LAND FOR WILDLIFE & NATIVE FAUNA
The Valley is a rich biodiverse range of ecosystems and is strong and healthy. From the forest walls through to the river flats a wide variety of native wildlife are living and thriving in their natural habitats.
We have been fortunate to have had personal encounters with many of the inhabitants including echidna, pademelons, bennet’s wallaby, possums, bats, spotted tail quolls, devil, bandicoots and over 40 bird species to date. Wedge tailed Eagles, white bellied sea eagles, hawks, falcons, native hens, golden whistlers, spotted pardolotes, wrens, robins, cockatoos and swallows just to name a few. As the river winds through The Valley it has provided encounters with galaxids, giant freshwater lobsters, freshwater snails, platypus, blue tongued lizards, skinks, tiger snakes and many visiting water birds including white faced herons, great, pied and little cormorants.
Below is information on some of the more rare, threatened and protected species that have made their home in the reserve and sanctuary in The Valley.
WILDLIFE CARE AND RELEASE - ORPHANAGE
The Valley is a member of ‘Land for Wildlife’ and we are working with local wildlife carers Oma and Steve Rodger. We provide a safe place for the release and monitoring of rehabilitated wildlife as well as caring for sick, injured or orphaned natives that occur naturally within the reserve and sanctuary.
These two Bennetts Wallabies were released in August 2023 - the smaller one is Smout (Scottish for ‘small fry’). He was a failure to thrive Joey, little fur development, could not handle higher fat milks - he slowly got better but was always smaller. His buddy is Bluebelle.
If you are interested and able to support Oma with her work or would like to investigate the possibility of becoming a carer yourself, please visit the Tasmanian Wildlife Rehabilitation Council inc.
GIANT FRESHWATER LOBSTER (ASTACOPSIS GOULDII)
Photo by Trudi Bird
This photograph was taken after a major flood in October 2022. This lobster was sitting in the water covering the road, one of many reasons for not driving through flood water.
The river banks of the Wilmot River adjacent to the reserve are excellent habitat for the giant freshwater lobster. This species is listed as vulnerable under the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 and the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Giant freshwater lobster are the largest freshwater invertebrate in the world. They are typically shy and cryptic animals that prefer pristine rivers of various sizes. Juvenile lobster are believed to favour smaller rivers and headwaters, but are also found in the riffle zones of large waterways (riffle zones are shallow areas of a stream in which water flows rapidly over a rocky or gravelly stream bed).
Rivers that provide deep pools and undercut banks along with numerous in stream snags are ideal habitats. The diet consists mainly of decaying wood, but they will also consume leaves, small fish, and rotting flesh. Direct threats to giant freshwater lobster populations include: loss of riparian and in-stream habitat; in-stream barriers preventing dispersal, including culverts and bridge structure, extensive stream siltation from erosion and contaminates entering the waterway.
Protection of the riparian vegetation in the Reserve is an important priority and will help protect the health of the Wilmot River along several boundaries of the Reserve.
GREY GOSHAWK (ACCIPITER NOVAEHOLLANDIAE)
Photograph by Trudi Bird
The Reserve contains suitable habitat for the threatened grey goshawk. Grey goshawks are listed as endangered under the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995.
Two colour morphs of this species are known on mainland Australia: a grey form (hence the common name and an all white form. In Tasmania, it is only the all-white form that occurs. The bill is black, with cere yellow, as are the legs and talons. Eye colour varies from red to yellow.
The grey goshawk occurs in a variety of forest types, preferring mature blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) swamp forest, wet forest and mixed forest with a closed canopy. The species requires old growth (or re-growth >50yrs old) for nesting, particularly where blackwood dominates the forest community. This species of Acacia is the preferred nest tree species. Positive nest identification is difficult without seeing birds on the nest.
The major processes threatening the grey goshawk are the loss of habitat for both nesting and foraging. The protection of potential nest sites is a high priority. Visit the Tasmanian Raptor Refuge.
SPOTTED-TAILED QUOLL (DASYURUS MACULATUS)
Image from Wikipedia
The dense vegetation along the banks of the Wilmot River Reserve represents excellent habitat for the spotted-tailed Quoll. This species is listed as rare under the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 and vulnerable under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
The spotted-tailed quoll is a small marsupial carnivore; it weighs about 3.5 to 4 kg and has a distinctively spotted tail. There are two species of quoll in Tasmania with the Eastern quoll being more common. The Eastern quoll is quite small and finely built by comparison weighing on average about 1.3 kg and has no spots on the tail.
The spotted-tailed quoll is threatened by habitat destruction and deaths from shooting, dogs, and competition by feral cats.
TASMANIAN DEVIL (SARCOPHILUS HARRISII)
Image from Wikipedia
The Devil is generally nocturnal. It is a small dog like animal with a large head and short thick tail. They have coarse, thick black fur and irregular white markings on the neck, shoulders and rump. They have very powerful jaws. They are mainly carrion eaters, scavenging anything of animal origin including wallabies and possums. The Devil is able to consume most of the carcass, even the bones, because of it's powerful teeth and jaws.
They can be heard growling and screaming when fighting over a carcass. they find shelter in thick scrub, old burrows and caves and frequently follow riverbanks, roads and tracks. Their presence is easily identified by a distinctive large scat interspersed with pieces of undigested bone and fur. They mate in March and give birth in April three weeks later and can have up to four young per litter. The young are in the pouch for fifteen weeks and are completely weaned by about forty weeks.
While the threat to the Tasmanian devil due to Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) continues to spread through wild populations in Tasmania, significant advances in the Insurance Population and protecting isolated devil populations, are enabling the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program to commence a new phase in the species' conservation - focussing on recovery in the wild. Click this link for more information.