It's National Threatened Species Week

08 September 2016

All Tweed residents can play their part

It’s National Threatened Species Week, which recognises the anniversary of the death of the last Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) in captivity at Hobart Zoo in 1936.

While there were an estimated 5000 Thylacines in Tasmania at the time of European settlement, excessive hunting, habitat destruction and introduced disease spelled the eventual end of the species.

Council’s Senior Program Leader – Biodiversity, Scott Hetherington, said reflecting on issues around threatened species provides an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and celebrate success stories in threatened species recovery.

“Tweed Shire has among the highest concentration of threatened species in the state and so we play a critical role in contributing to preventing further loss” Mr Hetherington said.

“Threatened plants and animals can be found in all areas of the Tweed. This is a testament to the significance of where we live but is also places a grave responsibility on us to make sure we do not contribute to any further loss.

“Everyone can play a role, from planting local native plants, restoring degraded bushland, driving carefully and being a responsible pet owner,” he said.

“Some of our iconic threatened species live right alongside us in suburban areas such as koalas, bush stone curlews and glossy black cockatoos.

“A major threat to all of these species is attack by domestic dogs and cats. While we all know how important it is to keep cats inside at night, it is important to keep pet dogs inside the house or garage at night too. The majority of native mammals are only out at night, and keeping your pet dog in at night will help to protect our native fauna,” he said.

Recent visits to a koala habitat restoration sites on the Tweed Coast (Koala Connections project) found some great results for koalas, including mothers with young feeding in trees that have been planted within the past two years.

“The Koala Connections project has been fantastic in improving habitat for the Tweed Coast koalas. We all have important roles to play in helping our Tweed Coast koalas to survive – this can be as simple as keeping koalas safe from pet dogs, and driving slowly in known koala black spots,” he said.

For more tips on how you can help biodiversity and threatened species, visit www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/Environment