The Vertebrate Fauna of the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve PO Box A290 Sydney South, NSW 1232 www.environment.nsw.gov.au THE VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF THE JENOLAN KARST CONSERVATION RESERVE FINAL REPORT Version 1.1 February 2012 Published by: For enquiries regarding this report please contact Office of Environment and Heritage, the Biodiversity Survey and Assessment Section, Department of Premier and Cabinet Metropolitan Branch, Office of Environment and 59-61 Goulburn Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 Heritage, Hurstville. Phone: (02) 9585 6676 PO Box A290, Sydney South, NSW 1232 Report pollution and environmental This report should be referenced as follows: incidents OEH (2012) The vertebrate fauna of the Jenolan Environment Line: 131 555 (NSW only) or Karst Conservation Reserve. Office of Environment [email protected] and Heritage, Department of Premier and Cabinet, See also Sydney. www.environment.nsw.gov.au/pollution Phone: (02) 9995 5000 (switchboard) Acknowledgements Phone: 131 555 (environment information and This project is part of a joint program between the publications requests) Metropolitan Branch Parks and Wildlife Group and Phone: 1300 361 967 (national parks, climate the Metropolitan Branch Environment Protection change and energy efficiency information and and Regulation Group. publication requests) Fax: (02) 9995 5999 TTY: (02) 9211 4723 The Jenolan Caves Trust provided logistical Email: [email protected] support and significant local knowledge, Website: www.environment.nsw.gov.au particularly Dan Cove, Ian Eddison, Sasa Kennedy, Julia James and Anne Musser. Thanks also to ISBN 978 1 74293 501 0 Graham Cummings and Grant Commins who OEH Publishing No. 2012/0103 guided the field survey team through Mammoth February 2012 and Teardrop Caves. © Copyright Office of Environment and Blue Mountains Region Kanangra Area provided Heritage, Department of Premier and Cabinet background information as well as logistical on behalf of the State of NSW. Photographs are support during field surveys. The Karst and copyright Office of Environment and Heritage or Geodiversity Unit, particularly Steve Meehan and the individual photographer. Steve Reilly, provided important advice and assistance during the project. Doug Mills provided With the exception of photographs, the Office of advice about eastern bentwing-bats. Environment and Heritage, Department of Premier and Cabinet and State of NSW are Ray Williams generously donated his time and pleased to allow this material to be reproduced extensive expertise on bats and other fauna during in whole or in part for educational and non- the first week of field survey and Martin Schulz commercial use, provided the meaning is contributed fauna sightings, assisted with validating unchanged and its source, publisher and the species list and provided specialist fauna authorship are acknowledged. Specific advice. Volunteer field assistance was provided by permission is required for the reproduction of Caren Taylor and Adam Birnbaum. photographs. Peter Wilson provided advice and data on eastern Office of Environment and Heritage, bentwing-bats and Andy Spate provided Department of Premier and Cabinet has information on the Jenolan karst system and compiled The vertebrate fauna of Jenolan Karst microbat occurrence. Conservation Reserve in good faith, exercising all due care and attention. Office of Thanks to all people who reviewed the draft Environment and Heritage (OEH) does not version of the report including Ian Eddison, accept responsibility for any inaccurate or Michaela Jones, Stephen Meehan, Martin Schulz, incomplete information supplied by third parties. Andy Spate, Anne Williams, Narawan Williams and No representation is made about the accuracy, Peter Wilson. completeness or suitability of the information in this publication for any particular purpose. OEH Thanks to all people who kindly contributed photos shall not be liable for any damage which may for the report. occur to any person or organisation taking action or not on the basis of this publication. Cover Photos Readers should seek appropriate advice when Front cover applying the information to their specific needs. Feature photo: Eastern bentwing-bats in cave © Map data is not guaranteed to be free from Narawan Williams error or omission. OEH and its employees Eastern water dragon © Kerry Oakes disclaim liability for any act done on the Brush-tailed rock-wallaby © Adam Faulkner information in the maps and any consequences Habitat tree © Clive Barker of such acts or omissions. Eastern horseshoe bat © Martin Schulz Back cover Spotted-tailed quoll © Collette Harmsen Devil’s Coach House © Martin