Issues around the natural environment
Paper Wasps There aren’t that many dangerous insects compared with the thousands of harmless and useful ones but among those which are aggressive are Australia’s native paper wasps. There are two kinds of paper wasp, both being fairly common in most parts...
Primate Research – Crocodylus Park A new initiative at Crocodylus Park, Darwin is research into the behaviour of various primates and monkeys and observing their similarities to humans. For example the Colombian Cotton-top Tamarin is one of the only primates...
Old-fashioned septic tanks produce nutrient-rich water that flows out into absorption trenches. Most native plants cannot cope with such high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, so they die. You can make a tremendous difference to the environment if you change to a...
The Australian floral emblem is the golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha), but we don’t have any national animal emblems. It’s generally accepted that they are the kangaroo and emu, although they’ve never been officially proclaimed as such. What many...
The Burke’s Backyard aviaries, built last year were landscaped and irrigated to maintain an environment for breeding finches. Rare and endangered finches were released including two pairs of Red-eared Firetail finches. The finches have bred and there are seven...
Grey Headed Flying Fox The bat is a fascinating creature that has appeared in the belief systems, art, literature, film and even recipes of people for centuries. You might not realise it, but bats will probably have visited your backyard at some stage this year. There...
Fairhill native nursery at Yandina in Queensland is undoubtedly one of the best native plant nurseries in Australia. At nurseries like Fairhill customers have access to the expertise of specialist staff, and they’re able to choose from a wide range of native...
Galaxias Around 90 million years ago a group of tiny fish called Galaxias lived almost side by side with the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs are long gone now, but amazingly those little fish are still with us, in fact a population can be found less than 10 kilometres from...
Although Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen) take their name from an unrelated black and white European crow, they are essentially ground feeding butcherbirds. They live in territorial groups and keep to a fairly simple daily routine. Early each morning magpies...
New Mantis Shrimp A giant predatory shrimp previously unknown to science has recently been found in the waters east of Sydney Harbour Bridge. The creature was discovered by marine biologist Shane Ahyong, as part of an ongoing study of crustacea in the Indo-Pacific...