CREDIT: Gordon Sanders ULURU KATA TJUTA NATIONAL PARK Introduced speciesintheparkaremice,rabbits,foxes, Introduced speciesinthepark Australia areeitherextinctorlocallyextinct. Currently, 40percentofnativespeciesinCentral in theextinctionofnativespeciesCentral Australia. environment. They arerecognisedasthemajorfactor populations, oftencausingmanyproblemsintheirnew different countriesorregionsandestablishedwild Introduced animalsarespeciesthathavearrivedfrom What isanintroducedanimal? cultural values of park. the of introduced on natural animals the and together to minimise adverse the effects An Introduced species Fact sheet environment. prey speciesneedtobecontrolledprotectthenatural the naturalfoodchain.Bothintroducedpredatorand and somearepreyspecies. These animalsinteractwithin You willnotice fromthelistsomeanimalsarepredators way ofimpactingontheenvironmentwithinpark. camels, dogs,andcats.Eachoftheseanimalshasitsown ̲ angu and Parks and Australiaangu are working

non-indigenous species for theintroductionofall Humans areresponsible Who isresponsible? areas withinthepark. the most culturally significant significant threattosomeof waterholes, camelsposea by pollutinganddraining nothing cansurvive.So An Water isverysacredto supply inthreeminutes. to 200litresofscarcewater A thirstycamelcandrinkup soaks throughoutthepark. damage towaterholesand Camels causesignificant What istheimpact? in importedfoodstocks. however, likelystowedaway provide transport.Mice, hunting andcamelsto for gameandrecreational and rabbitswereintroduced as domesticpets.Foxes cats, whowereintroduced Examples aredogsand people toserveapurpose. Australia deliberatelyby species wereimportedinto issue. Mostintroduced humane solutiontofixthis responsibility tofinda into Australia andwehave ̲ angu –withoutwater ULURU KATA TJUTA NATIONAL PARK susceptible towindand together. Baresoilismore vegetation whichholdssoil herbivores –theyeat Rabbits andcamelsare rare speciesinthepark. competition furtherthreatens increased minimum. This already bereducedtoabare animal populationsmay a droughtwhennative are moreseverelyfeltduring The effects ofcompetition populations. impact onnative a directanddevastating animals inthepark,with large numberofsmaller carnivores –theyhunta Foxes andcatsare shrubs. eating saplingtreesand conditions andalsoenjoy ringbark treesindrought the rootsofsomeplants, grazing animals.Rabbitseat targeted byboththese Trees andshrubsarealso overall soilstructure. significant changesinthe soil usepatternstocreate does nottakeabigshiftin in theCentralDesertandit ancient andfragilesoilshere water erosion.We havevery CREDIT: CSIRO SHARE YOUR ULU SHARE YOUR private landholders. Territory ParksandWildlife,theCentralLandCouncil work inpartnershipwithourneighbours–suchasNorthern way tocontrolintroducedspeciesacrossbordersis There arenofencesaroundtheparkandmosteffective What isbeingdoneinthepark? Australian speciesandfullysupportcontrolwithinthepark. aware ofthethreatsintroducedspeciestotheirnative lifestyles. Rabbitsareacommonfoodsource. An Australia andhaveadoptedintroducedspeciesintotheir cats beforethefirstEuropeanexplorersvisitedCentral Australians. An non-Indigenous to compared An An resources for compete must animals native Feral animals' water and use of means plants they areafavouredfoodfor thosespecies. often increasethepopulations offoxesandcatsbecause remain anongoingchallenge.Healthyrabbitpopulations a successfulreductioninnumbers.Otherareasofthepark Rabbits food isleastavailabletocats. animals. Seasonaltrappingofcatsoccursinwinterwhen Cats traffic accidentsmayoccur. pose risktodamagefencesandpublicroadnetworkswhere culling, particularlyinthemalapaddockareawherecamels owners onguidelineswhichareestablishedforground of camelnumbers. The parkclosely consultstraditional Camels @OfficialUluṟu ̲ angu haveadifferent wayoflookingatintroducedanimals ̲ angu perspective –Feralcatsposethebiggestthreattoparknative – An –Kata Tjuṯa begancontrollingrabbitsin1989with ̲ angu opinionisdividedonthemanagement R U ADVENTURES! @SeeUluṟu ̲ angu hunted ̲ angu are

roaming thepark. to discouragedogsfrom to controltheirdogsand on teachingthecommunity for food. A focusisplaced dogs oftensearchforrabbits waterhole, localcommunity the areasaroundMuṯitjulu Dogs trialled withoutsuccess. several eradicationmethods are difficulttocontrol,with monitoring camerasbut Many foxesarespottedon challenge forparkstaff. the foxspeciesisadifficult Foxes –Usuallyconfinedto –Highlyelusive, techniques. chemical andfire-related a combinationofphysical, Current managementuses bushfires behave. changing thewaywildfire for ournativeanimalsand grasses, destroyinghabitat and chokesoutothernative Buffel grassnowthrives reduce erosionanddust. to thebaseofUluṟu buffel grasswasintroduced land types.Inthe1970s spread widelyacrossmost purposes andithassince erosion controlandpastoral Australia inthe1870sfor plant wasfirstintroducedto Africa, India,and Asia. The tussock weed,nativeto is buffel grass,aperennial Australia. The mostinvasive people firstsettledinCentral park sincenon-Aboriginal have beenintroducedtothe Thirty fourspeciesofflora Introduced plants

MAY • 2021