The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) was a department of the Government of Western Australia that was responsible for implementing the state's conservation and environment legislation and regulations. It was formed on 1 July 2006 by the amalgamation of the Department of Environment and the Department of Conservation and Land Management. The DEC was separated on 30 June 2013 forming the Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) and the Department of Environment Regulation (DER), which both commenced operations on 1 July 2013. DPaW focuses on nature conservation and the community’s enjoyment and appreciation of Western Australia’s world-class network of national and marine parks.
Introduction
Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia)
Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia) | Introduction
1 July 2006 1 July 2006 1st July 2006. 1 July 2006
what is quoll?
user
They  are carnivorous marsupials.
assistant
where are they found?
user
Australia and New Guinea
assistant
where did the latter get it's name from?
user
Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
assistant
what kind of people are seen here?
user
The island is presently populated by almost a thousand different tribal groups
assistant
what does the animal we talked about feed on?
user
The smaller ones primarily eat insects, birds, frogs, lizards and fruit; the larger species eat birds, reptiles, and mammals, including echidnas and possums.
assistant
where does it live?
user
Each species of quoll lives in distinct geographical areas.
assistant
were any attempts made to protect or conserve these?
user
The Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia)
assistant
what did they do?
user
They monitors western quoll populations in the Jarrah Forest as part of its faunal management programs
assistant
what threat on them did lead to do so?
user
Predators such as foxes and cats prey on quolls and compete with them for food.
assistant
when did the aforementioned department come into action?
user
Cane toads were introduced into Queensland in 1935; their numbers have since grown exponentially. These poisonous toads pose a significant threat to the northern quoll, which may die after consuming one. The Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities has stated that cane toads are highly invasive and are major threats to the survival of quolls. Predators such as foxes and cats prey on quolls and compete with them for food. For example, both quolls and foxes catch and consume rabbits. Since the introduction of foxes, quoll populations have dropped dramatically. Foxes have been eradicated from many of the islands off the coast of Australia in an effort to protect quolls.
Quoll | Threats
The eastern quoll likely became extinct on mainland Australia due to disease and predation by introduced predators (red fox and feral cat). The lack of foxes in Tasmania likely has contributed to the survival of the species there; however, unseasonal weather events and predation by feral cats are thought to have contributed to a possible recent decline in the Tasmanian population. The species is currently classified as Endangered by the IUCN. The last mainland eastern quoll specimen was collected as roadkill in Sydney's Nielsen Park, Vaucluse on 31 January 1963. however a taxidermied specimen provided to NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service in 2016 was reported to have been collected in 1989 or 1990 in the Gloucester region of NSW, indicating the species may have survived longer than the generally accepted 1960's decade of its mainland extinction.
Eastern quoll | Conservation
Conservation efforts include breeding programs in captivity, one of which is taking place in Tasmania with support from Rewilding Australia and Conjour.
Quoll | Introduction
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife service reported numerous unconfirmed sightings until 1999 (the year of the report), and the species was reported sighted as recently as 2006; however, these sightings may have been of a similarly patterned quoll, the spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus). Specimens collected in 2005 and 2008 west of Melbourne, Victoria, are likely connected with a nearby wildlife sanctuary, either as direct escapees, or the descendants of escapees from that facility. In March 2016, a small population of 16 was reintroduced to the mainland in Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary in Canberra. A second reintroduction to the same protected reserve took place in 2017, where the population grew after breeding season to approximately 40.
Eastern quoll | Conservation
The pups were born to inexperienced parents, both just one year old. The reason for the young parents was because older male quolls can become violent and kill the female if they do not want to mate. By breeding one-year-old quolls, there was no threat of violence. Four of the quoll pups will be sent to other zoos or wildlife parks across Australia, but one, which the researchers named Nelson, will stay at the centre to become an "ambassador for all quolls". Fox control programs have benefited the western quoll. The Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia) monitors western quoll populations in the Jarrah Forest as part of its faunal management programs, as well as ongoing research into fox control, timber harvesting, and prescribed burning.
Quoll | Conservation efforts
Reintroduced populations in South Australia have been recorded preying on rabbits and burrowing bettongs.
Western quoll | Behaviour
The western quoll has declined due to several factors. Land clearing, inappropriate fire regimes, use of pesticides by surrounding farmers, grazing by stock and feral herbivores, illegal shooting, accidental drowning in water tanks, being hit by motor vehicles, entanglement in barbed wire fencing, and poisoning are all responsible for their disappearances. Feral cats have a massive impact; both predation and competition narrow room for the western quoll. As more land became less suitable for living in, the western quoll is forced to move elsewhere. AWC (Australia Wildlife Conservancy) protects this species at Paruna Sanctuary using a comprehensive feral predator control program, which sees feral cat and fox numbers controlled using trapping and baiting.
Western quoll | Decline
There have been ongoing attempts to re-establish the western quoll in parts of its former range. A five-year trial re-introduction of western quoll to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia began in April 2014. Despite the loss of about a third of the first release population (mostly due to predation by feral cats), most of the surviving females bred and sixty joeys were born. , a final release of 15 quolls from Western Australia was carried out in the Flinders Ranges, with a total population of 150. About half of this population was born locally. Monitoring of the population is planned for an additional two years.
Western quoll | Reintroductions
The northern quoll is currently classified as Endangered by the IUCN. The species is now absent from many parts of its former range, particularly the savanna country. In 2005 it was listed as Endangered under Australian Commonwealth legislation (EPBC Act). Threats are predation by feral cats, dingoes and foxes, particularly after fire or grazing has removed protective ground cover. Destruction, degradation, and fragmentation of the quoll's habitat due to land clearing, grazing, pasture improvement, and mining are also significant. Quolls are also susceptible to being run over on roads. The current major threat to the northern quoll in the northern and western portion of its range is the spread of cane toads.
