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Endangered Species


August 25, 2013 by  
Filed under ENDANGERED

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List of threatened fauna of the Mary River catchment: click here

A field trip to Blackfellow Creek North on the evening of 17 October 2013, just downstream from the proposed broiler farm, led by local amphibian expert Eva Ford, discovered several Cascade treefrogs and Tusked frogs in the creek bed. Then, in the section of Blackfellow Creek adjacent to the nearby bridge on Kenilworth-Skyring Creek Road, there were sightings of two Giant Barred Frogs as well as 2 Cascade tree frogs.

These records will be posted on Wildnet database to help researchers better understand the habits and distribution of these vulnerable and endangered species.

Blackfellow Creek Northern Branch at 1229 Belli Creek Road, Ridgewood
17 October 2013

Barnes’ property
Tusked frog. Adelotus brevis x 4 (Vulnerable)
Lesueuri’s tree frog. Litoria wilcoxii x 6

Within West Cooroy State Forest
Tusked frog. Adelotus brevis x 2 (Vulnerable)
Lesueuri’s tree frog. Litoria wilcoxii x 2
Cascade treefrog. Litoria pearsoniana x 2 (Vulnerable)
Dainty tree frog. Litoria gracilenta x 1

Blackfellow Creek at Skyring Creek Road
Tusked frog. Adelotus brevis x 2 (Vulnerable)
Eastern dwarf tree frog. Litoria fallax x 1
Cascade treefrog. Litoria pearsoniana x 2 (Vulnerable)
Giant barred frog. Mixophyes iteratus x 2 (Endangered)

Eva Ford
Catchment Officer (Threatened Species Project)
Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee
Tozer Park Road, PO Box 1027, Gympie  QLD 4570

More research needed
Here’s the scientific evidence (with references) to support a more thorough investigation and scrutiny from Council for a more rigourous assessment of the environmental aspects of the Top Forestry Road broiler farm proposal.

quollSpotted tailed quoll  has been recorded in Top Forestry Road
Northern Quolls and Spotted tailed quolls are known to occur in the area. Spotted tail quolls are listed as endangered under the EPBC Act and are vulneralbe under the Nature Conservation Act in Queesland. A survey by Dr Scott Burnett ( a quoll biologist now working at Sunshine Coast University) in 2009 for the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland (see p 24 of the report available online here called Quolls in the Southern Mary River Catchments, SEQ) , has identified a quoll sighting in 2006-2007 in very close proximity to the location of the proposed West Cooroy broiler farm.

The quoll sighting is number 29 ( see the appendices at the end of the report on p24) and the spotted tail quoll sighting is from Old Ceylon Rd before the turn off to Top Forestry Rd West Cooroy. The quoll was shot in a chook pen. Other quoll sightings have been reported north and south of this location in the same report by Dr Scott Burnett. Spotted tail quolls are highly mobile and can move between 6-21 km in one night. This means that camera surveillance and other methods of recording quoll sightings have not been so successful.
Spotted tail quolls are at a greater risk of road kill because they will scavenge roadkill from roadsides. The increased heavy vehicle movement associated with the proposed chicken farm places quolls and other wildlife species at a greater risk of injury and death. Spotted tail quolls are federally endangered under the EPBC Act and this proposed MCU needs to be urgently referred to the Federal Government as the potential impacts on the spotted tail quoll is a Matter of National Significance.

Blackfellow Creek North is a potential prime Giant Barred Frog habitat.
In south-east Queensland, the Giant Barred Frog is currently known from scattered locations in the Mary River catchment downstream to Kenilworth, the Upper Stanley River, Caboolture River and Coomera River (Hines et al. 1999). A survey between Cooroy and Curra (Cooroy Creek, Six Mile Creek and Skyring Creek) detected the species at 11 of 19 surveyed sites targeted multiple times in 2011–12 (Aland & Wood 2013).
Reference

The efforts underway to bring back the species:
Manage populations of the giant barred-frog on private land
The vast majority of known populations of the giant barred-frog in south-east Queensland occur along narrow remnant riparian vegetation on private lands. Long-term conservation of the giant barred-frog in Queensland is dependent upon the maintenance of water quality and flow regimes, and on the protection and enhancement of riparian vegetation on these lands. Threats to water quality and altered flow regimes arise from adjacent and upstream land uses (e.g. housing development, stock grazing, clearing, agriculture, forestry practices). Extraction of water is also a potential threat. Remnant vegetation is threatened by clearing, disturbance from stock and weed invasion. Reference

GBfrogGiant Barred Frog (Mixophyes iteratus) is the second largest species of Australian frog, up to 115 cm in length. Having disappeared from much of their former distribution along the humid east coast of Australia, they are now a critically endangered species with an estimated 5,000 – 10,000 adult individuals remaining in the entire species population.
Local frog expert Eva Ford on the Giant Barred Frog

 

Cascade2Cascade Treefrog (Litoria pearsoniana) is a small frog, males 24-29mm and females 31-37mm snout-vent length. Dorsal coloration highly variable, and can change seasonally. Ranges from green, through various combinations of green and brown to dark brown, with or without black spots or reticulations. Inhabits streams in rainforest and adjacent wet sclerophyll forest at elevations of 200-1000m in south-east Queensland. It is currently listed as Endangered in Queensland.
Reference 

Further research

SE Queensland frog expert Eva Ford has confirmed that the Giant Barred frog and the Cascade treefog have been recorded in the Blackfellow Creek system, and she is about to commence further  field work on endangered frog species in the district.

Bellbird Homestead
Bellbird Homestead, a 400-hectare farm on Cooroy-Belli Creek Rd, just to the west and downstream of Top Forestry Rd property. The land stretches to Skyring Creek Road and includes the confluence of North and South Blackfellow Creeks. The owner has spent a lot of money fencing the creek banks and replanting the riparian rainforest to help bring back the Giant Barred Frog and other endangered species such as the Cascade tree frog (Litoria pearsoniana). In the Bellbird Homestead project,15,000 native trees were planted on 15 hectares of the farm, linked with a larger areas to create a new Nature Refuge that linked to the West Cooroy State Forest.

Jorgensens Road Property
The  property adjoining West Cooroy State Forest in Jorgensens Road, West Cooroy, fronts Blackfellow Creek South and is almost adjacent to the proposed broiler farm, south of Top Forestry Rd. As part of the former Powerlink proposal, the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committe produced a report in July 2005 that noted:
The endangered Cascade treefrog (Litoria pearsoniana) and vulnerable Tusked frog (Adelotus brevis) have both been positively identified on this property. The endangered Giant barred frog (Mixophyes iteratus) has was recorded by Eva Ford here in 2006.
FROM: page 4 Natural Resource Management Plan. Powerlink

Wildlife and roadkill
This area has significant biodiversity with the West Cooroy State Forest and other adjacent reserves and vegetation on private property.  An increase in heavy vehicle movement along Top Forestry Road, Cooroy-Belli Creek Road and other local roads will result in an increase in wildlife deaths and injuries for all fauna species, but especially koalas, kangaroos, wallabies , turtles and more . Koalas are of particular concern because of their federal listing as vulnerable and they are also a Matter of National Significance. This proposed MCU needs to be urgently referred to the federal government for this reason.

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