Innholdsfortegnelse for March - April 2022 i Australian Geographic

WHO CAN resist a cute kitten? I can’t. They make me go weak at the knees, and even the grown-up versions can melt my heart if they’re the affectionate, purring type. But cats are by far the most destructive of all the animal species introduced into Australia post-European settlement. Along with climate change and habitat destruction, feral invaders such as cats and foxes complete that unholy trinity of impacts that threaten so much of what we love about Australia. Urgent environmental challenges demand equally urgent and often unpalatable responses. Former AG editor John Pickrell tackles the emotive and often polarising topic in this issue (see page 80). He describes the true extent of the feline threat to native species biodiversity and explores some of the innovative solutions currently being trialled,…

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY Embrace National Eucalypt Day AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS Celebrate the significance of eucalypts on 23 March at Canberra’s Australian National Botanic Gardens’ Eucalypt Lawn, home to 70 types of gum. You can also take in 21 species, with interpretive information, along the Eucalypt Discovery Walk, which starts at the visitor centre. MORE INFO: Call the gardens on 02 6250 9588 or visit parksaustralia.gov.au/botanic-gardens NEW SOUTH WALES Spot a yellow-footed rock-wallaby MUTAWINTJI NP Autumn is a good time to head to western NSW to spot one of Australia’s rarest macropods. Mutawintji National Park, 2.5 hours’ drive from Broken Hill, hosts the state’s only yellow-footed rock-wallaby colony, which has rebounded following rains. Look for them on rocky ridges. MORE INFO: Email Mutawintji Visitor Centre on npws.westdarling@environment.nsw.gov.au or visit nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/visitor-centres/mutawintji-visitor-centre…

Subscribe and never miss an episode of our entertaining podcast. SOPHIE MATTERSON Sophie shares the extraordinary experiences of the epic 5000km trek she took across Australia during the global pandemic accompanied only by her beloved team of camels. MOLLY TAYLOR Rally car driver Molly is the only woman – and the youngest competitor – to have won the Australian Rally Championship. In 2021 she took out the inaugural Extreme E Rally Championship, against a stellar international field, including Jenson Button. Molly talks with AG about pushing the envelope as a female driver in a male-dominated sport. CRAIG LEESON Award-winning documentary maker Craig, 2022 Tasmanian Australian of the Year, talks with AG’s Chrissie Goldrick about using his powerful storytelling to encourage social and political shifts on global issues such as ocean…

THE FIRST ASTRONOMERS By Duane Hamacher Incredibly, this is the first book published anywhere in the world offering an overview of First Nations knowledge about astronomy. This is popular science writing at its best: an enthralling overview of ancient knowledge and passion for astronomy from an author steeped in the field. The First Astronomers offers a riveting account of an area of science that few know much about, in a way that makes it fascinating even for those who have no intention of getting behind a telescope. Unsurprisingly, First Nations traditions also include knowledge new toWestern astronomy. Duane’s work is strongly supported by leading Indigenous scholar Professor Marcia Langton, who writes a wonderful and passionate foreword to the book. And just when you thought you had enough reasons to grab…

When Lake Superior State University announced its 2022 Banished Words List, number two was “no worries”, which the Americans complained was being misused to mean “you’re welcome”. But “you’re welcome” means exactly that and “no worries” is an Australian coinage! It’s been recorded here from 1965 and the earliest citation dug up by experts at The Australian National Dictionary is from Jack Hibberd’s play White with Wire Wheels, although my guess is “no worries” was part of our spoken language long before it appeared in print. The thing about “no worries” is it captures the relaxed Aussie attitude of helping a mate. Its inclusion in the Banished Words List shows there is a two-way trade in words between us and the Americans – but that they don’t always understand the…

IT’S ALMOST DARK AT Woodlands Historic Park, a swathe of native grasslands just north of Melbourne Airport, where a small crowd has gathered with torches to witness a historic event. But the star of the show, an eastern barred bandicoot named James, has come down with a bout of stage fright and is refusing to come out of his crate. After some gentle coaxing from his keeper, James hops out of his box and stands blinking in the twilight, his tall ears and pointed nose casting a long silhouette. A moment later he turns and shoots away, disappearing into the tall grass. It might be one small bound for this bandicoot, but it’s a giant leap for bandicoot-kind! James is joining a thriving population of nearly 1500 of a bandicoot…

