Paperlinx Green Shareholders' Group

Native Animals

Late last century, and again after World War I, there were concerted attempts to clear the forest of the Strzeleckis.
The failure of these earned the hills the sobriquet of "The Heartbreak Hills" .
In those times there were not the powerful bulldozers of today and much of the area regenerated quickly back to native forest.
In areas which did not regenerate and which became weed infested and eroded, forest plantations have proven a sound way of holding the soil together and shading out most of the weeds.

There were some areas which escaped the worst of the clearing. These include the Gunyah Gunyah, College Creek and parts of the Agnes River catchment. Today the practice of clearfelling of large coupes using heavy machinery bids fair to create "The Heartbroken Hills" if more care is not taken to maintain soil, water and environmental values.

The remaining native forests of the Strzeleckis are home to a very wide range of wild life.

In the early days of white occupation the rare Leadbeaters Possum was reported from the Bass River area to the south-west of the Strzeleckis to the Central Highlands. It is now known only in relatively undisturbed areas of the Baw Baw Plateau and Central Highlands. It does appear that pockets of Strzelecki old growth forest still existing may have the mix of species and ages to support them, but they have not yet been reported.

The Strzelecki Koalas are a genetically distinct population, significant to the gene pool of the species.

Where the old growth includes great ancient trees with tops blown out, branches broken and centres rotten by age, we find the Powerful Owl, associated with the possums it needs as its food supply, the Greater, Yellow Bellied and Sugar Gliders, Mountain Brushtail (Bobuck) and many more species.

Where there is sufficient grass the swamp wallabies live. These tend to congregate where clearfelling has led to temporary grass growth, and love to eat new tree shoots, creating problems by browsing new tree plantings in the plantations.

The carcases of wallabies and rabbits poisoned by foresters using 1080 are likely to cause the deaths of other animals which then feed upon them. We are told that this poisoning has ended, replaced by methods of making the seedling trees unpalatable to the wallabies. Wallabies are still blamed for regeneration failures, some of which may

Elaina Fraser has been studying the flora and fauna of the Strzeleckis for many years.
Her report on the College Creek catchment (AMG Zone55 E450 S5743), which is public land, leased to PaperlinX until 2028, provides the following species list for this area.

The animal species listed for the English's Corner/College Creek area in the Report by I.M.Mansergh and K.V.Norris 1982, were:

```
Antechinus stuartii 		Brown antechinus
```

Trichosurus caninus		Bobuck or Mountain Brushtail Possum

```
Petaurus breviceps		Sugar Glider
```

Pseudocheirus peregrinus	Common Ringtail Possum

```
Schoinobates volans		Greater Glider
```
```
Potorous longipes 		Long-footed Potoroo
```
```
Wallabia bicolor 		Black Wallaby
```
```
Phascolarctos cinereus		Koala
```
```
Vombatus ursinus		Common Wombat
```
```
Rattus fuscipes			Bush Rat
```
```
Mastacomys fuscus 		Broad-toothed Rat
```

Species recorded in 1996/97 from analysis of scats (droppings) and hair tube samples by Barbara Triggs, Genoa, were:

```
Trichosurus			Brushtail Possum
```

Trichosurus caninus		Bobuck or Mountain Brushtail Possum

Pseudocheirus peregrinus	Ringtail Possum

Petaurus Australis 		Yellow-bellied Glider

```
Petaurus breviceps    		Sugar Glider
```
```
Wallabia bicolor		Black Wallaby
```
```
Antechinus stuartii		Brown Antechinus
```
```
Antechinus swainsonii		Dusky Antechinus
```
```
Rattus fuscipes			Bush Rat
```
```
Rattus lutreolus		Swamp Rat
```
```
Hydromys chrysogaster		Water-rat
```
```
Mastacomys fuscus		Broad-toothed Rat
```
```
Phascolarctos cinereus		Koala
```
```
Vombatus ursinus		Common wombat
```
```
Ninox sytrnus			Powerful Owl
```
```
T. aculcatus			Short beaked Echidna
```

Night recording indicated numerous Sugar Gliders (Petaurus brevicep)

Greater Gliders (Schoinobates volans) have been sighted but no scats collected.

Quoting Elaina Fraser again:
"Mature forest provides the nest hollows for the birds and animals. It also provides the maximum seed output per ha (Ashton 1975) and consequently maximum food availability for blossom and nectar feeders. Quantities of seed tend to increase with age until maturity (Cremer et al. 1978). (Recher et al. 1980) estimate that between 10 and 15 percent of the birds occurring in forest are affected by clearfelling. Cockatoos, lorikeets, parrots, owls and treecreepers are amongst the birds that are sensitive to clearfelling (Recher et al. 1980).

Apart from the Tarra Valley and Bulga National Parks the area is managed for timber production . (Frankenberg,1971 in Mansergh & Norris, 1982) noted that the area of the parks is probably too small to support viable populations of the larger species of animal. Seebeck (1976) notes that a pair of Powerful Owls would require a feeding range of 800 ha of optimal habitat. "

PaperlinX's bulldozing of track 12 through Myrtle Beech Rainforest in the College Creek catchment, without the prescribed buffers to protect the rainforest which is supposed to be protected, has been followed by myrtle wilt disease. See the page on Weeds and Diseases. for some more information on this.

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