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Australian Bushfires: Emergency on Kangaroo Island
Growing fire emergency on Kangaroo Island
People and property on South Australia's Kangaroo Island are under immediate threat with only two towns listed as places of safety for local residents as a major bushfire continues to rage out of control.
An emergency warning was in place late on Friday for the fire which broke containment lines earlier in the day amid extreme conditions including high temperatures and strong winds.
The Country Fire Service said the blaze, which had already destroyed more than 14,000 hectares in and around the Flinders Chase National Park, was heading towards Vivonne Bay, on the island's south coast.
A watch and act warning also covered the central town of Parndana, home to about 150 people.
Local residents and others in the area were urged to leave and head to either the towns of Kingscote or Peneshaw, on the east coast.
"There is a real risk posed by this fire. This fire is burning out of control, having breached the control lines," the CFS said.
"This is a dynamic fireground and conditions are continually changing. The fire remains uncontrolled and unpredictable in nature and difficult for fire crews to control."
An emergency warning was in place late on Friday for the fire which broke containment lines earlier in the day amid extreme conditions including high temperatures and strong winds.
The Country Fire Service said the blaze, which had already destroyed more than 14,000 hectares in and around the Flinders Chase National Park, was heading towards Vivonne Bay, on the island's south coast.
A watch and act warning also covered the central town of Parndana, home to about 150 people.
Local residents and others in the area were urged to leave and head to either the towns of Kingscote or Peneshaw, on the east coast.
"There is a real risk posed by this fire. This fire is burning out of control, having breached the control lines," the CFS said.
"This is a dynamic fireground and conditions are continually changing. The fire remains uncontrolled and unpredictable in nature and difficult for fire crews to control."
https://www.9news.com.au/national/sa-prepares-for-extreme-heat-as-fires-burn/afbfce88-1537-4907-b4eb-5170f62c7129
Animal Life on Kangaroo Island (from WikiPedia)
Because of its isolation from mainland Australia, foxes and rabbits are absent from and prohibited from entering the island. Registration and microchipping of cats is mandatory,[60] and since 2016 there is a program to eradicate an estimated population of between 3,000 and 5,000 cats within the next 15 years.[61]
The Kangaroo Island kangaroo, Rosenberg's sand goanna, southern brown bandicoot, tammar wallaby, common brushtail possum, short-beaked echidna, Australian sea lion and long-nosed fur seal are native to the island, as well as six bat and frog species. The sole endemic vertebrate species is a small marsupial carnivore, the Kangaroo Island dunnart. The koala, common ringtail possum and platypus have been introduced and still survive there.
The introduced koalas have flourished on the island, to the degree that their preferred food source, the manna gum, is at risk of local extinction. The idea of a cull of the burgeoning koala numbers is distasteful to the public, and the state government prefers to use sterilisation for population control.[62] Although chlamydophila pneumoniae is widespread in most koala populations, the disease is not present on Kangaroo Island due to its isolation from other colonies.[63]
Conflict between conservation and development
Conservation interests have come into conflict with proponents of various development proposals made since the 2000s. These include a helipad in the island's south-western wilderness,[64] a southern bluefin tuna pen on the north coast of the island[65] (which resulted in the withdrawal of the proposal), The Cliffs Golf Resort near Pennington Bay (for which Crown land was considered for private sale or lease to developers)[66] and a port proposal at Smith Bay to facilitate timber exports[67] and cruise ship visitation.