WITHOUT FUNGI, THE world as we know it would not exist. Humans have harnessed the molecular powers of fungi since the beginning of civilisation, turning wheat into bread and fruit into wine, and our lives are richer for it. Modern-day privileges such as chocolate, penicillin and detergent depend on fungi for their production. And one particular potent group contains psychoactive compounds that can transform experiences of love, creativity and connection. We are also learning to use fungi to transform organic matter into diverse and radical solutions for today’s urgent ecological and social issues. Yet we know substantially less about fungi than we do about animals and plants. The kingdom Fungi classification was introduced in 1969 when ecologist Robert Harding Whittaker formalised the importance, scale and diversity of the group. Previously,…

WHILE DRIVING IN the Huon Valley, visitors soon notice small timber huts on roadsides or in the middle of fields. Often degraded, they are ‘pickers huts’, which served for decades as housing for itinerant workers. Sometimes entire families would live in these humble dwellings throughout harvest season. Farmers would drive into town, collect pickers on the backs of their trucks and deliver them to the orchards, where they’d stay and work for weeks or even months on end, or move between properties at the end of picking seasons. Hartzview Vineyard in Gardners Bay, near Cygnet, has a tiny ‘village’ of seven huts that have been preserved as a prime example of this bygone era in the valley. Built between the 1920s and ’40s by the property’s original owners, who planted…

ONE OF Australia’s first fenced, feralfree reserves, Warrawong Sanctuary in the Adelaide Hills, was set up by conservationist Dr John Wamsley. Among the first outspoken advocates for removing feral predators from Australian landscapes, John famously wore a feral cat skin hat to the 1991 SA Tourism Awards. Before this, few people knew of the toll cats took on native species and John’s clever stunt brought the problem to public attention. “The look on people’s faces when I appeared that night with a dead cat on my head will never be forgotten,” John later recounted. “It made every major newspaper in Australia. It enraged Australia. It enraged the world. The education lesson had commenced.” John has campaigned for half a century on behalf of the nation’s threatened species, drawing much-needed public…

FAMILY: IGUANIDAE SPECIES: Amblyrhynchus cristatus CONSERVATION STATUS (IUCN RED LIST) DD L C NT VU EN CR EW EX DD Data deficient LCLeast concern NT Near threatened VU Vulnerable EN Endangered CR Critically endangered EW Extinct in the wild EX Extinct HEAD AND BODY LENGTH: Males to 1.3m; females to 0.6m WEIGHT: 0.5–12kg; average weight 1.5kg HABITAT: Rocky shorelines on islands in the Galápagos archipelago DIET: Primarily herbivorous: marine algae growing along the shoreline; also eat any fish scraps they find FACT: They have specialised salt glands that expel salt ingested when they feed under water.…

A couple of decades ago, many believed the eastern barred bandicoot had been completely wiped out on mainland Australia. The discovery of a small population in western Victoria drastically changed the trajectory of the species. From that wild population, many hundreds have been bred in captivity and released into predator-free ecosystems, including Odonata’s keystone sanctuary, Mount Rothwell. Thanks to the work of Odonata and their volunteers and partners, the bandicoot’s status was changed in 2021 in Victoria from extinct in the wild to endangered (see page 44). Your donation will help efforts to breed and strengthen populations so more animals can be released into predator-free zones, and so that one day they can thrive beyond the fence once more. MAKE A DIFFERENCE. PLEASE DONATE TODAY Visit australiangeographic.com.au/fundraising…

MARCH – APRIL 2022 BIG PICTURE Suburban wildlife Ruth Verrall feeds Ralph, a juvenile eastern grey kangaroo, in her kitchen in Panton Hill, on Melbourne’s New as South a just-viable Wales ‘velvet’ joey, after his mother was chased by a dog. “He’s now old enough to venture freely into adjoining paddocks and nearby bushland and join the local wild kangaroo population,” says Ruth, a wildlife foster carer of six years. “But for now he still prefers the reassurance of staying close to home. He’s fortunate here that he can make choices.” Orphaned kangaroos bond closely to their carers and with any other joeys in care with them. Kangaroo numbers increase on Melbourne’s urban fringes at summer’s end as they search further afield for food and water, which brings them into…

BE THEY ON LAND, at sea or in the air, theatres of war are turbulent and messy places. In the aftermath of the death and destruction of battle there’s rarely time for an ordered clean-up, where the dead can be formally identified and interred with honour and dignity. In the massive engagements across the Western Front of World War I, the dead were sometimes hastily consigned to mass graves. Worse still, many were lost without trace or recognition, stranded in space and time and with no recorded grave. From those terrible battles of the early 20th century, and all conflicts since, the tag “missing in action” has often left families with a deep and collective heartache. The loss of a loved one is bad enough, but that is magnified simply…

