Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park; a vast wild Queensland reserve

In the 1990s I first visited what was then Lakefield National Park, north of Cooktown at the base of Cape York Peninsula. I only stayed 3 nights the first time and though I thought it was one of the most magnificent parks I'd ever seen it took me 30 years to get back there. In retrospect I realise that I was helped the first time by the fact that it was in May, when the wet season floods were just receding from the plains and birds were active and breeding. The rains dominate from December to March, when at the peak the park is one vast wetland. The rains begin to ease during April and the waters start to recede. These days the park is closed for six months of the year, from the start of December to the end of May,  Last year we visited in August when things were drying out, and had to earlier than planned due to problems with the trailer fridge, which in turned damaged the trailer battery. Nonetheless it was a superb stay at two different camp sites, separated by a glorious drive.

Sweetwater Lake in the early morning in the north of the park. It is more than unwise to camp
near water because of crocodiles, so we had to walk about 30 metres from our camp for this view.

Nifold Plain in the north of the park.

Rinyirru is at the end of the red arrow in the far north-east of Australia.

Rinyirru is huge, covering nearly 540,000 hectares; it is some 120k from south (near the Old 
Laura entrance station) to north, on Princess Charlotte Bay. Our two camps are marked in
green; they are 105km apart by road. The road through the park (Lakefield Road) is a good one, 
unsealed but well maintained, and is accessible by sturdy two-wheel drive as long it is dry, 
but most of the side-roads to camping areas are 4WD only. We came from Cooktown,
to the south-east, and exited in the north-west to Musgrave Roadhouse on the 
Peninsula Development Road, the highway up Cape York Peninsula.

Rinyirru is the second-largest national park in Queensland (after the Munga-Thirri-Simpson Desert National Park). Its origins lie in the 1978 purchase by the Queensland government of Laura and Lakefield Stations for the purpose of forming a park, which was declared in the following year. I find this intriguing and surprising, as this was a notoriously ultra-conservative and corruption-riddled government, but I've not been able to find any background to the decision. Local Indigenous traditional owners were appalled that they had been left out of any consultation around the process and in 1992 lodged a claim with the Land Court of Queensland which in 1996 recommended that the land be ceded to them. Fifteen years of negotiations followed, culminating in a hand-over as Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land (CYPAL) by the Anna Bligh government in June 2011, when the name of the park officially changed to Rinyirru. The park is now managed jointly by eight clans of traditional owners and the Queensland Government. 

 

In a park this size there is inevitably a range of habitats, though diverse woodlands, mostly of eucalypts, dominate.

Typical roadside woodland in the south of the park along the main road. 
Darwin Stringybark Eucalyptus tetrodonta and Woollybutt E. miniata are
prominent in these woodlands.

Slightly different woodland with gums (ie smooth-barked eucalypts),
near our camp at 12 Mile Lagoon.

Along Lakefield Road heading north from Hanns Crossing the woodland becomes lower and sparser, with grassy understorey.

Big termite mounds, both these fluted ones and other massive rounded 'castles', 
are found throughout the park, though are most obvious in the grassy areas.

Massive 'castle' termite mound; our elderly vehicle is included for scale, not promotion!

Eventually at the Nifold Plain in the north, the trees mostly disappear and the grasslands - and termite mounds - extend to the horizon.

I find this an extraordinary landscape, especially when I recall how we used to have to fight for 
even a couple of hectares of natural grassland to be preserved down here!

A much smaller habitat, but very pertinent to us at our camp sites, is the gallery rainforest, or monsoon or vine forest, along rivers and around waterholes. This is a type of tropical rainforest that grows in a climate where the annual very wet season is followed by an extended dry period. These forests are lower and more open than true rainforests (where it rains all year round), with tangles of vines. At least some of the trees are deciduous. 

Looking across the clearing of our campsite (we tucked into the shade at the edge of the clearing) 
to the fringing monsoon forest at the edge of the Normanby River. 

This shot of the camp gives another glimpse of the monsoon forest too - I neglected to take any
photos specifically of this habitat! However this gives some idea of the low tough-leaved 
trees, quite unlike those of rainforest trees.

