"Endangered"

In March this year, the wonderful Gang-gang Cockatoo, Callocephalon fimbriatum, was added to the list of  endangered birds in the Commonwealth Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Gang-gangs were recently recorded at Longwarry North during the FoDT bird surveys

The Gang-gang was added to the ever-growing list of threatened species due to its decline in numbers from 1999 to 2019. It is estimated that in those 20 years, the population of Gang-gang Cockatoos declined by 69%. This decline was recorded BEFORE the 2019-220 bushfires when around 30% of the bird’s natural range was impacted. Researchers estimate the fires reduced the population of Gang-gangs by a further 10% at least.

The Gang-gang Cockatoo is endemic to south-eastern Australia where its preferred habitat is temperate eucalypt forests and woodlands. Gang-gangs feed on flowers, seeds and fruits of a wide range of native trees and shrubs from the families of eucalypts, acacias, hakeas, etc. They are also known at times to eat seeds and fruits of non-native plants in urban parks and gardens.

Gang-gangs rely on fairly large tree hollows for nesting. The same family of birds will often use the same hollows for several years in a row before moving to a different set of hollows for several seasons and returning to their original trees later on. This procedure is thought to be a means of avoiding nest parasitism.

From the EPBC Act Conservation Advice: “Gang-gang Cockatoos are adversely impacted by a range of threats including habitat loss, wildfire, climate change and competition for suitable nesting hollows.”

Female Gang-gang

The ongoing loss of suitable tree hollows due to land clearing (timber harvesting, urban development, pastoral enterprises), wildfire and inappropriate fire regimes is considered the principal cause of the decline in Gang-gang numbers.

A decision has been made at Government level to produce a recovery plan for the Gang-gang Cockatoo. This promises to be an involved and lengthy process. In the meantime, at the local level WE NEED TO SAVE OUR BIG TREES!

 

 

We need BIG trees

Drouin has some large old trees. The Settlement Giant, in Settlement Rd, is on Australia’s National Register of Big Trees LINK.

While Victoria and Tasmania in particular have some of the world’s largest trees, we are at risk of losing them through land clearing for agricultural purposes, urban development and infrastructure and for timber harvesting.

Mountain Grey Gum Settlement Rd Drouin

The loss of large trees can have significant ecological impacts. Large trees are best at storing carbon and stands of large trees play an appreciable role in the water cycle.

Our eucalypts take almost 100 years to develop hollows that provide habitat for native birds, mammals, and reptiles. More than 300 species of native animals rely on tree hollows for their survival, a greater proportion than in any other country on the planet.

The Settlement Giant: 12.5m girth; 35m tall; 33m spread; loaded with hollows

With advancing climate change, there is a pronounced push to plant more trees to sequester carbon. Existing large trees absorb disproportionally more carbon than small trees. Saving the large trees we already have is essential.

Trees can be thought of as water pumps. They draw large amounts of water from the soil and transpire it as water vapour into the atmosphere. Trees contribute to the amount of rainfall as much as the oceans do.

Many of our large, old trees have important cultural and historical values for our first nations people and early settlers.

Yes, we certainly need to plant new young trees to play their role in the future but we badly need to save our existing big old trees too.

 

Pet cats are killers

About 27% of Australian households have pet cats and about half of those households have more than one cat. That amounts to around 4 million domestic cats. About a third of Australia’s pet cats are properly contained, the other two thirds are allowed to roam.

Not my cat #1

Urban, domestic, pet cats in Australia, (not including the feral ones) are estimated to kill nearly 400 million animals each year. It works out at about 180 animals per cat. Before you say, “My cat doesn’t bring home many animals”, consider that the research suggests the domestic cat returns home with less than 15% of its kills.

Not my cat #2

The University of Sydney research, LINK, suggests that 59% of domestic cat kills are native animals, birds, mammals and reptiles.

In Australia’s cities and towns, the pet cat density is between 40 and 70 cats per square kilometre. Many of them are ‘housed’ near wetlands, parks and bush reserves, making their predation of particular concern for areas that have been set aside partly for the preservation of wildlife.

Not my cat #3

Remember, this is the effect of the domestic or pet cat on our wildlife. Our feral cat problem is considerable too – a story for another day.

From the Baw Baw Shire Council website, LINK…

Registration:

“All cats over the age of 3 months are required to be registered with Council. It is a State Government requirement that they are microchipped in order to register with Council. Please note that microchipping is different to Council registration.”

Desexing:

“All cats living within Baw Baw Shire Council must be desexed.”

24 Hour Curfew:

“Baw Baw Shire Council has an order imposed under the Community Local Law 2016, stating that all owners of cats are required to keep their cat securely confined to the property and not allow that cat to wander outside the owner’s premises.”

Number of Cats:

“In accordance with the Community Local Law 2016, in a residential area, permits must be obtained to keep more than two cats (regardless of your land size). In a rural area, you can keep up to 5 cats without a permit.”

 

“If you're having an issue with wandering cats in your area, a limited number of cat traps are available to borrow from Council for up to 7 days (a refundable deposit of $63.40 is required).”