2020-03-01_Australian_Geographic

March. April 35

PHOTO CREDITS, FROM TOP: COURTESY AUSTRALIAN REPTILE PARK; DREW HOPPERSCIENTIFIC NAMES:

Bettongia

sp.

; Phascolarctos cinereus

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Geographic Society

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Patron: Dick Smith AC

Chair: David Haslingden

Secretary: Adrian Goss/

Page Henty

Directors: Kerry Morrow,

Jo Runciman

Advisory Council: Chrissie

Goldrick, John Leece AM,

Tim Jarvis AM, Anna Rose,

Todd Tai

THE SOCIETY runs sponsorship

rounds in April and November,

during which it considers

applications and disperses grants

that are funded by the Australian

Geographic business.

The Society also awards the

Nancy-Bird Walton sponsorship

for female adventurers and hosts

annual awards for conservation

and adventure.

Each year it gives in excess of

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Who are the Australian

Geographic Society?

Save the date

The 2020 Australian

Geographic Society gala

awards will take place at the

Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney, on

Friday 30 October. Watch

this space for more details

and how to secure a place at

this popular event.

A

FTER HOURS of travelling to the

Barrington Tops, I became part

of the 2019 AGS Aussie

Ark Expedition. Within minutes,

we were introduced to Tassie

devils at feeding time – lots of

growls, snarls, nips and

chasing. Soon after we

headed to one of the large,

fenced paddocks where

released devils were to be

trapped for monitoring. My group

was on trap-setting duty. Others set

Elliot traps for small mammals.

After a quick barbecue dinner, we set out for

an evening of spotlighting. The cold was

creeping in and those of us who hadn’t thought

to grab a jumper before leaving started to get

rather chilly. But what excitement! We spotted a

bandy-bandy snake, baby diamond python,

Davies’ tree frog, eastern stony creek frog and a

forest dragon. We were back by 10pm to

collapse into bed and up again for breakfast

before heading back to Aussie Ark (this time

with jumpers). Our traps had about 10 devils in

them, which needed to be weighed, have

wounds dusted with antiseptic and a topical tick

and flea treatment applied. In the Elliot traps

KOALA ARK

MAKE A DIFFERENCE. PLEASE DONATE TODAY

Funds raised will help save and support our koala population

Visit australiangeographic.com.au/fundraising or call 02 9316 7214.

Koalas face an unpredictable future

(page 54). Populations continue to

decline due to habitat loss, bushfire

and disease, among other threats.

More than 80 per cent of koala habitat

has been lost, with remaining areas

fragmented and vulnerable to bushfire,

which can decimate populations within

days, as witnessed this past summer.

Aussie Ark is

launching the

first and largest

koala sanctuary in

the world. The project

aims to alter the declining trajectory

of koalas in NSW by protecting up to

7 per cent of the wild population

through exclusion fencing.

AG SOCIETY FUNDRAISER

All in a days work.

Citizen scientists help

weigh Tasmanian devils

and share lunch with

a bettong (left ).

DATES 7–9 October 2020 COSTFrom $1400

BOOKINGSCall 02 4340 8610 or email [email protected]

AUSSIE ARK 2020

were five house mice, two

antechinuses and a swamp

rat. We also checked small

macropod traps and were able to

radio-collar potoroos and release two

bandicoots with pouch young. We built a ‘soft’

predator-proof fence enclosure from which

animals will be gradually allowed to escape into

the larger sanctuary when all the predators

have been removed. The afternoon was spent

resetting the rodent traps, feeding brush-tailed

rock-wallabies and quolls and then ourselves.

While eating, we watched a wedge-tailed eagle

stealing food from the devil pens. They learn

quickly! Our final morning was spent packing,

processing the traps, feeding the menagerie

and having one final cuddle of the joey Tassie

devils and potoroo.

BETTY JACOBS

Expedition diar y:

Aussie Ark

SOCIETY

FUNDRAISER