A couple of the trees in this fringing forest were particularly interesting. One I'm sure was a Brachychiton (kurrajongs, bottle trees etc), very big and deciduous with red flowers which attracted a lot of birds. However I'm having trouble matching it to the park plant list (the only two Brachychiton listed for the park are described as 'small trees') so I may be on the wrong track. Any suggestions welcomed! (No of course I didn't take a photograph...)

The other I am sure of though, as it's well documented for the park. Gebang Palm (locally Kennedy Palm) Corypha utan is a large palm (growing to 20 metres) which is found on Cape York Peninsula and north through Indonesia and the Philippines to south-east Asia and India. It has a remarkable life history, somewhat reminiscent of many bamboos. After some decades it finally flowers spectacularly, producing hundreds of thousands of flowers, which of course then form fruits whose seeds are dispersed by birds and bats. Then, it just dies. We were able to see the various stages around our camp. 

Healthy big Gebang Palm by the track joining the scattered camp sites along the river.

This palm has flowered and is now covered in fruits. The leaves are already drooping;
they and the tree itself will soon be dead. 

Dead Gebang Palms which have shed their fruit to start a new generation
of these magnificent trees. 

But perhaps the essence of the park is in its waters, the numerous waterholes and the rivers which flow north through the park and discharge into Princess Charlotte Bay. A drive through the park offers regular lagoons by the roadside, and turnoffs to others. All bring their own rewards; here are a few such waterscapes. 

The Normanby River very near our camp; our only real regret from our visit is that we
weren't able to see any crocodiles, which was surprising as they are abundant in the park.
We certainly tried! The Normanby River is really a system of rivers with some 20
tributaries joining it from where it leaves the Great Dividing Range near Cooktown and
along its journey north to Princess Charlotte Bay.

The Normanby again, this time early in the morning; I didn't expect to see tendrils of 
mist rising from it, at low elevation and deep into the tropics. 

And some lagoons; there'll be a couple more among the bird photos below. 

Unnamed roadside lagoon; there are many of these and all are worth a look!

White Lily Lagoon by the Lakefield Road in the centre of the park. In August there was
a lot of water around so the birds were scattered widely; a couple of months later
I'd expect greater concentrations as the shallower pools drie out.

The rest of these lagoon shots were taken at Sweetwater Lagoon where we spent a lot of time just sitting and watching and absorbing. The first four were taken from 0610 to 0730, from before sunrise to full early sun.

This was a special camp, as you may have deduced, made more special by the fact that
there is only one dedicated campsite in the campground. We just had to hope that no-one
came along without a booking! (No-one did.)

 

This photo and the next were taken mid-afternoon.

Paperbarks Melaleuca sp., growing in the water at the edge of the lagoon near camp.

Paperbarks are an important part of the environment of Rinyirru, especially near (and in!) water.
I'm not sure of the species.

Paperbark, a different species, growing tall by our first camp alongside the 
Normanby River and here catching the last light of the day.

And a few animals (mostly birds) to finish. I'll start with some waterbirds, though only one of the others was more than 50 metres from water.

Perhaps my favourite, a Comb-crested Jacana Irediparra gallinacea which spent its days
stepping delicately across the lily pads (look at the fabulous toes evolved for just that
purpose) just in front of our camp.

Wandering Whistle-Ducks Dendrocygna arcuata and Green Pygmy-geese Nettapus pulchellus on 
White Lily Lagoon. Both these attractive ducks are found across northern Australia and in New Guinea
(and further afield still for the whistle-ducks). Ironically the Wandering Whistle-Duck doesn't
wander nearly as far into southern Australia as the other Australian species does.

(Distant) Magpie Geese Anseranas semipalmata at Breeza Lagoon, the site of the remnnants of 
the old Breeza stock camp. This is a very nice spot, with a picnic table under a shady mango tree.
If you're driving south and looking for somewhere for lunch and a cuppa, try and hold out
for this place. (Unlike us, who didn't know about it.)

At an anonymous roadside lagoon more whistle-ducks, plus a couple of very smart 
chocolate-and-white Radjah Shelducks Radjah radjah. And, a magnificent Black-necked Stork
Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus, surprisingly the only one we saw in the park.

