Stirling Range

as it is home to a powerful ancestral being. ancestral powerful a to home is it as

significance to traditional Aboriginal people of the south-west south-west the of people Aboriginal traditional to significance

Bluff Knoll (Bular Mial) continues to be of great spiritual spiritual great of be to continues Mial) (Bular Knoll Bluff

worked on farms and lived on settlements or in missions. in or settlements on lived and farms on worked

Displaced from their traditional land, many Noongar people people Noongar many land, traditional their from Displaced

transported through the range to the port in Albany. in port the to range the through transported

raising livestock. Cattle, sheep, wool and sandalwood were were sandalwood and wool sheep, Cattle, livestock. raising

European settlers arrived and took up land, creating farms and and farms creating land, up took and arrived settlers European

Common mountain bell mountain Common bell mountain Yellow bell Cranbrook fruit while men hunted kangaroos, wallabies and other animals. other and wallabies kangaroos, hunted men while fruit

people. Women gathered roots, seeds and and seeds roots, gathered Women people. (Nyoongar) Noongar for

populations through control of foxes and feral cats. feral and foxes of control through populations

The lowlands surrounding the peaks were important sources of food food of sources important were peaks the surrounding lowlands The

wildlife conservation program that aims to recover native animal animal native recover to aims that program conservation wildlife

either on particular peaks or in the valleys between them. between valleys the in or peaks particular on either

moving around the mountains’ – a frequently seen occurrence. seen frequently a – mountains’ the around moving Western Shield Western

, a a , and Zoo Perth with conjunction in conducted on acid sandy clay soil. Each species occurs in a well-defined area, area, well-defined a in occurs species Each soil. clay sandy acid on

The Aboriginal name for the range, Koi Kyenunu-ruff, means ‘mist ‘mist means Kyenunu-ruff, Koi range, the for name Aboriginal The

park. This has been possible due to a captive breeding program program breeding captive a to due possible been has This park.

level contour 300m the above found usually are bells Mountain

thought to be extinct) have been reintroduced into areas of the the of areas into reintroduced been have extinct) be to thought

Cultural significance Cultural

Stirling Range. Stirling

Numbats (WA’s official mammal emblem) and dibblers (once (once dibblers and emblem) mammal official (WA’s Numbats

been identified in the park and only one of these is found outside outside found is these of one only and park the in identified been

bat and lesser long-eared bat. long-eared lesser and bat few places in WA where snow occasionally falls. occasionally snow where WA in places few darwinias, or mountain bells. Ten species of mountain bells have have bells mountain of species Ten bells. mountain or darwinias,

tammar wallaby, western pygmy possum plus the King River little little River King the plus possum pygmy western wallaby, tammar the of one is Range Stirling The in. set to hail or fog rain, and Among the most beautiful and iconic of the plants are the the are plants the of iconic and beautiful most the Among

dunnarts, honey possum, mardo (antechinus), short-beaked echidna, echidna, short-beaked (antechinus), mardo possum, honey dunnarts, seasons. Sudden cold changes may cause the temperature to drop drop to temperature the cause may changes cold Sudden seasons.

community found only on the tops of the high peaks. high the of tops the on only found community

bush rat, common brushtail possum, fat-tailed and white-tailed white-tailed and fat-tailed possum, brushtail common rat, bush Visitors should come prepared for changes in weather during all all during weather in changes for prepared come should Visitors

and wetland habitats plus a unique and threatened ‘montane’ plant plant ‘montane’ threatened and unique a plus habitats wetland and

Other mammals found in the range include the ash-grey mouse, mouse, ash-grey the include range the in found mammals Other

can also offer beautiful crisp sunny days. sunny crisp beautiful offer also can The landscape displays a mosaic of thicket, mallee-heath, woodland woodland mallee-heath, thicket, of mosaic a displays landscape The

quenda (southern brown bandicoot) or a quokka. a or bandicoot) brown (southern quenda but wet and cold often is August) to (June Winter peak. their at

eucalypts, orchids and verticordias (feather flowers). (feather verticordias and orchids eucalypts,

kangaroo and western brush wallaby. With luck, you may see a a see may you luck, With wallaby. brush western and kangaroo are wildflowers and warmer become days the when December) to

are found only in the range. The park is particularly rich in banksias, banksias, in rich particularly is park The range. the in only found are

The most commonly spotted native mammals are the western grey grey western the are mammals native spotted commonly most The (October summer early and spring late is visit to time ideal An

than 1500 species of flowering plants to exist here. Eighty species species Eighty here. exist to plants flowering of species 1500 than

fauna in the Stirling Range and across Australia. across and Range Stirling the in fauna the southern half of Western Australia – the 1095m Bluff Knoll. Knoll. Bluff 1095m the – Australia Western of half southern the sunlight and exposure. The multitude of conditions enables more more enables conditions of multitude The exposure. and sunlight

animals such as the cat and fox have adversely affected native native affected adversely have fox and cat the as such animals some plants in bloom. The range is also home to the highest peak in in peak highest the to home also is range The bloom. in plants some range provide countless combinations of altitude, soil, rainfall, rainfall, soil, altitude, of combinations countless provide range