IN MARCH 1932, after decades of planning and seven years of construction, the Sydney Harbour Bridge finally opened, physically linking the two sides of the city. This engineering marvel remains the tallest steel arch bridge in the world. During its building and in the nine decades since its opening, the steel-and-granite structure has had many connections with the animal world and today is even something of an urban habitat. Environmental impact statements were thin on the ground in the early 20th century, so it’s hard to know exactly what effects the construction had on the non-human residents of Dawes and Milsons points, the shoreline locales at its ends, but inevitably they were large. The bridge replaced the old vehicle ferry that plied its trade across the harbour between the same…

EVERY SUBSCRIBER to this journal automatically becomes a member of the not-for-profit AG Society. Your subscription helps us fund Australia’s scientists, conservationists, adventurers and explorers. To subscribe, call 1300 555 176 Who are the Australian Geographic Society? Patron: Dick Smith AC Chair: David Haslingden Secretary: Caroline Fitzgerald Directors: Peter Anderson, Nick Croydon, Page Henty, Jo Runciman Advisory Committees: Chrissie Goldrick (chair), Chris Bray, John Leece AM, Tim Jarvis AM, Robert Purves AM, Anna Rose, Heather Swan, Todd Tai THE SOCIETY runs sponsorship rounds in April and November each year, during which it considers applications and disburses grants. The Australian Geographic business donates 10 per cent of its annual profits to the AG Society, which in turn supports worthy causes in the areas of conservation, the environment and adventure exploration. Round…

IN 1952 A TWO-DAY apple festival was proposed to what was then the Port Cygnet Council to promote the local apple industry. After £1500 was secured from the Tasmanian government for the event, more than half of Cygnet’s then 2500-strong population was soon actively engaged in organising the festival. A choir of 500 students from the local school “sang praises of the apple in specially written songs”, and children vied in competitions for packing and assembling apple cartons. The event included a parade and the crowning of an Apple Queen, who was judged on her knowledge of the apple industry and won a working holiday to promote the Huon Valley apple industry. The 1956 festival boasted the world’s largest apple pie, made from 635kg of apples. From 1952 to 1964,…

In that exact moment, in the township of Mount Mulligan, 155km by road west of Cairns in far north Queensland, assistant teacher Mary Ellen ‘Nellie’ Hourston stood on the verandah of the small schoolhouse. She listened as headmaster Neil Smith delivered the morning’s address and she gazed towards the mountain known to its Traditional Owners as Ngarrabullgan and the birthplace of the Rainbow Serpent. “Then she saw the explosion – a massive cloud of dust and smoke, pieces of timber and sheets of roofing metal,” says Desley Brkic, Nellie’s granddaughter, now based in Tinaroo, two hours drive south-east of Mount Mulligan. Desley learnt about the event on her grandmother’s knee, and through scrapbook and photograph collections. She explains that Nellie frantically signalled to the headmaster as the sound of the…

Why travel with us? ACCESS Travelling with Australian Geographic inspires people to care about the planet by providing meaningful opportunities to explore it. Our experiences are rich in nature and adventure, and our travel partners specialise in small-group experiences. EXPERTISE Australian Geographic’s adventurers, scientists, historians and photographers have brought the world to you for more than 36 years. Now you’re invited to join them in the country’s most intriguing places, from the Great Barrier Reef to the red heart. SUSTAINABILITY Australian Geographic is committed to sustaining the environment, culture and heritage of each place we visit, from addressing climate change to promoting awareness of the world’s oldest-living continuous culture and revealing the country’s countless treasures. GIVING BACK All of the travel experiences offered raise funds for our Society. As our not-for-profit…

Former AG online editor Gemma Chilton pitched us a feature on the history of apple growing in Tassie’s Huon Valley after relocating there with her family (see page 70). “I confess, my motives were selfish!” she says. “Journalists are naturally nosy, and after moving here from New South Wales in October 2020, I was curious about the stories behind the honesty boxes where we were eagerly depositing our loose change in return for bags of Pink Ladies and Rubigolds. What an opportunity to get to know our new home!” She was soon having coffee with apple industry stalwarts like Naomie Clark-Port, wandering through orchards with energetic newcomers like Coreen Ung and Matt Tack, and getting behind-the-scenes tours of R&R Smith apples and Frank’s Cider House, both local institutions. “With an…