Brolgas Grus rubicundus among the termite mounds on the Nifold Plain. This was the only one
of these wildlife photos taken far from water, though Brolgas are essentially wetland birds.

I spent some time wandering in the riverine monsoon forest along the Normanby River and the adjacent woodlands and found them quite productive for birds. Here are a few of them, including some common and familar birds, but it's always good to see them in a different setting.

Bar-shouldered Doves Geopelia humeralis are widespread along the coast and hinterlands
of northern and eastern Australia, often in drier situations. Their melodious and carefully 
enunciated "let's walk to school" was a background to the camp.

Great Bowerbirds Chlamydera nuchalis were also common around camp, but didn't come close.
They are the biggest of the bowerbirds and are common across northern Australia.

Little Bronze-Cuckoo Chalcites minutillus. This one sat in a small tree by the track and posed
obligingly - except for its refusal to get its head out of the shade so we could admire 
its bright red eye rings! Like nearly all Australian cuckoos they are brood parasites, 
with an apparent preference for gerygones (genus Gerygone,
small songbirds in the thornbill family also often referred to, confusingly, as 'warblers').
Two known hosts, Fairy and Large-billed Gerygones, were present in the area.

Rainbow Bee-eater Merops ornatus, a common breeding migrant in southern Australia
which spends winter in the tropics. Usually found close to water, where dragonflies
are a favourite food source. 

White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Coracina papuensis, another fairly common bird of the
northern tropics which can also be seen further south, though less commonly,
 and of the islands to the north. This one hung around the edge of the campground clearing, 
keeping an eye on us.

White-bellied Sea-eagle Icthyophaga leucogaster. This is one of a pair which had a
territory along the river near the camp, from where their protracted territorial loud honking duets
started before dawn. They are magnificent birds, found along marine and inland
waterways from India to Tasmania.

A Whistling Kite Haliastur sphenurus, a very common bird found almost throughout Australia
especially along streamlines. Often thought of as mostly scavengers, they are also competent
hunters, of animals from smaller vertebrates to insects. Their call is familiar along waterways,
a clear falling whistle followed by a series of rising sharp notes.

Apart from waterbirds there didn't seem to be as much bird diversity around Sweetwater Lake, for no obvious reason, though we didn't have a lot of time there. The highlight was probably the pair of Black-backed Butcherbirds which lurked in the monsoon forest around the lake. This is one of five species of Australian butcherbird, with this one having the most limited distribution, found only on Cape York Peninsula. (It also occurs in southern Papua New Guinea.) Rinyirru is close to its southern-most limits.

Black-backed Butcherbird Cracticus mentalis. Unfortunately this is probably the 
best photo I could manage! They weren't particularly shy though they wouldn't let
me get very close, and insisted on sitting within foliage. We seem to know surprisingly
little of its behaviour in Australia; most of what we do know comes from PNG observations.

And finally a couple of other animals.

Painted Grasshawk Neurothemis stigmatizans with lunch - perhaps the remains of
a large fly? - at Breeza Lagoon. This distinctive dragonfly is found across tropical
Australia and from the western Pacific to India.

Yellow-spotted Goanna (or Monitor) Varanus panoptes, inspecting our camp
at Sweetwater Lake. This handsome goanna is the third-largest in Australia. 
It is found widely across northern and western Australia but numbers have
crashed in many areas where toxic Cane Toads have arrived. 

Well that's it for now on Rinyirru; if we'd been a bit luckier with our fridge we'd have stayed a bit longer and I'd have probably had more to share with you. However I sincerely hope that it's been enough to encourage you to visit for yourself one day, if you're driving on Cape York Peninsula or even visiting Cooktown. It really is a special place.

But, as a special bonus, I'm going to end with a couple of photos from nearby Artemis Station, just off the Peninsula Development Road south of Musgrave. Here there is a major conservation study, fully supported by the station, of one of Australia's rarest birds, the exquisite little Golden-shouldered Parrot Psephotellus chrysopterygius.  Visitors are welcome and a campground - with picnic shelters, toilets and showers (hot, per a wood heater!) - is provided. There are two parrot feeding stations near the campground, with mesh cages which allow the parrots to come and go safely, while excluding large competitors (eg Galahs) and predators (eg Black-backed Butcherbirds). They rely on open woodlands with termite mounds, in which the parrots nest. Heavy grazing and changed burning regimes which lead to increased tree cover (favouring predators) and loss of important parrot feed grasses have reduced total numbers to perhaps only 300 breeding pairs, found only in  a couple of tiny areas on Cape York Peninsula. On Artemis the Shepard family, guided by researchers, are seeking to reverse this decline with changed management practices. It seems to be working, though this superb effort needs to be replicated elsewhere.

