Land for Wildlife Alice Springs. June 2012. Land for Wildlife Alice Springs. June 2012. G’day LFWers and GFWers, Fortunately we still have some healthy populations of these birds here in Central New Newsletter Name: The various Australia. submissions have been rounded up and, as As an embodiment of the inextricable links you can see, we have decided on a name for between land and wildlife, we think it is a your newsletter. It has been suggested by great emblem for conservation in Central several members that it would be good to use Australia. Thank you to everyone who one of the Central Australian names for the submitted suggestions for a newsletter name, charismatic Red-tailed Black Cockatoo. Across and congratulations to the many people who the many traditional languages of Central suggested Irrarnte – a Australia, there are variations in the chosen perfect icon for the Red spellings, but the name is usually rendered as Centre. The new look and the a variation of the word irrarnte or iranti. name are by no means set in This is a bird which is usually present around stone, so feel free to have your say and let us Alice Springs as well as more widely know what you think about the changes. associated with water courses in central But now… to business! Australia, and is always spectacular to encounter. It is a species which is in decline across much of its south-eastern range due to CONTENTS the loss of old and dead trees which it requires for nesting. LFW News… 2 Land for Wildlife Alice Springs. June 2012. GFW News… 2 level and activity of rabbit populations in the area, and it doesn’t look good. One member Articles & Contributions… described coming home from holidays to find Toxoplasmosis in Wildlife 3 their property looking like Coober Pedy! Remote Camera Traps Community Notices… 6 All properties that we visited had plenty of Neurada Weed Alert signs of rabbit activity and LFW property Alice Water Smart owners all reported having seen rabbits with Alice Springs Show increasing frequency across their properties, Desert Smart Eco-fair including a good number of young kittens. The Princess Parrots – highly mobile and first round of control measures have been put could be seen around town out, so stay tuned for the results of follow up Webwatch… 11 surveys to see if our control measures have Zoomusicology had any impact. Richard Waring’s Birds Of Australia NT Fauna Observations Portal Garden for Wildlife News… Birding For Devils On The Bookshelf… 12 The feral dove population Mr JW Lewin; Painter & Naturalist continues to climb. Garden for Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes Wildlife coordinators have of Australia been conducting regular Atlas of Endangered Species survey transects across six areas of Alice Springs and the early results are showing feral dove infestation right across town. To make matters worse – they’re spreading. Previously not reported as regularly to the south of the Land for Wildlife News… ranges, the doves are now very much at home in several areas along Ragonesi Rd, Ross The winter season continues apace Highway, and Heenan Road. for LFW as we pass the shortest days of the year and start the Garden for Wildlife will be conducting a trap- steady march towards the building workshop at the Ecofair at Olive Pink warmer weather. Botanic Gardens in August to try and revive interest in the community trapping program. On the horizon now, the Ecofair is shaping up Hopefully, we can get a handle on the rising to be a big event again, starting on the 10th of population of this invasive avian pest. August at Olive Pink Botanic Gardens. Land for Wildlife will have a presence at this event, and All of our “loaner” traps are currently out in will conduct feral dove trap making the community and we still have a waiting list throughout the day. It’d be great to see a few of people who are interested in getting a trap. familiar faces if you feel like coming down to The workshop will be a chance to make a trap say, “g’day”. of your own, or even whip up a couple of extras that we can add to the pool of Our TNRM funded rabbit control project is “loaners” to get more properties on board currently being acquitted across properties in and trapping doves. the vicinity of Heenan Rd in Ross. Initial surveys have been conducted to establish the Land for Wildlife Alice Springs. June 2012. If you have a trap that you are no longer sign of injury or apparent cause of death. In using, please let us know and we can arrange the other case, the landowner had witnessed a time to pop around and pick it up. If you erratic behaviour (disorientated, out during have a trap that has fallen into disrepair or is the day) of a few young wallabies prior to no longer having the success it used to, finding them dead or drowned in his dam. It perhaps this would be a good time to try a is highly likely that these deaths may have different location or to get out the pliers and been due to the disease toxoplasmosis caused the work gloves and fix it up in preparation for by Toxoplasma gondii. another year of effective trapping. Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite The Garden for Wildlife website is shortly to which is widely prevalent in humans and be rebuilt and thoroughly rejuvenated, but animals worldwide (Dubey et al., 1998) and remember that the full suite of Garden for has a wide range of warm-blooded Wildlife PDF factsheets are still available at intermediate hosts. However members of the the following address; cat family (Felidae) are the only known http://www.lowecol.com.au/lfw/gfw.htm definitive host (Hill et al., 2005). There is only one species of Toxoplasma, T gondii. This Here, you will find all of the vegetation lists parasite has a complicated life cycle and is for the different areas of town, along with host-specific (Fig. 1) and transmitted via a maps to help you find which land unit your faecal-oral route, or through consumption of property lies on, and the most suitable plant infected meat (raw or under-cooked), or by species to be using. transplacental transfer from mother to foetus (Hill et al., 2005). There are three infectious Articles & Contributions… stages of T gondii linked in the complex cycle (Fig 1): the tachyzoites (in groups or clones), The following is a reproduction of an article by the bradyzoites (in tissue cysts), and the Iona Mitchell that appeared in the Tasmanian sporozoites (in oocysts) (Dubey et al., 1998). LFW newsletter, The Running Postman. T gondii infections usually do not produce Toxoplasmosis looks like just another reason clinical disease and rarely produce severe to make every effort to control feral cat clinical manifestations, this largely being populations. The status of toxoplasmosis in dependent on the virulence of the strain and Central Australia is uncertain, but we are susceptibility of the host species (Hill et al., getting some advice from local veterinary 2005). The majority of natural infections are scientists and we will have a follow up article acquired by ingestion of tissue cysts in on diseases of wildlife that occur here in The infected meat or oocysts in food or water Centre. Iona is the coordinator of Land for contaminated with cat faeces (Hill et al., Wildlife and Garden for Wildlife down on the 2005). The parasite can rapidly multiply Apple Isle. within 24 hrs of infection and be spread Toxoplasmosis in Wildlife throughout the body and distant organs via the lymphatic and blood system (Hill et al., During early September I received a couple of 2005). T gondii has been recognised as a calls from LFWers in relation to deaths of common opportunistic infection in rufous wallabies (or pademelon) on their immunosuppressed patients with AIDS (Dubey properties. In one case the landowner had et al., 1998), though generally T gondii is come across on different days a couple of destroyed by immune cells, particularly the dead wallabies on his driveway without any Land for Wildlife Alice Springs. June 2012. extracellular forms of the parasite (Hill et al., It has also been demonstrated that 2005). earthworms, a major component of the natural diet of eastern barred bandicoots, Toxoplasmosis infection during the first exposed to oocysts can transmit T gondii trimester of pregnancy in humans can lead to infection leading to the death of bandicoots more severe impairments than infection 11 and 14 days after feeding (Bettiol et al., acquired during the later stages of pregnancy. 2000). Acutely fatal toxoplasmosis has been A wide range of clinical diseases may occur in diagnosed in common wombat, Tasmanian congenitally infected children; mildly infected pademelon and Bennett’s wallaby (Obendorf children may have diminished eyesight, while et al., 1996). Wallabies, particularly severe infections may result in hydrocephalus pademelons, and bandicoots are susceptible (enlarged head), convulsions and to dying from toxoplasmosis (pers. comm. intracerebral calcification (Hill et al., 2005). Bruce Jackson, DPIW Veterinarian). Eye (occular) disease tends to be the most common in congenital infections (Hill et al., 2005). Domestic animals can be infected by T gondii with foetal death and abortions occurring in sheep and goats as a consequence of toxoplasmosis, most likely due to ingestion of oocysts. Toxoplasmosis has been identified as a serious disease of Australian marsupials with reports of animals dying suddenly without any clinical signs or with neurological signs, loss of vision, Fig. 1. Life cycle of Toxoplasma gondii diarrhoea, and respiratory distress (Obendorf, (Taken from Dubey et al., 1998).
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