Astrebla Downs National Park

Astrebla Downs is a national park in Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia.[1]

Astrebla Downs National Park
Queensland
Astrebla Downs National Park
Nearest town or cityBirdsville
Established1996
Area1,740 km2 (671.8 sq mi)
Managing authoritiesQueensland Parks and Wildlife Service
See alsoProtected areas of Queensland

Geography

Astrebla Downs is located in the Channel Country of outback Queensland, 1298 km west of Brisbane. The landscape is flat and barren with few trees.[2] The average elevation of the terrain is 108 meters.[3]

Animals

The park received an award in March 2007 by the WWF for being among the top 10 reserves of the decade. Recognition was given for the successful efforts to protect the bilby, an endangered mammal native to Australia.[4] By 2008 it was estimated the park contained a bilby population of around 300.[5] In 2009, a plague of long-haired rats descended on the park.[6] The large numbers of rats attract feral cats to the area, which pose a threat to the bilby. Between 2011 and 2021, control measures have got rid of more than 3,000 cats, and 471 bilbies were spotted on a survey in June 2021.[7]

The park is home to the kowari, a tiny carnivorous marsupial which is a vulnerable species in Queensland, also threatened by feral cats. The animal had not been photographed anywhere in around ten years before June 2021, when photographs were taken during a survey covering nearly 100 km (62 mi) of tracks, in which a record number – 14 – were spotted in the park. None have been spotted at the nearby Diamantina National Park since 2012.[7]

Astrebla Downs is also home to the stripe-faced dunnart.[2]

Birds

With Diamantina National Park, Astrebla Downs National Park forms part of the 7,627 km2 Diamantina and Astrebla Grasslands Important Bird Area, identified by BirdLife International as such because it is one of few sites known for the critically endangered night parrot. It also supports globally important populations of the plains-wanderer, Australian bustard, straw-necked ibis, white-necked heron, inland dotterel, Bourke's parrot, black and pied honeyeaters, gibberbird, Hall's babbler, chestnut-breasted quail-thrush, cinnamon quail-thrush and spinifexbird.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Astrebla Downs National Park (entry 41422)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  2. Asher Mullard (5 January 2009). "'Mini-hibernation' essential for winter survival". Nature News. Nature Publishing Group. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  3. "Astrebla Downs National Park topographic map, elevation, relief". topographic-map.com. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  4. Queensland parks recognised as among best in Australia Archived 5 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. 28 March 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2007.
  5. Shirley Sinclair (24 March 2008). "Plight of the bilby". Sunshine Coast Daily. Sunshine Coast Newspaper Company. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  6. Brian Williams (12 December 2009). "Rat plague hits western Queensland". The Courier-Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  7. Grounds, Ellie (18 June 2021). "Rare footage of endangered marsupial kowari captured in outback Queensland". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  8. "IBA: Diamantina and Astrebla Grasslands". Birdata. Birds Australia. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2011.


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