Birds
See also: List of birds of Kangaroo Island, South Australia
An endemic species of emu, the Kangaroo Island emu, became extinct between 1802 and 1836.[68] The island is the last South Australian refuge of an endangered subspecies of the glossy black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus).[69][70]
Kangaroo Island Important Bird Area
Kangaroo Island has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports populations of the vulnerable fairy tern, the near threatened bush stone-curlew, hooded plover and western whipbird, and the biome-restricted rock parrot and purple-gaped honeyeater. It also supports over 1% of the world populations of Cape Barren geese, black-faced cormorants, Pacific gulls and pied oystercatchers, and sometimes of musk ducks, blue-billed ducks, freckled ducks, Australian shelducks, chestnut teals and banded stilts.[71]
Little penguin colonies
Little penguin colonies at Penneshaw and Kingscote can be accessed by joining guided nocturnal tours. Both colonies are currently in decline. Several colonies elsewhere on the island are believed to now be extinct, or contain only 'a few' birds. Historic colonies on Kangaroo Island include Cape Gantheaume, Ravine des Casoars and Harvey's Return.[72] In 1950 and 1972, author Mervinia Masterman claimed that little penguins could be found at Flinders Chase in "thousands".[73][74] She described the population utilizing the limestone caves at Ravine de Casoars as "innumerable" and described watching "dozens" come ashore at Sandy Beach.[74] Penguins were also present at Hanson Bay on the island's south coast in the 1950s.[75]
The decline of penguin populations has prompted expanded monitoring regimes from 2011 to the present. The 2013 Kangaroo Island little penguin census revealed that numbers had decreased by 44 to 100 per cent at all surveyed colonies over the prior two years. The census included eight survey sites.[76]
The Kangaroo Island kangaroo, Rosenberg's sand goanna, southern brown bandicoot, tammar wallaby, common brushtail possum, short-beaked echidna, Australian sea lion and long-nosed fur seal are native to the island, as well as six bat and frog species. The sole endemic vertebrate species is a small marsupial carnivore, the Kangaroo Island dunnart. The koala, common ringtail possum and platypus have been introduced and still survive there.
The introduced koalas have flourished on the island, to the degree that their preferred food source, the manna gum, is at risk of local extinction. The idea of a cull of the burgeoning koala numbers is distasteful to the public, and the state government prefers to use sterilisation for population control.[62] Although chlamydophila pneumoniae is widespread in most koala populations, the disease is not present on Kangaroo Island due to its isolation from other colonies.[63]
Conflict between conservation and development
Conservation interests have come into conflict with proponents of various development proposals made since the 2000s. These include a helipad in the island's south-western wilderness,[64] a southern bluefin tuna pen on the north coast of the island[65] (which resulted in the withdrawal of the proposal), The Cliffs Golf Resort near Pennington Bay (for which Crown land was considered for private sale or lease to developers)[66] and a port proposal at Smith Bay to facilitate timber exports[67] and cruise ship visitation.
Birds
See also: List of birds of Kangaroo Island, South Australia
An endemic species of emu, the Kangaroo Island emu, became extinct between 1802 and 1836.[68] The island is the last South Australian refuge of an endangered subspecies of the glossy black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus).[69][70]
Kangaroo Island Important Bird Area
Kangaroo Island has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports populations of the vulnerable fairy tern, the near threatened bush stone-curlew, hooded plover and western whipbird, and the biome-restricted rock parrot and purple-gaped honeyeater. It also supports over 1% of the world populations of Cape Barren geese, black-faced cormorants, Pacific gulls and pied oystercatchers, and sometimes of musk ducks, blue-billed ducks, freckled ducks, Australian shelducks, chestnut teals and banded stilts.[71]
Little penguin colonies
Little penguin colonies at Penneshaw and Kingscote can be accessed by joining guided nocturnal tours. Both colonies are currently in decline. Several colonies elsewhere on the island are believed to now be extinct, or contain only 'a few' birds. Historic colonies on Kangaroo Island include Cape Gantheaume, Ravine des Casoars and Harvey's Return.[72] In 1950 and 1972, author Mervinia Masterman claimed that little penguins could be found at Flinders Chase in "thousands".[73][74] She described the population utilizing the limestone caves at Ravine de Casoars as "innumerable" and described watching "dozens" come ashore at Sandy Beach.[74] Penguins were also present at Hanson Bay on the island's south coast in the 1950s.[75]
The decline of penguin populations has prompted expanded monitoring regimes from 2011 to the present. The 2013 Kangaroo Island little penguin census revealed that numbers had decreased by 44 to 100 per cent at all surveyed colonies over the prior two years. The census included eight survey sites.[76]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_Island
Scanner Coverage of Fire Fight on Kangaroo Island: Greater Adelaide and Mt. Lofty Ranges
Source: Broadcastify.
https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/2653
This is too sad.