Northern quoll | Conservation status
Once found across 70% of the Australian continent, the western quoll is now confined to south-western corner of Western Australia. This perhaps was due to European settlement in the late 1780s as their range dramatically declined after this event. It currently inhabits wet and dry sclerophyll forests, including contiguous Jarrah Forest and mallee. These areas consist of open forest, low open forest, woodland, and open shrub. On occasion they are recorded in the WA Wheatbelt and Goldfields regions, and by the 1930s disappeared completely from Swan Coastal Plain and surrounds. As a result of its carnivorous feeding habits, the western quoll has a large home range.
Western quoll | Habitat
The Perth Zoo has been monitoring a successful captive-breeding program since 1989. It has successfully bred more than 60 western quolls, most of which it transferred to Julimar Conservation Park, with proposals to translocate to Wheatbelt reserves and Shark Bay.
Quoll | Conservation efforts
Like many other native Australian species, northern quolls are poisoned after eating or mouthing cane toads. Cane toads were originally introduced in Queensland, but have now occupied the Top End of the Northern Territory, including Kakadu National Park and the Darwin area, and entered the Kimberley region of Western Australia, where they are established around Kununurra and Lake Argyle.
Northern quoll | Conservation status
From 1985, efforts were undertaken to remove the cats. In June 2000, the last of the nearly 2,500 cats were culled in an effort to save the seabirds. Seabird populations responded rapidly, but rats and rabbits population increased after the cats were culled, and continued to cause widespread environmental damage. The rabbits rapidly multiplied before numbers were reduced to about 10,000 in the early 1980s when myxomatosis was introduced. Rabbit numbers then grew again to over 100,000 by 2006. The rodents feed on young chicks while rabbits nibbling on the grass layer has led to soil erosion and cliff collapses, destroying seabird nests.
Macquarie Island | Ecological balance
Since 1770, all Australian quoll species have declined in number owing to habitat loss caused by urbanization. The northern quoll is threatened by toxic cane toads, but a University of Sydney project revealed in 2010 is teaching them to avoid eating the invasive amphibians. In 2008, the Northern Territory Wildlife Park in Australia recorded their first litter of quoll pups in the park. The quolls bred well in captivity, with over 15 litters in the 2008 breeding season alone. In late October 2011, a litter of five tiger quoll pups was born at Wild Life Sydney in Darling Harbour, Australia.
Quoll | Conservation efforts
FAME (Foundation for Australia's Most Endangered Species Ltd.) is also looking into returning the western quoll to this region. The species has been returned to the South Australian arid zone, with a population established at the fenced Arid Recovery Reserve near Roxby Downs.
Western quoll | Reintroductions
The name "Dasyurus" (from Greek δασύουρος, "dasyouros") means "hairy-tail", and was coined by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1796. In 1770, Captain Cook collected quolls on his exploration of the east coast of Australia, adopting an Aboriginal name for the animals. Although the origin of Cook's specimens are unclear, the word and its variants "je-quoll", "jaquol" or "taquol" are derived from the word "dhigul" in the language of the Guugu Yimithirr people of far north Queensland. No evidence indicates the local indigenous people used the word in the Sydney area. They were likened in appearance to a polecat or marten in the earliest reports, the tiger quoll being called "spotted marten" and eastern quoll "spotted opossum", but by 1804, the names "native fox", "native cat" and "tiger cat" had been adopted by early settlers; quolls are still called "marsupial foxes" or "marsupial cats".
Quoll | Taxonomy
Current threats include predation by European foxes and land clearing. The spotted-tail quoll "Dasyurus maculatus maculatus" has been recorded in the park and is mainland Australia's largest surviving marsupial and one of three distinct subspecies. The spotted-tail quoll has undergone drastic losses in Queensland with a 50 - 90% reduction in range since European settlement. This is attributed to habitat loss, fragmentation, logging, poison baiting, predators and cane toads, habitat critical to the spotted-tail quoll includes large tracts of undisturbed mature forest.
Conondale National Park | Mammals
They are largely solitary, but come together for a few social interactions such as mating which occurs during the winter season. A female gives birth to up to 18 pups, of which only six survive because she only has six teats with which to feed them. Quolls eat smaller mammals, small birds, lizards, and insects. Their natural lifespan is between two and five years. All species have drastically declined in numbers since Australasia was colonised by Europeans, with one species, the eastern quoll, becoming extinct on the Australian mainland, now found only in Tasmania. Major threats to their survival include the cane toad, predators such as feral cats and foxes, urban development, and poison baiting.
Quoll | Introduction
In the 1960s, noted naturalist David Fleay pushed for the revival of the term "quoll" to replace the then-current vernacular names that he felt were misleading. They are very well known animals in Australia. Four species have been recovered from Pleistocene cave deposits from Mount Etna Caves National Park near Rockhampton in central Queensland. Remains of the tiger quoll and the northern quoll, and a species either identical or very similar to the eastern quoll, as well as a prehistoric species as yet undescribed, all lived in what was a rainforest climate. The northern quoll is still found in the region.
Quoll | Taxonomy
The first European Tasmanian settlers ate Tasmanian devil, which they described as tasting like veal. As it was believed devils would hunt and kill livestock, possibly due to strong imagery of packs of devils eating weak sheep, a bounty scheme to remove the devil from rural properties was introduced as early as 1830. However, Guiler's research contended that the real cause of livestock losses was poor land management policies and feral dogs. In areas where the devil is now absent, poultry has continued to be killed by quolls. In earlier times, hunting possums and wallabies for fur was a big business—more than 900,000 animals were hunted in 1923—and this resulted in a continuation of bounty hunting of devils as they were thought to be a major threat to the fur industry, even though quolls were more adept at hunting the animals in question.
Tasmanian devil | Culling
In a Feb 17, 2017, news release in the Sydney Morning Herald, Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews reportedly summarized the reason for the federal government's intention to wipe out 2 million feral cats – about a third of the population – by saying that they are "the single biggest threat to our native animals, and have already directly driven into extinction 20 out of 30 mammals lost." This cull is planned to go until 2020.
