Adventure Ausrama Blog

Mystery egg of the Night Parrot in Tanami Desert? A mystery egg was found in the Tanami Desert of northern Australia 30 years ago. Many latched on to this specimen as being from the Night Parrot, thought to be extinct. DNA from the egg was compared to DNA of Night Parrot specimens in the Queensland Museum. The Brown Quail was found to be the "mother" of the Tanami egg. All hope was not lost, however. In 2013 the Night Parrot was found to be still with us. A small population was discovered living in Western Australia, far away from Queensland. Much has been leaned about the environmental requirements for the rare bird's survival. This shows that human hope is very strong. We will attribute links to things that are very weak. The egg does have unusual characteristics : it is sand white, not like the quail egg which is pale but speckled brown. It is pointed at one end though, typical of the quail. ◆ Ornithology by Ty Buchanan   ◆ Tys Country Amusing Animal Photos...

Humans can be such a problem for native wildlife. We build roads over wildlife trails so we can zoom down to the ski fields, not worrying about the native casualties that get squashed along the way.  But humans can also be the solution - as we have been with the endangered Mountain Pygmy-possum ( Burramys parvus ). There are possibly only a few thousand of these amazing animals left in the wild. They live in the snow-covered alpine and subalpine regions of New South Wales and Victoria, above 1400 metres. They are the only Australian mammals found here and nowhere else. For most of the year male and female possums live separate lives scurrying among rook crevices, boulder fields and alpine shrubs. Adult females live in the best locations on rocky slopes. Males live further down the hill. Come breeding time, these males make the hazardous trek across the roadways, attempting to avoid all the human-made obstacles in their way. Only when they have made it to the other side of the ...

Australia is again ignoring advice and is pushing an endangered bird to extinction. There are fewer than 2,000 swift parrots left. Most are taken by sugar gliders. However, destruction of habitat is a major threat. They could be extinct in 15 years. Logging is being allowed in the bird's breeding areas. They do not nest if their natural environment is changed. People have lobbied the Tasmanian government with no success. There is high unemployment in Tasmania and job creation takes priority over birdlife. The swift parrot is already on the endangered list. This does not guarantee any work to save it. If it is put on the critically endangered list something will be done. An application has already been submitted to the federal government. It will take time to get this through the government bureaucracy. ✴ Conservation by Ty Buchanan ✴ http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot....