Wired for rare gliders
BEEF cattle graziers Rusty Smith and Justine Douglas are in the process of turning their Kennedy Valley property north of Cardwell into a home sweet home for the endangered mahogany glider.
Working in conjunction with Terrain Natural Resource Management, the couple have planted corridors of trees that connect with existing stands of timber.
They have also replaced the top barbed wire on their stock fences with plain wire. Mr Smith said that gliders commonly become caught on the fences when gliding at night.
Mr Smith and Ms Douglas bought the property 16 years ago when it was a cane farm and have now converted it to beef production. The paddocks had been cleared for cane but there was still remnant rainforest vegetation along Camp and Meunga Creeks which run through the property.
Mr Smith said he wanted shade trees for the cattle and after a career of more than 42 years with the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service he wanted to do something that would help the survival of the mahogany glider.
“Gliders often got entangled on the top barbed wire on the fences,” he said. “We got in touch with Terrain and they helped with funding to replace the top barbed wires with plain and to provide trees for the corridors. When the trees grow the corridors will connect to the creeks and to land.”
Terrain NRM spokeswoman Jacqui Richards said it was a “win- win” for the environment and graziers, with farmers like Mr Smith and Ms Douglas developing projects unique to their properties. neighbouring government
Ms Richards said graziers David and Jean Bridgeman were also subdividing their paddocks with “wildlife- friendly fences”.
“Most of our land will be split in half for planned rotational grazing,” Mr Bridgeman said.
“We won’t be flogging the land and there’ll be plenty for everybody and that includes all of the creatures.”
Ms Richards said mahogany gliders and cattle were “very compatible”.
“Mahogany gliders rely on open grassy woodlands,” she said.
Ms Richards said mahogany gliders were listed as endangered. She said they were only found in North Queensland where they live in a narrow and highly fragmented band of lowland forest extending about 120km from Ollera Creek, north of Townsville to the Hull River near Tully.
Justine Douglas said private landholders had an important role to play in the survival of the mahogany glider.