Platies (Xiphophorus maculatus) are a popular aquarium fish that have become a pest in some Queensland waterways due to people deliberately (or accidentally in the case of backyard ponds) releasing them. Platies spread between water bodies during flood events (like the one in February/March 2023). Recent monitoring discovered platies established in two creeks on the west coast of K’gari – Bogimbah and Poyungan. Growing to around 6cm, they are a stout fish with rounded dorsal (upper) and tail fins and an upturned mouth. In aquariums, they are highly variable in colours, but in the wild, they ar ..read more

This project was a cooperative study between the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS), the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation, the University of Southern Queensland and the University of Cape Town and was conducted to assess the current genetic status of the wongari population on the island. The project commenced in 2020, with the overall aim to provide managers with robust and policy-ready information on the genetic health and status of wongari on K’gari – information that also met stakeholder expectations and was widely supported by the scientific community. Tissue samples from 243 wo ..read more

When the BAC’s Conserving Mur’rindum (Black-breasted button-quail) on Butchulla Country project was approved in September 2020, the Du’ling Bushfire that burnt over 85,000 Ha (50%) of the island, hadn’t even started. However, there were already concerns about fire impacts on this Vulnerable ground-dwelling bird found on K’gari. Clear evidence of Mur’rundum or Black-breasted button quail from feeding platelets (Photo: Pat Webster) The aims of the project were for the Butchulla Land and Sea Rangers (BLSR) to deliver actions under the ‘National Recovery Plan for the Black-breasted button-quail (T ..read more

Sadly, a recent wongari (dingo) attack to K’gari visitor, 23-year-old Sarah Peet, an urban designer with Moreton Bay Council, resulted not only in ~30 bites and lacerations on her arms, legs, and torso but the euthanasia of the lead wongari (CC Green) after the attack. This was the second wongari euthanised on K’gari for dangerous behaviour this year. The Queensland Government and the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation (BAC) have invested heavily in promoting the messages of Dingo-Safe and Wongari-Wise. Wongari are a culturally significant species to the Butchulla people. If you search ‘K’gari s ..read more

The BAC’s Communication and Education Officer, Tessa Waia, has been stepping up the BAC’s involvement in wongari (dingo) management on K’gari. Aside from their role as an apex predator, Wongari are culturally significant to the Butchulla people. Before European settlers came to K’gari, there were two types of dingoes on the island – Wat’dha (the camp dingo) and Wongari (the wild dingo). Wat’dha were Butchulla companions, helping to hunt, track, and protect the Butchulla from bad spirits.  After the Butchulla people were removed from K’gari only the Wongari remained. Since starting in the ..read more

The K’gari NRM wongari management team were approached by animal behaviouralist expert Nikita Ovsyanikov and his daughter Katya to meet the team and discuss non-lethal risk mitigation and animal behaviour in the human/wildlife interface. Nikita Ovsyanikov is a world-leading polar bear researcher/scientist and animal behaviour expert visiting Australia. He also has years of experience and knowledge about arctic foxes. His interest and passion in animal behaviour have led him to develop protocols and training courses relating to the non-lethal management of large predator/human interactions. He ..read more

The vulnerable water mouse (Xeromys myoides) is a small mammal about twice the size of a house mouse. It has dark steel-grey fur with a contrasting pure white belly, lower snout and cheeks. Old water mice can be grizzled grey with a red tone to their sides. Adult water mice can have white spotting on their back in southeast Queensland. Water mouse fur is silky and resistant to water and mud, and its tail is shorter than its head-body length. Despite living in wetlands, the back feet of the water mouse are not webbed. It has a strong, acrid smell. Water mouse, free-standing mound and feeding si ..read more

For thousands of years, Butchulla people used fire (girra) to manage their landscape, to hunt and gather food and for farming: to make sure certain plants and animals flourished in certain places so that resources were available, convenient, and predictable. Today, it is used as a management tool to: clean up Country (preventing hot, destructive wildfires by reducing the fuel load), protect significant areas from hot wildfires (burning around assets, cultural sites, areas that can’t cope with fire), reduce weeds and support ecosystem maintenance – preferencing some species over others (e.g. if ..read more

Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee (MRCCC), QPWS, Butchulla Land and Sea Rangers, Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation staff, Burnett Mary Regional Group (BMRG), and students from the University of the Sunshine Coast braved the mozzies and undertook frog surveys across K’gari as part of the post-fire K’gari Ecological Action Plan. BLSR Rangers Myles and Blade work with MRCCC’s Eva and USC student Elise to identify K’gari’s acid frogs (Photo: MRCCC) 57 sites were surveyed across the island revealing 11 frog species including those of the rare and threatened ‘acid frog’ group; wal ..read more

In April 2021, as part of the federal government’s Wildlife and Habitat Bushfire Recovery Program, rapid on-ground ecological surveys of the distribution and abundance of priority threatened species were undertaken to determine the extent and severity of threats to habitats and populations. The wetlands field team consisted of staff from the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation (BAC), Griffith University’s Australian Rivers Institute (ARI), Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee (MRCCC) and the Burnett Mary Regional Group (BMRG). BAC’s Butchulla Land and Sea Rangers assist with fish sampling ..read more