King Parrot Catchment Fox Control Project – 2021 Camera Monitoring Program
43 cameras were recently deployed on properties of participants in the King Parrot Catchment Fox Control Project (KPCFCP).
This included 19 locations in the Upper Catchment, 15 in the Mid Catchment and 9 in the Lower Catchment.
Results show that fox numbers have been steadily decreasing in the Upper Catchment (Kinglake area) and the Lower Catchment (Strath Creek area).
In the Mid Catchment (Flowerdale area) fox numbers have bounced around a bit.
However the recent recruitment by Flowerdale Landcare of many new participants taking part in our fox baiting programs should see a similar drop over the coming years.
The reduction in fox numbers has been especially noticeable on properties that are also involved in our fox baiting programs.
Most encouraging to see was the continued increase in many of our small-medium mammals and ground dwelling birds that are particularly vulnerable to fox predation.
Observations of Long-nosed Bandicoots in the upper catchment have increased from 11 in 2018 to 62 and 53 on nine separate properties over the last two years.
The endangered Brush-tailed Phascogale was a rare site on our cameras when we first started our monitoring programs. This year we captured an incredible 56 photographs on six separate properties.
The iconic Lyrebird, a ground-dwelling bird that is very vulnerable to foxes have doubled their numbers and this year we captured 41 photographs on 9 separate properties.
For more information about participating in this project contact Project Officer Chris Cobern on 0413 855 490 or ugln.projects@ugln.net
Dear Chris, good work. as you say very encouraging to see the recovery of our precious animals with your help with coordinated feral predator control.
Cheers
Gary Hendy