Quokkas in wa bushfire zone given lifeline
Quokkas in wa bushfire zone given lifeline
20 September 2016
published by http://www.news.com.au
Australia Quokkas in WA’s bushfire-ravaged South West region have received a lifeline to support their conservation and research.
The Margaret River Chocolate Company has donated $8250, which enables WWF to purchase 30 radio collars.
It is believed up to 90 per cent of the quokka population in the Northcliffe area perished in the 2015 bushfire, with only 39 accounted for from an original 500.
The collars will be used to track the locations of 30 of the surviving quokkas to provide vital information on their movements.
WWF Australia chief executive Dermot O’Gorman said the donation was a kickstarter for their quokka conservation work in the region.
“This will help us to keep tabs on our quokkas and pinpoint the movements of predators that will try and move back into the territory as the bush regenerates,” he said.
Margaret River Chocolate Company spokesman Martin Black said as the roots of their business was in WA’s South West, they felt a special affinity to the quokkas.
“We were very much aware of the devastation caused by the Northcliffe fires, but were not fully aware of just how big the impact had been on the quokka population,” he said.
“When the report was released last week outlining the scale of numbers wiped out we started thinking about what we could do to help.”
WWF is now calling for donations to fund 30 sensor cameras to monitor the marsupials.