THIS EXQUISITE illustration of an unhatched dinosaur fossil by renowned palaeontologist and artist Dr Lida Xing is based on one of a number of fossilised eggs discovered in the Late Cretaceous Hekou Formation in southern China in 2000. The fossils languished in the private collection of the Yingliang Stone Company for a decade until they were rediscovered during the construction of the company’s natural history museum. They were subsequently dated to between 66 and 72 million years old and identified as dinosaur eggs. “Fossil preparation was conducted and eventually unveiled the embryo hidden inside the egg,” said Lida. It was identified as an oviraptor, a group of feathered dinosaurs closely related to modern birds. It’s a rare discovery made even rarer by the embryo’s posture inside the 17cm egg, which…

On average, each Australian produces 47kg of carbon dioxide (or the equivalent in other green-house gases) every day. This is about eight times the 5.5kg per person per day needed to meet our Paris Agreement target. THIS INFOGRAPHIC aims to help you limit your personal greenhouse gas emissions through simple actions, as detailed in Australian Geographic’s book Your Life, Your Planet (2021). Our average personal daily production of 47kg of CO2 and other greenhouse gases is about the same as that of each American. It’s about eight times the target of 5.5kg per person per day needed to keep warming below the 1.5°C temperature rise by the end of the century that Australia, along with much of the world, agreed to in Paris in 2015. It’s a big challenge, but…

Autumn evening skies reveal an unusual constellation – the Emu – on the south-eastern horizon. Arising from the Dreamtime, this is not like traditional constellations made up of stars. This ancient bird is seen in the dark lanes of gas and dust silhouetted on the Milky Way. Look high to the Southern Cross and just below is the head and beak – the Coalsack Nebula. The bird’s long neck then drops down, between the pointers, before widening into the body, in Scorpius. Binoculars are ideal to observe the intricate details in these bright and dark lanes, as well as many star clusters such as the Jewel Box and M7. Double stars suitable for small telescopes abound. Examples are Alpha Centauri and Alpha Crucis. MONDAY 21 MARCH 2022 Autumnal equinox For…

March • April 2022 Bushfire recovery work With support from an AGS fundraising campaign in AG 160, Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) has worked successfully with other conservation charities, volunteers and local community partners to help regenerate drooping she-oaks in Cape Jervis and Carrickalinga on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia. The glossy black-cockatoo feeds almost exclusively on the seeds of the she-oaks and the large-scale loss of these trees to extensive land clearing on the Fleurieu Peninsula and bushfires on Kangaroo Island in 2020 have put them at severe risk of extinction. Activities included: 19 nursery events where volunteers helped sow seeds, transplant and maintain she-oaks and other habitat plants at the Yankalilla Community Nursery; 13 community events at Cape Jervis and three community events at Carrickalinga to complete weeding…

Tasmania’s fertile Huon Valley is a patchwork of farms, orchards and bush sprawling beyond the Huon River, whose waters spill into the D’Entrecasteaux Channel and beyond to the Tasman Sea. Charming rural towns give way to the rugged south-west wilderness and Hartz Mountains National Park, both of which are in the Huon Valley LGA. Visible to the north, in the Wellington Range west of Hobart, is the familiar and striking view of Sleeping Beauty: whether shrouded in mist, dusted in snow or glowing at sunset, it’s named for its resemblance to a woman in repose. It is, in fact, two separate mountains – Collins Bonnet (the head) and Trestle Mountain (the bosom).…

MANY OF THE stark, black basaltic lava shorelines of the Galápagos Islands bristle with hundreds, if not thousands, of equally dark, metre-long lizards. They’re marine iguanas and, with their bodies often intertwined and overlapping, they lie immobile for hours on end, stirring only to reorient themselves according to the intensity of the sun’s rays. Without moving position they occasionally spurt out a sneeze-like spray of concentrated salt water from their round, scaly nostrils. This briny mist settles and dries in a whitish crust on surrounding surfaces, both scaly skin and corrugated lava rock. Come low tide, a slow wave of movement spreads among the prone bodies as each animal extricates itself from the pile and begins making its way towards the crashing waves nearby. One by one they resolutely slip…

HALLS CREEK IS two towns. One, the modern Halls Creek, lies on the Great Northern Highway – Highway One – and is a predominantly First Nations community. In the 2016 census almost 70 per cent of the population identified as Aboriginal. This is the Halls Creek that services the surrounding pastoral industry and the tourism needs of passing travellers making the long journey across the Kimberley from Kununurra to Derby and Broome. The other Halls Creek is a dry, unforgiving ghost town. In 1948 the original town was physically moved 15km to its present location. The translocation continued until the old township was finally abandoned in 1954. The main reasons for resettlement included a lack of water and the re-routing of the Derby–Kununurra Road, as the highway was then known,…