plants. No matter what time of year you arrive, there will always be be always will there arrive, you year of time what matter No plants. found in recent years. Land clearing, frequent bushfires and feral feral and bushfires frequent clearing, Land years. recent in found moist gullies, windswept lowlands and protected crevices of the the of crevices protected and lowlands windswept gullies, moist

faces, magnificent views and abundant, vibrantly coloured flowering flowering coloured vibrantly abundant, and views magnificent faces, The cloud-touched peaks, sheltered valleys, exposed rock faces, faces, rock exposed valleys, sheltered peaks, cloud-touched The early European collectors. Only half of these species have been been have species these of half Only collectors. European early

east-west for more than 65km and is characterised by stark cliff cliff stark by characterised is and 65km than more for east-west Thirty-nine species of mammals were identified in the region by by region the in identified were mammals of species Thirty-nine

Plants

most of which has been cleared for agriculture. The range stretches stretches range The agriculture. for cleared been has which of most

and death adders are present but rarely seen. rarely but present are adders death and

Range abruptly rise from a surrounding landscape of lowlands, lowlands, of landscape surrounding a from rise abruptly Range

between the peaks. Venomous snakes such as tiger snakes, dugites dugites snakes, tiger as such snakes Venomous peaks. the between added to the National Heritage List. Heritage National the to added

About 80km north of Albany, the rugged peaks of the Stirling Stirling the of peaks rugged the Albany, of north 80km About

of spiders, snails and earthworms survive in cool moist refuges refuges moist cool in survive earthworms and snails spiders, of

2006 when, in recognition of its outstanding biodiversity, it was was it biodiversity, outstanding its of recognition in when, 2006

Reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates are plentiful. Ancient species species Ancient plentiful. are invertebrates and amphibians Reptiles, in honour heritage highest Australia’s received Range Stirling

Stirling Range National Park National Range Stirling

wedge-tailed eagle and western spinebill. western and eagle wedge-tailed 35 hotspots for biodiversity. biodiversity. for hotspots 35

western rosella, red-capped parrot, golden whistler, splendid wren, wren, splendid whistler, golden parrot, red-capped rosella, western a region that is recognised internationally as one of the world’s top top world’s the of one as internationally recognised is that region a

Nearly 150 bird species have been sighted in the park including the the including park the in sighted been have species bird 150 Nearly Stirling Range is a species-rich area within south-western Australia, Australia, south-western within area species-rich a is Range Stirling

Animals Biodiversity

Dibbler Numbat

Plan ahead and prepare • Your safety in natural areas is our concern Stirling Range but your responsibility. • Please heed warnings shown on signs that display the DANGER symbol. National Park • Bushwalking is not recommended in hot and Geology windy conditions due to the risk of bushfire. • Carry and drink plenty of drinking water – three to four litres More than 1000 million years ago, a shallow sea covered the area. per person per day. Minerals, soil, sand and the bones of tiny sea creatures slowly • Wear sun protection, boots or sturdy footwear, and clothing drifted down through the water to form layer upon layer of that is weatherproof and scratchproof. sediment. • Be prepared for unexpected changes in the weather. After the sea receded, over aeons of geological time, the layers • Sloping, rough and uneven surfaces exist throughout the park. of sediment were transformed into layers of rock by the pressure • Take extra care near rock edges as they can crumble without created from their own weight. Ripple marks can still be seen on warning or be very slippery. exposed rock layers on the peaks. • Let someone know where you are going, what you are doing and when you expect to return. Massive forces created by the slow grinding of the Australian • Check exploreparks.dbca.wa.gov.au/alerts for any park or trail continent against other continents eventually caused the rocks closures. to buckle and rise. Chester Pass and Red Gum Pass show the • Fox baits are spread throughout the park four times a year by course of rivers that flowed south during the early stages of the range’s formation. hand and aircraft drop. These poisonous baits are small chunks of dried meat or pink sausages that should not be handled. The weathering forces of wind, rain, heat and cold steadily worked to erode the range into the jagged shape you see today. For more information Fire Parks and Wildlife Service officers are always willing to help. Don’t hesitate to contact them. The Stirling Range, like much of Australia, is a fire-prone environment. Fire is a natural force that helped to forge the Stirling Range National Park continent’s remarkable biodiversity. However, too frequent intense 7371 Chester Pass Road, Borden WA 6338 large-scale bushfires can destroy habitat and whole ecosystems. Ph (08) 9827 9230 or (08) 9827 9278 Plants and animals respond differently to fire; some recover quickly, Parks and Wildlife Service others take decades. Plant species with woody seed capsules, like hakea South Coast Regional Office and banksia, rely on fire to release seeds and stimulate new growth. 120 Albany Highway, Albany WA 6330 Prescribed fire management is necessary in the Stirling Range to Ph (08) 9842 4500 conserve biodiversity and reduce the risk of bushfire. The goal of prescribed burning is to create a mosaic of vegetation of differing Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions post-fire ages. State Operational Headquarters 17 Dick Perry Avenue, Kensington WA 6151 Lightning strikes are the cause of most fires in the park. When Ph (08) 9219 9000 visiting the park, be aware of thunderstorms and of hot windy days when fire risk is high. dbca.wa.gov.au