Threatened Animals Reintroduced

[Overlandman]

From ABC

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-05/t ... ks/6524086

Native animals such as numbats and bilbies will be reintroduced into national parks where they are no longer found under a New South Wales Government plan to halt their decline.

The Government has appointed the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and the Wildlife Restoration and Management Partnership to reintroduce 10 species in several thousand hectares of new predator-free exclusion zones.

It said the list of species was being finalised, but would include the bilby, numbat, brush-tailed bettong, western barred bandicoot and bridled nailtail wallaby.

Australian Wildlife Conservancy chief executive Atticus Fleming said many of the chosen species had disappeared from the state long ago.

"They were animals that were once all across New South Wales," he said.

"For most of those [species] it will be the first time in 100 years that they'll be back in New South Wales national parks.

"These mammals play a major role in ecosystem health."

Mr Fleming said the project would also provide "tremendous" visitor experiences.

"Going back into these areas where there are no feral animals will be like stepping back in time," he said.

Environment Minister Mark Speakman said the reintroduction program was the largest attempted by any government in Australia.

"Australia has possibly the worst record in the world in terms of extinction of mammals," he said.

"The New South Wales Government is determined to reverse that in our state and reintroducing species where they're locally extinct is a big part of that."

He said the animals' reintroduction would benefit more than 50 other threatened species.

The Government is yet to nominate the parks that will be home to the re-introduced species, but they are likely to be in the west of the state.

[Hallu]

There seems to be a lot of effort to reintroduce threatened species, a lot less in fighting climate change or protecting habitat against urbanisation and industrial projects. It's usually the sign of a government sending smoke screens to save face on the global political board, but doing nothing on the long run in terms of conservation. Locals do what they can to save their native bushlands, while the federal government does what it can to mess it up nation-wide.

[north-north-west]

As long as the areas are free of ferals and the habitat is safe, it's a good move. Won't happen in the more frequently visited and accessible parks, but it's better than nothing.
If only they would put as much effort into eradicating feral plant and animals from out NPs . . .