Golden-shouldered Parrot habitat on Artemis Station, by the campground.

One of the feeding stations with a Golden-shouldered Parrot male outside and a 
couple of females or immatures inside. They can easily slip through the mesh
but larger birds (such as the Pied Currawong visible on the other side of
the feeder to the left) can't.

Male Golden-shouldered Parrot, a truly exquisite little bird. 

Female or immature bird perched outside the feeder.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 4 JUNE

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An Alphabet of Mammals #2: N to Z

This is the second of my two-part Alphabet of Mammals series, which began here. If you're an orderly sort of person you might like to look at that first, especially to see what my guidelines are for including species and groups. (Very briefly I strive for each letter to introduce one species or group of species from both Australia and elsewhere, with wriggle room.) Or, you could just dive in here and visit part 1 at your convenience later or never. Either way, here we go again!

N is for Australian Sea Lion (Neophoca) and coatis (Nasua) [!]

OK, here's where I've had to invoke the rule that says I can use scientific names if common ones aren't available (ie if I haven't got photos to illustrate a species with an appropriate common name). Appeals will be considered...

Australian Sea Lion Neophoca cinerea, Bay of Islands, Esperance, mid-central southern
coast of Western Australia. It is the only member of its genus, and is found from Spencer Gulf
in South Australia west to Geraldton on the west coast of WA, though more than 
75% of them now are found in South Australia. Formerly they bred as far east
as the Bass Strait, until the pernicious sealing industry of the early 19th century destroyed
the colonies. They are listed as Endangered and numbers seem to be still falling. We can
only seek to learn more about them, apply that knowledge, and hope.

White-nosed Coati Nasua narica, Costa Rica. Coatis are a group of four species of
medium-sized omnivores from the Americas in the family that also includes raccoons.
This one occurs through Central America, from the northern tip of South America to
the far southern US. Coatis are diurnal and live in sometimes large troops, eating
invertebrates, fruit and a range of vertebrates, bird and reptile eggs. At tourist
sites (eg the Iguazu Falls) they can become bold and aggressive as the result
of irresponsible feeding.

O is for oryxes and Olinguito

Galla Oryx Oryx gallarum, Shaba NR, central Kenya. This is one of six species of Oryx,
big powerful arid-land antelopes from south-western and north-eastern Africa. All but one
have long straight ringed horns and dark patterns on light-coloured bodies. Two species, 
Arabian and Scimitar-horned Oryx, from the Middle East and northern Africa, 
were declared extinct in the wild, but both have rescued by captive breeding and 
managed re-releases. The Galla Oryx (centred on northern Kenya and extending 
just over its borders) was until recently included as part of  the Beisa or 
East African Oryx complex. Both species (and another related one) are Endangered.

I would not normally impose such a poor photo on you, but this time there's a
special reason for doing so. This is an Olinguito Bassaricyon neblina, at Bellavista
Lodge in Ecuador, just north of Quito but up in the cloud forest (neblina means cloudy). I took 
the photo in 2013, immediately after it had been first described earlier in the year. You can read 
a more detailed version of its story here (written just after I'd seen it) but in brief, after years of 
belief that the bigger Olingo B. gabbii, in the raccoon and coati family of omnivores,
represented just one species, in that year three species were announced, including this 
smaller montane species. (There are now four olingo species recognised.)
A pair had been coming to the lodge for some time, taking advantage of bird feeders,
and our visit happened to coincide with one of theirs. No flashes allowed of course
and my camera was struggling, but I regard these of some of the most exciting
photos I've taken. In fact, here's another, which gives a slightly better overall view.

Note the long tail, which is not prehensile.