Trap–neuter–return | Australia
There are records of predation by the native Gould's monitor ("Varanus gouldii") and the western quoll ("Dasyurus geoffroii"). Predation from introduced species and human impact are believed to be the biggest causes of species loss since European settlement. Predominately affecting rodents and marsupials weighing between 35-5500 grams, up to 49% of the original species of New South Wales have been affected, including the extinction of the Western barred bandicoot from mainland Australia. Feral cats are believed to be primarily responsible for regional extinctions of native mammals before 1857. Foxes have become well established and are also identified as a contributor for the decline and extinction of many Australian mammal species.
Western barred bandicoot | Predators
The Department was introduced by the Whitlam Government in April 1975, to replace the Department of Environment and Conservation. At the time, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam said that the reason for the re‑badging was that the name 'Department of Environment and Conservation' suggested that conservation was a separate matter from the environment, whereas it was in fact a major component of the Government's total environment program. Environment Minister Moss Cass made the request for the name change, stating that the previous title was too long and redundant.
Department of the Environment (Australia, 1975) | History
The Department of Environment and Conservation was an Australian government department that existed between December 1972 and April 1975.
Department of Environment and Conservation (Australia) | Introduction
The eastern quoll was formerly found across much of southeastern mainland Australia, from the eastern coasts of South Australia, through most of Victoria, to the mid-north coast of New South Wales. The species was formerly abundant around Adelaide, particularly the Adelaide Hills, with a 1923 newspaper article noting its rapid decline and presumed extinction in the area during the preceding ten years. It likely became functionally extinct in the early 1960s on mainland Australia, but remains widespread in Tasmania, and is also found today on Bruny Island. Within Tasmania, eastern quolls inhabit rainforest, heathland, alpine areas, and scrub below .
Eastern quoll | Distribution and habitat
In 1908 the Victorian Naturalists Society and the Wilsons Promontory management committee were involved in advocating for the preservation of the thylacine, a species being hunted to extinction in Tasmania. Members of that group went on to establish Healesville Sanctuary. The environmental movement became mainstream with public outcry following extensive culling of koalas. Between 1915 and 1927, nearly 4 million koalas were killed, with the largest cullings occurring in Queensland. By 1924 koalas had officially become extinct in South Australia and endangered elsewhere. In response to the threat of extinction, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary was opened. Native fauna advisory committees began to be established to address the concern of rapidly dwindling populations of a number of mammal species.
Environmental movement in Australia | Response to endangered species
The significant population loss of fauna species in the Jarrah Forest is attributed to the fox and cat ("felis catus"). Predators can influence abundances and ranges of species at all trophic levels, including primary producers, prey and other predators. Between 1933 and 1944 the terrestrial range of the quokka ("Setonix brachyurus"), the woylie, the chuditch, the brushtail possum, the western ringtail possum, the tammar wallaby and the numbat contracted quite dramatically. This was blamed on the fox. Population numbers, however, of woylies and boodies were already declining in 1911, most likely due to cats ("Felis catus") introduced by Europeans. Another introduced species that is a major threat to birds in some areas of the Jarrah Forest, but for a very different reason, is the feral bee ("Apis mellifera").
Jarrah Forest | Introduced species
The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) was a department of the Government of Western Australia that was responsible for implementing the state's conservation and environment legislation and regulations. It was formed on 1 July 2006 by the amalgamation of the Department of Environment and the Department of Conservation and Land Management. The DEC was separated on 30 June 2013 forming the Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) and the Department of Environment Regulation (DER), which both commenced operations on 1 July 2013. DPaW focuses on nature conservation and the community’s enjoyment and appreciation of Western Australia’s world-class network of national and marine parks.
Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia) | Introduction
The Department was one of several new Departments established by the Whitlam Government, a wide restructuring that revealed some of the new government's program. The Department was abolished in April 1975, to be replaced by the Department of the Environment. At the time, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam said that the reason for the re‑badging was that the name 'Department of Environment and Conservation' suggested that conservation was a separate matter from the environment, whereas it was in fact a major component of the Government's total environment program. The renaming was requested by environment minister Moss Cass, who said the title was too long and redundant.
Department of Environment and Conservation (Australia) | History
Quolls are suffering badly from urbanisation, housing development, mining development, and expansion of agricultural lands. Habitats are also being destroyed by large herbivores trampling the grass and overgrowth, making camouflage difficult. Bush fires and weeds also contribute to habitat destruction.
Quoll | Threats
The tiger quoll is listed by the IUCN on the Red List of Threatened Species with the status "near threatened". The Australian Department of the Environment and Heritage considers the northern subspecies "D. m. gracilis" as endangered. This species is vulnerable to decline because it requires certain climates and habitats, it tends to live in low densities, it is likely to compete with introduced predators and requires much space, and it does not live very long. The biggest threat to the quoll is habitat destruction. Humans may directly contribute to quoll deaths through persecution, motor collisions, and 1080 poisoning. Conservationists are using population monitoring and public education to preserve the species and intend to preserve their habitat and minimise the impacts of 1080 baiting.
Tiger quoll | Conservation status
The eastern quoll ("Dasyurus viverrinus"), formerly known as the eastern native cat, is a medium-sized carnivorous dasyurid marsupial native to Australia. They are widespread and even locally common in Tasmania. They have been considered extinct on the mainland since the 1960s, however have been reintroduced back into fenced sanctuaries in 2016, and more recently into the wild in March 2018. It is one of six extant species of quolls.
Eastern quoll | Introduction
The habit of some cockatoos to form large flocks and their ability to exploit resources provided by man has often brought them into conflict with landholders. The exploitation of cereal crops during the late 1800s and early 1900s resulted in widespread shooting and poisoning of large numbers of "Cacatua pastinator", this persecution was the likely cause of a rapid decline in the range of its sub species’ and population numbers. The population decline of the species was examined by the Western Australian ornithologist Tom Carter, summarised in a report published by the "Ibis" in 1912. By the 1920s there were only two populations remaining, the northern population of "Cacatua pastinator butleri", and the southern population of "Cacatua pastinator pastinator" which declined to approximately 100 birds in 1921.
