a very visible difference;
I used to live in Wellington until 2008 and am still there regularly, and there
are now kakas, tui and other native birds all through the greater city area; I
assume they forage widely but breed in the protected areas. Very expensive to
set up and not cheap to maintain; and I doubt whether any of them are 21 square
kilometres. But with the right species, they can really make a difference.
There are tuatara and a fair number of the flightless and near flightless kiwi
endemics in the Wellington reserve, breeding well. It would be no use for
eagles, large owls, or other species that need a large range of their own; it
could not support a breeding population. But for small insectivores, skinks an
geckos; or birds like the kaka that are strong fliers and will range widely,
but which are also capable of learning about safe areas (big parrots are smart
birds) they can make a huge difference.
Kim
Kim Sterelny, School of Philosophy, Research School of the Social Sciences,
Australian National University, Acton, 0200, ACT, Australia
or
61-(0)2-6125-2886
________________________________________
From: Birding-Aus <> on behalf of Barney
Enders <>
Sent: Thursday, 13 August 2015 6:12 PM
To:
Subject: Leave tbe twitchers alone.
Hi Chris, the Bilby Fence is at Currawinya National Park South of Eulo on
the Hungerford Rd. South Western Qld just North of the border.
It was built at a cost of $ 400.000 or $ 550.000 depends who you talk to and
was finished in 2001.
It is an electrified predator and feral animal proof netting fence six foot
high with netting laying on the ground on the outside to prevent predators
digging under and an outside flap of netting at the top that prevents
anything climbing over by it swinging down under their weight.
It is said to be 25 km long with some saying it fences in 21 sqr km. it was
built for captive bred Bilbies to get a wild breeding colony back into the
area
where they were once found in good numbers.
It was built with massive fundraising and large donations of fencing
material from Cyclone, Waratah etc companies and many hours of voluntary
labour
including foreign backpackers.
A great success with the Bilbies breeding in good numbers only to be wrecked
when nobody thought to check the fence line to see if the netting had rusted
out during the big rains and floods.
The disaster was discovered in 2012 when it was found that cats had got in
and had wiped out the colony, much to the dismay of those involved with the
captive breeding and the years of fund raising, Save the Bilby etc.
There is a sample of the fence at the Currawinya Shearing Shed for tourist
to see but not even representatives from the companies that donated the
material
are allowed to the fenced area.
I had a look at it when I went to see the massive flocks of thousands of
Pelicans and Cormorants that nest on the lakes in the Park.
Barney
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