Australian_Geographic_-_October_2015_

Feeding time.

The blue tiger, top,

and clearwing

swallowtail are just

two of the 40-plus

butterfl y species

found on the South

Cumberland Islands.

In the fi eld. Dr Alistair

Melzer navigates in

bush above Beverley

Bay, St Bees, during a

koala survey. Using a

GPS device to track his

route, he counts the

animals he passes.

The koalas...were relocated from

Proserpine, 125km north of

Mackay, to St Bees in the 1930s.

Tropical paradise.

Connie Bay’s white sands

and coral reefs are pretty

features of Keswick’s

northern shore.

WATCH Use the free

viewa app to scan this

page and see a fi lm

about the St Bees koalas.

BLUE TIGER:

Tirumala hamate

; CLEARWING SWALLOWTAIL:

Cressida cressida

;

WILD PRUNE:

Sersalisia sericea

; KOALA:

Phascolarctos cinereus

Island life. St Bees’ koalas

live in an isolated colony

that’s become the focus for

a range of scientifi c studies.

September–October 2015 65