Western corella | Threats and recovery actions
However, there were fears that they had suffered predation. Mike West, former president of Birds Queensland, blamed dingoes and wild dogs for wiping out the population. However, as of early 2014, Queensland Parks and Wildlife staff believe that at least two pairs are still present at Inskip Point.
Black-breasted buttonquail | Distribution and habitat
At the time of colonial settlement, the quokka was widespread and abundant, with its distribution encompassing an area of about of the South West of Western Australia, including the two offshore islands, Bald and Rottnest. By 1992, following extensive population declines in the 20th century, the quokka's distribution on the mainland had been reduced by more than 50% to an area of about . Despite being numerous on the small, offshore islands, the quokka is classified as vulnerable. On the mainland, where it is threatened by introduced predatory species such as red foxes, cats, and dogs, it requires dense ground cover for refuge.
Quokka | Population
Fox Glove was very effective in allowing native species' population to increase. This was due to the local eradication of introduced predators, namely foxes and feral cats, although the control of feral cats was much less effective by this means as the cats favor live prey. Poison coated oats and carrots were occasionally used to control herbivorous invasive species, including rabbits and rats. Since 1996 when Western Shield was initiated, a Beechcraft Baron flies 55,000 km every three months to drop the 770,000 1080 poison baits. They cover an area greater than half the size of Tasmania as they deliver bait into most national parks, nature reserves and state forests of the south-west of Western Australia.
Western Shield | Conservation practices
Over the next 100 years, trapping and poisoning brought them to the brink of extinction. After the death of the last thylacine in 1936, the Tasmanian devil was protected by law in June 1941 and the population slowly recovered. In the 1950s, with reports of increasing numbers, some permits to capture devils were granted after complaints of livestock damage. In 1966, poisoning permits were issued although attempts to have the animal unprotected failed. During this time environmentalists also became more outspoken, particularly as scientific studies provided new data suggesting the threat of devils to livestock had been vastly exaggerated. Numbers may have peaked in the early 1970s after a population boom; in 1975 they were reported to be lower, possibly due to overpopulation and consequent lack of food.
Tasmanian devil | Culling
The abundance and distribution of the chuditch population in south-west WA has recovered quite significantly in the last decade and this has been attributed to the control of foxes. Within two to three years of the aerial baiting program mammal species numbers increased. Capture rates (interpreted as mammal abundance) of the woylie, chuditch and common brushtail possum coincided with the efforts of this program. In 1974-1999 six mammals were listed as threatened under Australian Commonwealth and WA stage legislation, the woylie, tammar wallaby, quenda, chuditch, numbat and the western ringtail possum. Now, the quenda and the tammar wallaby are no longer classified as a threatened species.
Jarrah Forest | Benefits of Protection
The northern quoll occurs from the Pilbara region of Western Australia across the Northern Territory to south east Queensland. Their historical range extended uninterrupted from S.E Queensland to the Kimberleys in Western Australia. There are several disjunct populations. This quoll species is most abundant in rocky ranges and open eucalypt forest.
Northern quoll | Range and habitat
Kingsley et al. (2012) state that in Australia over the past 150 years a third of all modern mammal extinctions has occurred. According to Kingsley et al. (2012) the major causes of this decline has included habitat change from land degradation by livestock and the introduction of predators such as feral cats ("Felis catus") and red foxes ("Vulpes vulpes"). Lethbridge and Alexander (2008) conclude that both predation from foxes and competition from introduced herbivores (such as goats and sheep) have led to the decline of the yellow-footed rock-wallaby ("Petrogale xanthopus xanthopus") in Australia. The yellow-footed rock-wallaby and the goat ("Capra hircus") compete for food due to their high-degree of dietary similarity and this competition for food may drive the yellow-footed rock-wallabies to have to search for food in poorer habitats over a greater area, most certainly exposing them to greater predation risks (Hayward et al., 2011).
Buckaringa Sanctuary | Environmental threats
A study proposes that the arrival of the dingoes may have led to the extinction of the Tasmanian devil, the thylacine, and the Tasmanian native hen in mainland Australia because the dingo might have competed with the thylacine and devil in preying on the native hen. However, the study also proposes that an increase in the human population that gathered pace around 4,000 years ago may have led to this.
Thylacine | Extinction in the Australian mainland
The southern population continued to decline until the 1940s. The northern population has expanded eastwards since the low of the 1930s following agricultural development. Since the period of decline at the turn of the twentieth century the population of both sub-species has steadily increased. In the last 50 years the release from persecution by landowners, together with their adaptability, has allowed an expansion of range into the Western Australia wheatbelt which provides abundant food and water supplies. "Cacatua pastinator butleri" is not listed as a species of conservation concern. "Cacatua pastinator pastinator" is listed as a species of Specially Protected Fauna – Schedule 4.
Western corella | Threats and recovery actions
In 1928, the Tasmanian Advisory Committee for Native Fauna had recommended a reserve to protect any remaining thylacines, with potential sites of suitable habitat including the Arthur-Pieman area of western Tasmania. This was also the beginning of a Tasmanian wilderness movement.
Environmental movement in Australia | Response to endangered species
To answer some of the growing threats, roost sites have been legally protected since 1986 in New South Wales and since 1994 in Queensland. In 1999, the species was classified as "Vulnerable to extinction" in The Action Plan for Australian Bats, and has since been protected across its range under Australian federal law. the species is listed as "Vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The early twentieth century saw the incursion of "Pteropus poliocephalus" to the opportunities they discovered at orchards, and the government placed a bounty on the declared pest. Their reputation for destroying fruit crops was noted by John Gould in 1863, though the extent of actual damage was often greatly exaggerated.
Grey-headed flying fox | Threats
The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection was established in April 2012, as part of a series of changes to the machinery of government after the LNP's win at the 2012 election. The department took on most of the functions of the Department of Environment and Resource Management which was dissolved.
Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (Queensland) | History
In 2012, the Queensland Government reintroduced the issuing of permits which allows farmers and fruit-growers (with permits)to kill limited numbers of flying foxes in order to protect crops. The shooting of bats had been banned by the previous Qld Labor government after advice from the Qld Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (AWAC) that the practice was inhumane. In February 2019, the Australian Department of the Environment and Energy announced that the national status of the spectacled flying fox was going to be revised from vulnerable to endangered. This was in response to heat waves in the 2018-19 summer that resulted in mass die-offs of the species, resulting in the deaths of over 20,000 individuals.
Spectacled flying fox | Conservancy
The population of the western grey kangaroo, which only differs from the western brush wallaby in its large size, was also monitored during this time; the kangaroos' population remained constant during the 20-year period. Kinnear's pioneering work in the 1990s provided the Department of Environment and Conservation of Western Australia with an effective method of controlling the red foxes using meat and egg baits with “1080”, an environmentally-friendly toxin. His method proved successful and significantly contributed to the recovery of the western brush wallaby, along with several other animal populations. Currently there are about 100,000 animals. Due to this recovery, the western brush wallaby been moved from the IUCN Near Threatened list to the Least Concern list.
Western brush wallaby | Population and conservation status
The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the "Conservation and Land Management Act 1984" and implementing the state's conservation and environment legislation and regulations. The minister responsible for the department was the Minister for the Environment. The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) was separated on 30 June 2013, forming the Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) and the Department of Environment Regulation (DER), both of which commenced operations on 1 July 2013. DPaW focused on managing multiple use state forests, national parks, marine parks and reserves.
Department of Parks and Wildlife (Western Australia) | Introduction
The Fox Glove program primarily targeted foxes, but the baiting method proved effective for other predators as well. As a result, native species' population increased dramatically. For example, when baiting began in 1993 for medium-sized predators such as woylies in the jarrah forest of Kingston Block near Manjimup. As a result, native mammals increased sevenfold over the next five years. As the native populations increased, additional measures such as reintroduction and translocation of native species helped as well. The reintroduced animals were from breeding programs or were taken from high, self-sustaining populations elsewhere in the southwest. Western Shield has carried out many translocation activities to other P&W managed lands, privately owned conservation sanctuaries of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, other states' conservation lands and to islands.
Western Shield | Biological resurgence
The most obvious evidence that supports the hypothesis that the invasion of the cane toads caused the local extinction of the northern quoll is that the closely monitored population of the control group, in the absence of cane toads, showed no signs of decline. In the case of Mertens' water monitor, only one region was monitored, but over the course of 18 months. This region is located 70 km south of Darwin, at the Manton Dam Recreation Area. Within the Manton Dam Recreation Area, 14 sites were set up to survey the population of water monitors, measuring abundance and site occupancy at each one.
Cane toad | Invasive species
During the early days of settlement of Western Australia the western brush wallaby was very common. Soon after Europeans settled in Western Australia, commercial trade of wallaby skins began. Exotic species have had a tremendous effect on Australia as it is, in ecological terms, an island, not a continent, and islands experience an unparalleled rate of extinction. In the 1970s, the population the western brush wallaby began to decline as the population of the red fox dramatically increased. The red foxes particularly targeted the juvenile wallabies as soon as they left their mother's pouch. According to a survey taken in 1970 in the Jarrah Forests of the Darling Range, there were 10 individuals per 100 square kilometres; another survey was taken in 1990 and the population had declined to 1 per 100 square kilometres.
Western brush wallaby | Population and conservation status
The number of New Guinean quolls is believed to be decreasing as a result of human encroachment into their habitat and the associated loss of cover. Because they are known to scavenge, persecution by humans may be putting pressure on the population. They also face predation and competition from introduced species such as dogs and cats. Another threat, though less severe than with the four Australian species of "Dasyurus", is poisoning by bufotoxins from the introduced cane toad ("Rhinella marina", formerly "Bufo marinus"). Because they have evolved consistently isolated from toads since the Jurassic, all dasyurids possess extremely low resistance to toad toxins, and whilst smaller dasyurids usually do develop conditioned taste aversion to toads, there is little evidence for this in quolls.
New Guinean quoll | Threats
The Department of the Environment was an Australian government department that existed between April and December 1975.
Department of the Environment (Australia, 1975) | Introduction
These may be culled on application to the Department of Conservation, subject to whatever restrictions are imposed. This group includes the Australasian harrier, grey teal, grey-faced petrel, mute swan, black shag, little shag, pied shag and sooty shearwater.
Wildlife Act 1953 | Schedule 3 - Wildlife that may be hunted or killed subject to Minister's notification
The koala was heavily hunted by European settlers in the early 20th century, largely for its thick, soft fur. More than two million pelts are estimated to have left Australia by 1924. Pelts were in demand for use in rugs, coat linings, muffs, and as trimming on women's garments. Extensive cullings occurred in Queensland in 1915, 1917, and again in 1919, when over one million koalas were killed with guns, poisons, and nooses. The public outcry over these cullings was probably the first wide-scale environmental issue that rallied Australians. Novelist and social critic Vance Palmer, writing in a letter to "The Courier-Mail", expressed the popular sentiment: "The shooting of our harmless and lovable native bear is nothing less than barbarous ...
Koala | Conservation issues
In the 20’s and 30’s there were campaigns against open seasons for koalas and possums. Somewhat surprisingly, in 1929 “owing to representations from this Club, protection that had been given to the iguana was rescinded”; this needs to be seen against the contemporary background of deep-felt concern for the survival of native birds. In 1911 the Club held a display of wildflowers and other plants at a conversazione for members and this developed into a series of annual Wildflower shows open to the public, continuing from 1918 and 1936. This function is now filled by the Society for Growing Australian Plants.
Queensland Naturalists Club | Preservation & protection
Newly established populations included Herrison Prong on mainland Shark Bay by the DEC, as well as Faure Island, Scotia Sanctuary, and Yookamurra Sanctuary, which were established by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. The species is pegged for reintroduction to Dirk Hartog Island following the removal of feral cats and domestic livestock, as well as to large fenced sanctuaries at Newhaven in the Northern Territory, and Mallee Cliffs National Park and Sturt National Park, both in New South Wales.
