Wildlife Australia Magazine Wildlife Australia Spring 2021 Back Issue

QUITE INDEPENDENT of each other, many of the stories in this edition are similar in approach – they tell in detail of the recovery of threatened species and habitat.
Factual details may vary, but each of these articles provides the same thing: hope. A hopeful pathway for species that, perhaps, not so long ago seemed bereft of a positive course into the future.
It starts with the cover shot of the Mary River turtle by wildlife photography enthusiast and volunteer, Chris Van Wyk. His images are alerting the world to a precious turtle species found only in the Mary River – and he is even selling merchandise to help contribute to its protection.
It is a reminder that new generations of wildlife volunteers are coming through, thankfully, to carry on the work that people like the late Wayne Lawler pioneered. His wildlife photography over more than four decades is an extraordinary legacy in its own right, and his annual trust grant to up-and-coming wildlife photographers helps pave the way for new generations.
Also inspirational are two projects to reintroduce endangered bandicoot species on mainland Australia. The Zoos Australia-led project to use ‘guardian dogs’ in reintroducing eastern barred bandicoots near Victoria’s Grampians National Park could provide a template for future reintroductions of marsupial species.
The return of western barred bandicoots – known in local Aboriginal language as ‘talpero’ – to NSW’s Sturt National Park, after a 100-year absence, is using new staged ‘safe haven’ techniques as well.
The focus of government bodies, community organisations, the island’s Butchulla people and regional conservation volunteers is as keen as it gets on K’gari Fraser Island, where a third of this magnificent island’s natural heritage area was burnt out in 2020. Its community-led recovery and future planning is an inspiration.