Schulz Verreaux’s frog © Ben Hope OVERVIEW “…the mind is overwhelmed with the magnificence of the scene. …No description that can be given can convey to the mind a full idea of [the caves]; and to the lover of nature, whether he be scientific or not, they well repay a visit.” An anonymous correspondent to The Empire, Sydney Tuesday January 5th, 1858 on visiting Jenolan Caves Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve (JKCR) is an iconic reserve on the western edge of the southern Blue Mountains. It is contiguous with over 1.03 million hectares of woodland, forest and wilderness of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area – a globally important conservation area. JKCR is special due to its spectacular and complex network of limestone caves. The caves are a major tourist attraction, hosting upwards of 230 000 visitors per year. The karst also provides important habitat for a range of interesting and rare fauna. Despite this, Jenolan Caves and the surrounding forest reserve has never been the subject of a comprehensive wildlife survey. This project has collated the wealth of anecdotal information about the fauna of JKCR and filled information gaps with systematic survey. The caves at Jenolan were well known to the local Gundungurra Indigenous people before they were first encountered by Europeans in the early 1800’s. The caves rapidly became a popular tourist attraction and they gained an international reputation for their exquisite beauty and for the extent of the underground system. Development to improve visitor access became a priority, and many changes were made. Some cave entrances were blocked, new ones were created and lighting was installed. This undoubtedly impacted the wildlife that lived there, though the extent to which it did is unknown. Today, over 320 cave entrances have been identified, and while tourism remains a focus, the majority are managed primarily for conservation. JKCR forms a critical part of the reserve system in NSW. The rarity and extent of the limestone makes it internationally important. Sooty owls, brush-tailed rock-wallabies and spotted-tailed quolls are all found at Jenolan Caves, when in many other parts of NSW they are rare or have seriously declined. Thousands upon thousands of bats reside in the myriad of limestone caves and overhangs. There are at least two regionally important roost sites for the eastern bentwing-bat. All of these threatened animals rely on the karst for their continued survival at Jenolan, either for shelter, as a safe place to breed or as a refuge from the introduced predators that now roam the landscape. Outside the caves, the surrounding reserve is also home to an impressive array of wildlife. Two hundred and thirty five native terrestrial vertebrate fauna species have been recorded for the reserve, in addition to thirteen introduced species. Thirty-five threatened species are known – a remarkable number given the small size of the reserve. At least nine species have become extinct from the reserve since European settlement, though this number may be as high as 14. Although this is an alarming figure, it is likely typical of the region. However, unlike most areas, the number of extinct species can be accurately calculated here due to the sub-fossil sooty owl pellet deposits that go back 20,000 years in time. These deposits – the remains of thousands of meals of the sooty owl – are potentially the single-most important fauna value of Jenolan Caves. There are few other places in Australia or the world where there is such a detailed account of ecosystem changes due to the ever- changing climate and the catastrophic impact of the arrival of Europeans, feral cats and foxes. The scientific value of these deposits is immeasurable. This report has been written to assist staff in prioritising management of vertebrate fauna at JKCR. Each threatened species has been given a ‘profile’ where its conservation status, distribution, threats and management recommendations are summarised. Threats to fauna at JKCR have been identified and ranked in order of priority. Mitigating actions, including those already in place, have also been listed and ranked. Cave-dwelling fauna have been given special attention in a stand-alone section at the end of this report. Cave-dwelling fauna, including threats and management of threats are considered in detail along with the results of the sooty owl pellet analysis. The Vertebrate Fauna of Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve i CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 PROJECT RATIONALE.......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 PROJECT AIMS ................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 STUDY AREA