Boodie | Conservation efforts
The cause of the extinction remains uncertain: neither of the two most destructive introduced exterminator species, the fox and the rabbit, had yet arrived in south-west Western Australia when the pig-footed bandicoots disappeared from that area. Feral cats were already common, which may offer an explanation; it is perhaps more likely that the decline was caused by a double habitat change. Firstly, the end of many thousands of years of Aboriginal burning which, being confined to a patchwork of small areas at any one time, had ensured both fresh new growth in the recently burnt areas and adjacent older growth for shelter and as a base for recolonisation.
Chaeropus | Extinction
The Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts was an Australian government department that existed between May 1971 and December 1972. The department, created by the McMahon Government, was a grab-bag of three areas which had previously been handled by other departments or government agencies. These included the Department of the Interior, the Department of the Vice-President of the Executive Council, and the Office of Aboriginal Affairs in the Prime Minister's Department. The department was abolished by the incoming Whitlam Government, with its functions split across six departments (the Departments of Aboriginal Affairs, Environment and Conservation, Media, Prime Minister and Cabinet, Special Minister of State, Science and Services and Property).
Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts | Introduction
The Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) was a department of the Government of Western Australia that was responsible for implementing the state's conservation and environment legislation and regulations. The Department of Conservation and Land Management was responsible from 22 March 1985 to 30 June 2006 for protecting and conserving the State of Western Australia’s environment; this included managing the state's national parks, marine parks, conservation parks, state forests, timber reserves and nature reserves.
Department of Conservation and Land Management (Western Australia) | Introduction
Research by the CSIRO concluded that the presence of dingos not only decrease the presence of foxes, but increase native fauna. Professor Chris Johnson of James Cook University and Dr Euan Ritchie of Deakin University have advocated the reintroduction of Tasmanian Devils to the mainland to perform a similar role as evidenced by past eradication of foxes from Tasmania as well as to ensure the ongoing survival of that native species.
Red foxes in Australia | Management and control
Savage River National Park in the Tarkine area of Tasmania is an example of suitable habitat protection.
Tiger quoll | Conservation status
The tiger quoll is found in eastern Australia where more than 600 mm of rain falls per year. Historically, the quoll was present throughout southeastern Queensland, through eastern New South Wales, Victoria, southeastern South Australia, and Tasmania. European settlement has severely impacted and fragmented the quoll's mainland distribution. Tiger quolls are rare in southeastern Queensland and mainly restricted to national parks. In Victoria, quoll populations have declined by nearly 50%. The range decline was not as severe in New South Wales, but they are still rare. The quoll was probably never very numerous in South Australia. In Tasmania, the tiger quoll mostly frequents the northern and western areas where rains are seasonal.
Tiger quoll | Range and ecology
Licenses to trap finches in the Kimberley were first issued in or after 1913 and continued until 15 November 1986 when finch trapping was banned by Barry Hodge, the environment minister. Trapping of certain finches ceased before 1986: the yellow-rumped mannikin after 15 November 1975 because of its scarcity; the zebra finch after 15 November 1981 because sufficient numbers were sourced from breeding stocks; and the Gouldian finch after 15 November 1981 because of its decline in numbers. Customs regulations in 1960 prohibited the export of live Australian fauna for commercial purposes and strict standards were applied to exports of specimens of native fauna for scientific research or zoological display.
Wyndham Important Bird Area | Finch trapping
"P. x. celeris" is listed as vulnerable under the "Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999" by the Australian government. It has a restricted distribution in the rocky ranges of central-western Queensland. Threats include fox predation, competition with domestic and wild introduced species (particularly goats and cattle), climate change, reduced access to water sources, habitat loss and fragmentation, and increase in bushfires. The population of "P. x. celeris" was roughly estimated to be 5,000-10,000 individuals in 1993, but is now considered unknown.
Yellow-footed rock-wallaby | "P. x. celeris"
The western quoll ("Dasyurus geoffroii") is Western Australia's largest endemic mammalian carnivore. One of the many marsupial mammals native to Australia, it is also known as the chuditch. The species is currently classed as near-threatened.
Western quoll | Introduction
These territories often share rock ledges and other open spaces. This serves to mark territory and for other social functions. Males spread out over about 15 square kilometres and typically overlap with several female ranges, about three to four square kilometres each. Although males share their large territories with smaller female territories, females do not cross theirs with other females. Most female home ranges contains around 70 hollow log dens and 110 burrows.
Western quoll | Habitat
This policy allowed the government of Western Australia to kill "high-hazard" sharks it found to be a threat to humans; the policy was criticized by senator Rachel Siewart for damaging the environment. In March 2017 the use of drum lines was abandoned by the newly elected West Australian state government. In August 2018 following continual shark attacks the West Australian state government reversed their position and announced a 12-month trial of "SMART" drumlines along Western Australia's South West coast, near Gracetown.
Western Australian shark cull | Introduction
Each individual has a number of dens, usually no more than five, which it alternates between on different days. Eastern quolls are solitary, and tend to avoid one another, although pairs of adult females are sometimes encountered. Home ranges are typically around for females, and for males, with the latter increasing dramatically during the breeding season. Territories are scent marked, although dung is distributed randomly, rather than placed at specific latrines. Adults also warn off intruders by hissing and making coughing sounds, and also make a sharp shriek that may be an alarm call. If intruders fail to leave quickly, then aggressive action escalates to chasing and wrestling with jaws while standing on their hind legs.
Eastern quoll | Behaviour
King quail are not listed as threatened on the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
King quail | Australia
The use of 72 drum lines to bait and hook large sharks in Western Australian waters was implemented in January 2014. Two "marine monitored areas" have been established, stretching off shore from Quinns to Warnbro in the Perth metropolitan area, and Forest Beach to Cape Naturaliste and Prevelly in the state's south. Sharks larger than found in these areas are to be hunted and killed by professional fishermen. Australia's Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt granted the WA Government a temporary exemption from national environment laws protecting great white sharks, to allow the otherwise illegal acts of harming or killing the species.