P is for pademelons and Proboscis Monkey

Red-necked Pademelons Thylogale thetis, Mount Clunie NP, northern NSW.
Pademelons form a group of seven species of small forest wallabies, four of
which are only found in New Guinea, the rest in eastern Australia. This one lives in
wet forests, including rainforests, of near-coastal southern Queensland and
northern NSW, coming out to feed in adjacent grasslands in late afternoon and early 
morning. I took this photo from the verandah of our cabin early one morning.

Male Proboscis Monkey Nasalis larvatus, Labuk Bay, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.
This extraordinary monkey is the only one of its genus and is endemic to Borneo, 
where it lives in mangroves and adjacent coastal forests. 
The huge nose is believed to act as a resonating chamber.

Q is for Quokka

Quokkas Setonix brachyurus, Rottnest Island, off Perth, south-western WA.
I've already featured a few kangaroo groups here, but this is an Australian blog after all. The Dutch 
explorer Willem de Vlamingh thought they were giant rats (well he was a sailor, not a zoologist) 
and named the island Rottnest (ie 'rats' nest') for them. Quokkas are alone in their genus, 
small and chunky with short tails. On the mainland they live in dense coastal vegetation 
along the south-west coast and are very shy, having predators, especially foxes, to contend with. 
On Rottnest however the land is fairly open, and there are no foxes but there are plenty of 
tourists which can provide their own challenge for coexistence. 

R is for right whales and Rakali 

Southern Right Whale Eubalaena australis, off the Nullarbor Cliffs,
Great Australian Bight, far western South Australia. In summer this whale feeds
in the rich Southern Ocean around Antarctica, but in winter comes north to 
the waters off the southern continents to breed. This site, known as the 
Head of the Bight, attracts Right Whales every year to calve in the 
big sheltered bay. By September, when these photos were taken, the calves 
(see below) are almost big enough to travel, and they're preparing to swim 
south again. In the 19th and 20th centuries they were hunted 
almost to extinction, but numbers are now recovering.

To stand on the cliffs and look down on these magnificent travellers is a 
very special experience indeed.

Rakali (also boringly known just as 'water rate') at Forbes, central western NSW.
This is a very handsome big old Australian rodent (relatively speaking - its ancestors probably
reached Australia about five million years ago, as we drifted close enough to Asia).
In the 1990s the federal environment department (its name changes with the seasons so
I don't even try to keep up these days) recognised that people have an unfortunate but
understandable* down on rats, so recommended that the name Rakali be adopted. It's
a name used by the Ngarrindjeri people of the lower Murray and it's gradually gaining
traction. Rakali eats fish, shellfish, yabbies, water birds, small reptiles and mammals, 
frogs and insects. They shelter and breed in burrows in banks.
*ie given that most people's experience is with introduced urban rats.

S is for sloths and squirrels

Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth Bradypus variegatus, Rincon de la Vieja NP,
northern Costa Rica. There are six living species of sloths, the remnants of a
rich and diverse South American non-marsupial mammal fauna which was largely
exterminated by the influx of mammals from North America when the two 
continents were joined by the Isthmus of Panama just three million years ago.
There are two Families of sloths, one of them represented by just one species 
of two-toed sloth (referring to the 'fingers' actually); they look very similar indeed
but actually parted company some 28 million years ago! Sloths live their
lives upside down (not necessarily as dramatically as this one), live on foliage,
and come down only to defecate - and no-one really knows why they do so.
This species is widespread from Brazil to central America; I have read that in 
Costa Rica they account for more mammal biomass than any other
mammal except humans. (For more on sloths - and their fellow survivors,
anteaters and armadillos - see here for something I posted a few years ago.)

Variegated Squirrel Sciurus variegatoides, Rincon de la Vieja NP, Rincon de la Vieja NP,
northern Costa Rica. Wherever I've been fortunate enough to travel, in every non-frozen
continent outside of Australia, I have enjoyed squirrels. This is unsurprising, as there are nearly
300 species of them. They are rodents and many are agile arborealists, though there is a
diverse group of burrowing ground squirrels (see under X below), and there are also 
50 species of gliding squirrels in Asia and North America. 
This lovely squirrel, which comes in a variety of colours, hence the name, is common
throughout central America. Actually it might be time for a full post on squirrels.

T is for tree kangaroos and Tayra

Lumholtz's Tree Kangaroo Dendrolagus lumholtzi, Malanda, Atherton Tableland,
north Queensland. I love the tree kangaroos' story; starting with a small terrestrial ancestor, 
some of whose descendants took to the trees where some evolved into possums and others 
came down again to found the great diversity of modern kangaroos. Then, one of them 
- probably a rock wallaby - again took to the trees, where they evolved into 14 species 
of living tree kangaroos, 12 of which are confined to New Guinea, the other two being from
 north Queensland. All live in rainforests. They climb powerfully by hugging the tree and
 'hopping' up the trunk, balanced by the long heavy tail. They don't hesitate to leap down 
to lower trees or the ground. Lumholtz's is confined to the Atherton Tableland, 
while Bennett's Tree Kangaroo is found north of the Daintree River. 
They are wonderful animals and this sighting, which took many years to achieve, was a thrill. 

Tayra Eira barbara, Trilha dos Tucanos Lodge in the Atlantic forest near São Paulo,
Brazil. This is a most impressive giant weasel, with a body length of up to 70cm plus tail.
Unlike many weasels though the Tayra is omnivorous - in fact this one was busily
scoffing bananas at a bird feeder. It is found in forests throughout central America and 
much of northern and eastern South America. Tayras are excellent climbers and
just about any small animal can be part of their diet. 

U is for Uromys (Giant White-tailed Rat)

Giant White-tailed Rat Uromys caudimaculatus, Wooroonooran NP, tropical Queensland.
I didn't strictly take this photo, but I did put out the trail camera that did the work when this 
beauty came out of the rainforest to investigate the fruit scraps that we'd put out for the
Long-nosed Bandicoots and Musky Rat-kangaroos that we'd seen. It is a giant among
Australian rats too, with body and tail each more than 35cm long and weighing 
close to a kilogram. It's a shame we can't see the tail with the last third strikingly white.
They forage on the ground for seeds of rainforest trees which they crack with their powerful
teeth; some seeds are buried for 'later on' and if not recovered will germinate. It seems
that this rat thus plays an important role in distributing such seeds. They also compete
with bandicoots, Musky Rat-kangaroos and Striped Possums for Bess Beetles (Family
Passalidae) in rotting logs, climb trees looking for bird nests and hunt crabs
in the mangroves. It's very adaptable rat and we were delighted to even catch a brief view of it.

V is for Vontsira and viscachas

Ring-tailed Vontsira Galidia elegans, Amber Mountain NP, northern Madagascar.
This is one of ten members of the Family Euplenidae, the Madagascan carnivores,
and the only one we saw, so a bit special for us. It is distantly related to the mongooses,
and this and others in the family are often wrongly called mongooses. This one
unexpectedly came out of the forest while we were having lunch in this very rich 
little park (18,000ha). It mostly kept its distance but undoubtedly checked later to see if 
we'd forgotten anything. They are small (weighing less than a kilo) and hunt
for just about anything smaller than themselves.

Southern Viscacha Lagidium viscacia, Lauca NP, far northern Chile. Lauca is a
remarkable place, more than 3000 metres above sea level where the Atacama Desert
meets the Andes; more on it here if you're interested. Viscachas are old South Americans rodents,
whose distant ancestors rafted across a narrower Atlantic from Africa perhaps 45 million
years ago. In addition to the viscachas their descendants include Capybaras, agoutis,
Guinea Pigs and South American porcupines. There are four species of viscacha, all
living high in the Andes from Ecuador to southern Patagonia. This species is found from 
far southern Peru (just north of Lauca), down to central Patagonia. A relatively big
rodent, weighing some 3kg, it lives in colonies among the rocks, sunning, like this one,
during the day and coming out later to graze on tough grasses, mosses and lichens.

W is for Waterbuck and wombats

Male Ellipsen Waterbuck Kobus ellipsiprymnus, Shaba NR, central Kenya. There are two 
species of waterbuck, big powerful antelopes which live in grasslands near water. This
one is from eastern Africa and another species (the Defassa Waterbuck) lives from
central Africa across western Africa - until recently they were lumped together. 
They live in small herds and only the males have the curved and spiralled horns.

Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats Lasiorhinus latifrons, Brookfield CP, South Australian 
Murraylands. While I could have used a better photo of the better-known and far more
familiar Common Wombat of south-eastern Australia, I thought that this one (a poor scan
of an old slide) might be more interesting. There are three species of living wombats,
large burrowing marsupials whose closest relative is the Koala. This species lives 
in limestone country in the Murray mallee districts of South Australia (such as here)
and on the Nullarbor Plain in the far west of SA and adjacent WA. They are well 
adapted to life in an arid landscape where free water is scarce; a slow metabolism
assists in water conservation. Unlike the Common Wombat they are highly sociable, 
living in networks of burrows that have been occupied for generations, with scores of 
entrances and covering up to 30 hectares. (The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat, now 
restricted to a few small woodland reserves in central Queensland, is listed as Critically 
Endangered and though intensive recovery programs are slowly increasing its numbers, 
there are still only about 400 individuals in the world.)

X is for Xerus (Unstriped Ground Squirrel)

Unstriped Ground Squirrel Xerus rutilus, Tarangire NP, northern Tanzania. Yes I was 
struggling a bit with X, or I'd not have doubled up on a squirrel (having featured all
squirrels just above). But, as it is X I don't feel too embarrassed and this one 
represents a distinct subfamily of squirrels. There are some 130 
species of ground-dwelling squirrels, including marmots, prairie dogs and chipmunks. 
They are found in North America, Eurasia and Africa, including this one, 
the only one of its genus and found in semi-arid landscapes in north-east Africa.
They are mostly solitary animals, but in emergencies will share their burrows 
with other ground squirrels, including those of other species.

Y is for Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby and Yellow-crowned Brush-tailed Tree Rat [!]

I've tried to use group names as far as possible, but Y has defeated me, and this time my response has been to use a couple of mammal names whose adjectives start with Y.

Yellow-footed Rock-Wallaby Petrogale xanthopus, Brachina Gorge, Ikara/
Flinders Ranges NP, South Australia. Rock-wallabies are among my very 
favourite marsupials, a closely-related group off 17 species (though there are probably more, 
with some recently-evolved distinct species in the northern Great Dividing Range looking
pretty much identical physically). It seems that they separated from the pademelons (see 
P above) as the land began to dry out, adapting to the new aridity. The most recent
connection however seems to be with the tree kangaroos (T above). Adaptations
include broad sandshoe-like feet for gripping rock faces, a heavy tail for balancing
and a habit of leaving youngsters, just out of the pouch, in a cave or rock shelter for 
safety while mum forages on the dangerous cliff faces. To watch a rock-wallaby
glide effortlessly up a cliff is like watching water flow uphill. Yellow-foots are
perhaps the most beautiful of all though threatened like all of their kin,
 with the Flinders and Gammon Ranges being their strongholds, plus outliers in
the Barrier Ranges across the border near Broken Hill, and some ranges in 
central Queensland where we've seen them in Bladensburg NP.

Yellow-crowned Brush-tailed Tree Rat Isothrix bistriata at Muyuna Lodge in the 
basin of the upper Amazon River in northern Peru. This attractively plump long-furred
rat is one of a group of five South American brush-tailed rats, which are not well-known
but appear to all live in trees, sheltering in tree hollows by day while sometimes watching
the world go by. This one is found across the western Amazon basin, in 
seasonally flooded tropical lowland rainforests.

and... Z is for zebras (of course)...

Mountain Zebras Equus zebra, Goegap NR, north-western South Africa. This is one
of three zebra species, though not the one that is by far the most common and widespread
across the plains of southern and eastern Africa, the Plains Zebra E. quagga.
Mountain Zebras are restricted to small scattered populations in dry rocky country 
in western South Africa and Namibia. I wrote a bit more about zebras here,
a few years ago.

Thank you for persevering, if you've indeed got this far. If you have, I guess you found something of interest here, which I'm glad about. Mammals are one of my foremost natural history passions, along with birds and orchids... (Everything else too really, but these are the ones I seem to most come back to and try to learn more about.) See you next time, for something quite different though.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 14 MAY

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