Table Of ContentNaturalistNotes
The Gurdies Bobucks: how are they faring?
Readers ofThe Victorian Naturalist may courses. The availability ofthick ground
recall thatapreviously unrecordedpopula- cover in and around such watercourses
tion of Bobucks Trichosurus caninus was seems to be a critical part ofthe animals’
reported from The Gurdies Flora and habitat. Sparse ground cover appears to
Fauna Reserve on Westernport Bay mean no Bobucks, even where apparently
(Hynes and Cleeland 2005). In October suitabletreesarepresent.
and November2005 a brieffollow-up sur- The Bass River site divulged a very
vey was carried out in The Gurdies and numerous native fauna. Over a mere three
further south along the banks ofthe Bass night ‘stake out’ in November, wallabies,
River. Again, infrared-sensitive automatic Common Brushtail Possums, wombats,
cameraswereused. rodents and echidnas were photographed
Although this second survey was far as well as Bobucks. The author believes
fromexhaustive, itisnowapparentthatthe such rich diversity of native wildlife is
Bobucks ofThe Gurdies are by no means entirely due to the presence ofextensive
confinedtothe Reserveitself. Thecameras stands ofvegetation along parts of the
detected Bobucks atnighton theground in Bass River and in declared parks such as
acreek bedapproximately 100m upstream TheGurdies Flora and Fauna Reserve.
from its confluence with the Bass River. For this the community at large perhaps
Moreover, juvenile animals were pho- owes a debt of gratitude to Trust For
tographed in the care ofthe female parent Nature who covenanted part ofthe only
at both the Bass River site and within The stretch ofremnant riparian vegetation on
GurdiesReserve. the Bass River, thus permanently protect-
The fact that young are being detected
indicatesthatthepopulationisresidentand
not itinerant and that it is at least stable.
Perhaps it is even expanding. It thus
appears that Parks Victoria, the manage-
ment organisation responsible for The
Gurdies Flora and Fauna Reserve, suc-
ceeded in preserving a refuge for a repro-
ductively viable subset of this unusual
remnant Bobuckpopulation.
Over a period ofseveral months prior to
October cameras were placed at various
locations within the Reserve, but well
away from the original 'Bobuck Creek’
site. Animals such as Common Brushtail
Possums, antechinus, rodents, wallabies,
stray dogs and snakes were photographed.
Butno Bobucks.
While no systematic study ofthe ani-
mals’ distribution within thestudyareahas
been attempted so far, it appears that
Bobucks in thispail ofGippsland may live
only in close proximity to natural water- Fig. 1• BabyBobuckatGurdies
Vol. 123 (2) 2006 117
BookReviews
ing a unique habitat forthese Bobucks and Landcare who likewise proofread and offered
othernativecreatures. helpfuladviceinthewritingofthisreport.
Additional images of animals so far
References
recorded in this survey may be viewed at Hynes DandCleeland M (2005) PresenceofBobucks
the following website: http;//www.thyla- (Trichosurus caninus) in The Gurdies on
coleo.com/news/oct_dec2005/oct_dec2005 Westemport Bay, Victoria. The Victorian Naturalist
122, 141-145.
.html
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank Anne and Phil Debbie Hynes
Westwood for providing access to the Bass POB285Burwood3125Victoria
Riverthat backs their ‘Bassbush’ property, and ThylacoleoImagery,www.thylacoleo.com
who provided many suggestions for useful
improvementsto the content ofthis article. The
author thanks Mike Cleeland of Philip Island
Wildlife ofthe Box-Ironbark Country
by Chris Tzaros
Publisher: CS1ROPublishing, 2005. 256pages,paperbackandCD; colour
photographs. ISBN0643069674. RRP$39.95
Local and regional natural history and ofthe remaining Box-ironbarkremnantsare
field guides are a useful starting point for tiny, degradedfragments.Take alookat the
learning about an area that is new, espe- maps of the 16 Box-ironbark parks and
cially when written by someone such as conservationareas inthisbook and you will
Chris Tzaros, with a deep knowledge and see that many, although seemingly large,
love for the region being described. The arereallyonlysmallerareascobbledtogeth-
author writes in the preface to Wildlife of er, many with long, ragged edges. It is
theBox-Ironbark Country, T hopethatthis sobering to note that there is only one very
book will be used by many people, not small patch ofBox-ironbark remainingthat
only workers or students in the field of matchestheofficial criterion ofundisturbed
land and wildlife management, community anduncut ‘old-growth’ woodland.
extension or regional planning, but also What is left ofthe Box-ironbark forests
landholders, naturalists, tourists, and any- and woodlands provides critical habitat for
one who may simply wish to learn more a large number of woodland plants and
about the wildlife of Victoria’s wonderful animals, now threatened because of
box-ironbark country’. I think he has suc- destruction oftheir habitat. Many species,
ceeded; there is something in this book for such as the Regent Honeyeater, Swift
everyone. This book would be especially Parrot, Squirrel Glider and Brush-tailed
useful for newcomers to the Box-ironbark, Phascogale, are dependent on the remnants
such as landholders and research students thatremain.
who are unfamiliarwiththeregion. The first three chapters provide an excel-
Over the past 200 years, Victoria’s Box- lent summary ofthe Box-ironbark region,
ironbark forests and woodlands have been its history and its wildlife. The natural dis-
so heavily cleared and modified for timber, tribution ofBox-ironbark species, why the
mining and farming that now only about region has such a diversity ofspecies and
15% remains, mostly in isolated remnants how they have been affected by the habitat
or as corridors along roadsides. Although destruction and modification of the past
there are some larger remnants, such as 200 years are covered. A succinct summa-
Warby Range State Park (11 084 ha), most ry points out how current land-uses and
118 The Victorian Naturalist