Western Australian shark cull | Implementation
During October 2010 the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE (NMIT) applied for and received a 12-month permit from the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment for the Eden Park Kangaroo Cull - to cull 300 eastern grey kangaroos on its 320 hectare Eden Park Vineyard and farm and Northern Lodge equine stud. NMIT claimed that more than 1500 kangaroos were in competition for pasture, and damaging fencing, grapevines and netting. The permit was issued under the Wildlife Act (1975) after NMIT commissioned wildlife management group Ecoplan to do an independent assessment which recommended a cull of 300 kangaroos each year for three years.
Eden Park Kangaroo Cull | Introduction
Current populations are threatened by land clearing, inappropriate fire regimes and climate change. The black-breasted button-quail "Turnix melanogaster" is a small ground dwelling bird which inhabits notophyll vine forest or ‘dry rainforests’ with up to 90% of its habitat has been cleared with less than 2,500 individuals estimated remaining in the wild. The species is listed as vulnerable nationally and in Queensland and is considered near threatened on the IUCN red list. The Conondale populations is considered an important population due to the size and location being within a national park.
Conondale National Park | Birds
The first recorded sighting of the bird by Europeans was during the third voyage of HMS "Beagle". On 22 May 1840, the crew of the ship landed at North Island, which John Lort Stokes described thus: Five years later, the subspecies was formally published by John Gould. The subspecies is listed as "vulnerable" under the federal EPBC Act, and as "fauna which is rare, or likely to become extinct" under Western Australia's "Wildlife Conservation Act 1950". Islands where it breeds are considered to have a high conservation value. Rats and cats have been introduced to the ecosystem which may pose a threat to the population.
Abrolhos painted buttonquail | Ecology
In 2007, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature downgraded its assessment of the species from Near Threatened (NT) to Least Concern (LC) after large flocks of this species were found at several locations. In the Northern Territory and Western Australia the bird's conservation status is listed as Near Threatened (NT) while in Queensland the conservation status listing is Least Concern (LC).
Pictorella mannikin | Behaviour and ecology
Additional resident birds include bridled quail-doves, purple-throated caribs, Antillean crested hummingbirds and brown tremblers. Other animals present include lesser Antillean iguanas, red-bellied racers and several species of lizards and bats.
Quill/Boven National Park | Introduction
"Quoya oldfieldii" is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
Quoya oldfieldii | Conservation
The department was established on 25 March 2013, taking on functions of the previous Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education. It was abolished less than six months later on 18 September 2013 by the newly elected Abbott Government. Its functions were principally transferred to the Department of Industry; with its environmental functions transferred to the Department of the Environment. Discussing the Department's lengthy name in 2014, former Secretary Don Russell told media:
Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education | History
The arrival of Aboriginal people between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago was the first major threat to the Pademelon. These people started hunting the marsupials for meat and fur trade and frequently burned habitat vegetation. However, the arrival of European settlers had the greatest effect on native populations and drove out the Pademelon from the Australian mainland through the introduction of European livestock and bushfire patterns. Pademelon meat used to be considered valuable and was eaten by settlers and Aboriginal people. Aside from being killed for their meat and soft fur, their numbers have been reduced by the introduction of predators such as feral cats, dogs, and foxes.
Calaby's pademelon | Conservation threats to habitat
Hayward et al. (2011) state that the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s feral animal control program at the sanctuary has resulted in the eradication of thousands of foxes, rabbits and goats since taking over in 2002 through a variety of methods of eradication. According to Lethbridge and Alexander (2008) studies have shown positive population responses from the yellow-footed rock-wallabies ("Petrogale xanthopus xanthopus") to fox ("Vulpes vulpes") and goat ("Capra hircus") control. This could also be due to the presence of the fox that populations of the yellow-footed rock-wallabies are now confined to refuge habitats where the predation risks are lower (Hayward et al., 2011).
Buckaringa Sanctuary | Management
In the southern parts of its distribution range the species is declining or suspected to be declining. The species is very uncommon in South Australia, infrequently recorded in New South Wales (where threatened in west of state) and very few records in Victoria. The species decline in Victoria is highly due to the conversion of native grasslands to agriculture, with 95% of such habitat having been destroyed or degraded in Victoria.
Red-chested buttonquail | Conservation status and threats
Spotted-tailed quoll "(Dasyurus maculatus)" is an endangered species listed on the EPBC Act. It is a medium-sized marsupial carnivore, the largest of the "Dasyurus" species, distinguished by the white spots on the tail. The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is listed as vulnerable under the EPBC Act. The Parma wallaby "(Macropus parma)" is listed as vulnerable in NSW under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act), is a small nocturnal, cryptic wallaby that was once thought to be extinct. Another species listed as vulnerable under the TSC Act is the yellow-bellied glider "(Petaurus australis)" often found in old-growth wet sclerophyll forests.
Nightcap National Park | Mammals
Conservation efforts in the late 20th century concentrated on reintroducing woylies to sites in their former range, after controlling red foxes. Stable populations were established in places such as Venus Bay, St Peter Island and Wedge Island in South Australia, Shark Bay in Western Australia, and Scotia Sanctuary in New South Wales. As a result of those efforts, the woylie population rose to sufficient numbers that it was taken off the threatened species list in 1996. The population expanded, with new, wild-born joeys being recorded as surviving several drought years in the early 2000s. The total population of the species rose to 40,000 by 2001.
Woylie | Conservation
The Forests Department was a department of the Government of Western Australia created in 1919 under Conservator of Forests Charles Lane Poole, that was responsible for implementing the State's Forests Act (1918-1976) legislation and regulations. The Forests Department was incorporated all together with National Parks Authority and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife on 21 March 1985 forming the Department of Conservation and Land Management.
Forests Department (Western Australia) | Introduction
The sandhill dunnart is listed as “vulnerable” under the "Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999". It is afforded some protection within reserves, such as the Ironstone Hill Conservation Park and the Yellabinna Wilderness Protection Area in South Australia, and the Queen Victoria Spring Nature Reserve in Western Australia. In 2001, a national recovery plan listing several actions to aid in the recovery of the species was published. These actions included preventing further habitat clearance, conducting surveys in areas likely to support the species, implementing monitoring programs for key populations, and conducting research on captive individuals to increase understanding of this species’ reproductive biology.
