Fauna
Over 210 bird species have been recorded within Carnarvon National Park, along with about 60 species of mammals. This park is particularly rich in species of bats with at least twenty known to be there. The Ornithorhyncus anatinus, the platypus, is at its western limit of habitation in Queensland within this National Park, along with most of the park's gliding possums. Carnarvon Gorge has commercial night tours that take visitors into the park in search of gliders and other nocturnal life.
At least 90 species of reptiles call this park home, over half of which are either skinks or geckoes, and 35 species have their State distributional limits here. Twenty-two species of amphibians have been found in the park, including isolated populations of Litoria fallax (eastern Sedgefrog) and Adelotus brevis (Tusked Frog).
Over ten species of fish inhabit the park's waterways, the largest of which is Anguilla reinhardtii (long-finned eel). The park's invertebrate fauna is thought to be extremely diverse, and at least nine species are considered to be endemic to the Carnarvon Range, including two species of dragonfly, two species of stonefly, a dobson fly, and four species of land snail.
Feral animals are present within the National Park, the ones presenting the most serious problems being Brumbies and pigs. In 2007, culling of both species began by riflemen in helicopters or airplanes. In 2008 the third phase of an aerial culling of Brumbies took place, by shooting 700 horses from a helicopter, in Carnarvon National Park. Such aerial culling is a contentious issue to some members of the public. However, there is little doubt that both species cause considerable alteration to the values the park is designed to protect. Through their grazing and their repetitious patterns of movement, feral horses alter the composition of the ground cover, and this can accelerate erosion through over-grazing and excessive hoof traffic. Feral pigs are thought to be responsible for the localised extinction of the Australian Brush-Turkey from some areas of this National Park.
Read more about this topic: Carnarvon National Park
Famous quotes containing the word fauna:
“The whole fauna of human fantasies, their marine vegetation, drifts and luxuriates in the dimly lit zones of human activity, as though plaiting thick tresses of darkness. Here, too, appear the lighthouses of the mind, with their outward resemblance to less pure symbols. The gateway to mystery swings open at the touch of human weakness and we have entered the realms of darkness. One false step, one slurred syllable together reveal a man’s thoughts.”
—Louis Aragon (1897–1982)