Sandhill dunnart | Conservation Status
The campaign to protect the Tarkine began in the 1960s. A formal conservation proposal was put forward by the then Circular Head Mayor Horace Arnold 'Jim' Lane for the establishment of a 'Norfolk Range National Park'. Lane's proposal was ahead of its time, though his proposal wasn't seen to fruition. From the late 1990s, the area came under increasing national and international scrutiny in a similar vein to the environmental protests surrounding Tasmania's Franklin River and Queensland's Daintree Rainforest. The case for protecting the Tarkine was significantly advanced with the Federal Government's Forestry Package in 2005 adding to reserves in the Tarkine.
Tarkine | Early conservation movement
The Australian Department of the Environment was a department of the Government of Australia that existed between September 2013 and July 2016. The department was charged with responsibility for developing and implementing national policy, programs and legislation to protect and conserve Australia's environment and heritage.
Department of the Environment (Australia, 2013–16) | Introduction
The Department of Science and the Environment was an Australian government department that existed between December 1978 and November 1980.
Department of Science and the Environment | Introduction
A fence designed to exclude foxes (and feral cats) was constructed across a narrow neck of Heirisson Prong in 1990, allowing a 1200 ha area of the tip of the peninsula to be rid of exotic predators. The first reintroduction of a threatened marsupial (the burrowing bettong "Bettongia lesueur") was made in 1992;. Bettongs were sourced from Dorre Island at Shark Bay. Reintroductions of western barred bandicoots "Perameles bougainville" from Dorre Island; and greater stick nest rats "Leporillus conditor" from Salutation Island followed in 1995 and 1999 respectively. Control of foxes by poisoning in a buffer zone south of the fence resulted in a major increase in the densities of feral cats in this zone.
Heirisson Prong | Excluding exotic predators and reintroducing threatened mammals
"Quoya atriplicina" is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
Quoya atriplicina | Conservation
The species was previously classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, but in 2016 was downlisted to Endangered, as its area occurrences is apparently substantially larger than originally believed. Current estimates of the total population are still low, with an estimated minimum 227 individuals on the mainland and 412 on Chiloé Island. Fragmentation of forest adjacent to the national park and on the island is a concern for their conservation, and feral dogs may pose the greatest threat to their survival by spreading disease or directly attacking. Persecution by people who think that the foxes attack domestic fowls, though they pose little threat, is also a potential problem.
Darwin's fox | Conservation status
The last mainland eastern quoll specimen was collected as roadkill at Nielsen Park on 31 January 1963. The rare Nielsen Park she-oak was originally identified here in 1986 from ten specimens. Those original plants have since died. However, efforts to propagate and reintroduce the species began from the time it was identified, and plants were planted at several locations around Nielsen Park and nearby Gap Bluff and Hermit Point. Fifty-four of these remained alive in 2000.
Nielsen Park | Rare flora and fauna
Government agencies for the protection and conservation of natural and built resources in New South Wales have existed since the appointment of the first Minister for Conservation, the Hon. Captain Bill Dunn, MLA in 1946. In 2003, the Department of Environment and Conservation was formed following the merger of the Environment Protection Authority, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Botanic Gardens Trust, and Resource NSW. The Department of Environment and Conservation was later known as the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) and Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW). This department contained the Office of Water, formed from the Department of Water and Energy dissolved in 2009; other parts and responsibilities of the Department of Water and Energy were transferred to the Division of Minerals and Energy in Department of Industry & Investment.
Office of Environment and Heritage (New South Wales) | History
"Quoya verbascina" is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
Quoya verbascina | Conservation
Quolls are indigenous to mainland Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania. The six species were once widely distributed across the three land masses, but are now restricted to only a few areas. Although primarily ground-dwelling, the genus has developed secondary arboreal characteristics. Each species of quoll lives in distinct geographical areas. The tiger quoll and eastern quoll are exclusively mesic zone species, that is they inhabit moister habitats. The western quoll also inhabits mesic habitat, but has adapted to arid regions across inland Australia, while the northern quoll inhabits tropical habitat of high rainfall.
Quoll | Distribution and habitat
"Quoya loxocarpa" is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
Quoya loxocarpa | Conservation
The last known specimen of this species was a female collected in August 1889 in New South Wales. There were no further sightings of this species, even though researchers well into the 1930s were still uncertain of its extinction. The cause of its extinction remains uncertain, as it died out before intensive agriculture was introduced throughout its distribution and before the red fox became common in its habitat. Several causes of its extinction have been suggested, including trampling of its grassland habitat by cattle and sheep, changed burning regimes, or predation by introduced cats.
Eastern hare-wallaby | Extinction
Muir's Corella ("Cacatua pastinator pastinator") is listed by the Western Australian Threatened Species Scientific Committee as Endangered using the IUCN (2001) Red list Categories and Criteria and this listing has been endorsed by the Western Australian Minister of the Environment. "Cacatua pastinator pastinator" has been listed as Vulnerable under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The threatening processes for "Cacatua pastinator pastinator" are:
Western corella | Threats and recovery actions
Before the creation of separate indigenous affairs departments, some states administered the area through combined departments that also dealt with wildlife. For example, Western Australia had a Department of Aborigines and Fisheries (1909–1920) and the federal government had a Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts (1971–1972).
Flora and Fauna Act Myth | Origin
A nearby resident, botanist Ray Paynter, coordinated an effort to protect the Clackline area for conservation purposes in the 1960s and 70s. The Department of Mines opposed the idea, even though the operators of Clackline Refractory, which mined in the area, were supportive. Paynter and the Clackline community continued to push for the creation of a reserve. On 3 March 1973, she wrote to Northam MLA Ken McIver, citing the species of birds, orchids, and kangaroos that would benefit. Nine months later, on 21 December 1973, a reserve "was set aside for the Conservation of Flora and Fauna".
Clackline Nature Reserve | Establishment