Media statements - Parks and Wildlife Service

Media statements (406)

Environment Minister Stephen Dawson with a detector dog

New weapon against feral cats in detector dog trial

Details: Published: Friday, 25 May 2018 14:06

An innovative trial using expertly trained dogs to detect feral cats in a Wheatbelt reserve could help protect threatened species, such as numbats and woylies. In stage one of the trial this month, three dogs - a Malinois, a Terrier cross and a Labrador cross - and their handlers are working in Tutanning Nature Reserve, near Pingelly, to detect the presence of feral cats. Stage two, scheduled for 2019, will determine their effectiveness, in comparison with other control techniques and test combining techniques, to win the fight against feral cats. The dogs are trained to not attack the cats or native animals. Tutanning Nature Reserve is home to several threatened species that are vulnerable to feral cat predation, including numbats, woylies, chuditch and red-tailed phascogales.…

Free park entry during Ningaloo Whale Shark Festival

Details: Published: Friday, 25 May 2018 13:57

The Ningaloo Whale Shark Festival will celebrate the annual whale shark migration with a family festival day, gala cocktail evening, movies under the stars and live music this weekend. As part of the three-day festival, which starts today and is held in Exmouth, there will be free entry for visitors into Cape Range National Park on Sunday, May 27. The festival is a celebration of the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef and the iconic whale sharks that aggregate at Ningaloo Marine Park, between March and August each year, to feed on plankton and krill. The marine park's tropical waters are considered one of the best places to swim with whale sharks due to reliability of numbers and accessibility. Whale shark swim tours operating from Coral Bay…

Free park entry during Ningaloo Whale Shark Festival

Details: Published: Friday, 25 May 2018 12:59

The festival is held annually during the last weekend of May Whale sharks are one of the State's most significant attractions drawing visitors to the region, creating tourism jobs and stimulating the economy The Ningaloo Whale Shark Festival will celebrate the annual whale shark migration with a family festival day, gala cocktail evening, movies under the stars and live music this weekend. As part of the three-day festival, which starts today and is held in Exmouth, there will be free entry for visitors into Cape Range National Park on Sunday, May 27. The festival is a celebration of the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef and the iconic whale sharks that aggregate at Ningaloo Marine Park, between March and August each year, to feed on plankton and…

Annual prescribed burning target achieved - second consecutive year

Details: Published: Wednesday, 23 May 2018 12:18

Environment Minister Stephen Dawson today announced that as of May 23, 2018, about 216,000 hectares of prescribed burning had been achieved - the second year in a row that the target of at least 200,000 hectares has been exceeded, and the first time for two consecutive years since 1996-97. Since July 1, 2017, the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions' (DBCA) Parks and Wildlife Service has commenced 127 burns on land that it manages, including national parks, conservation reserves and State forest from Gingin in the north to Denmark on the south coast, including the Perth Hills area. This amount of prescribed burning will significantly reduce the threat and severity of devastating bushfires, minimising the risk to life, infrastructure and biodiversity values by reducing the…

Rock wallabies bounce back in Kalbarri after translocation

Details: Published: Friday, 18 May 2018 12:30

The small but thriving population of rock wallabies in Kalbarri National Park has received a further boost, with 25 more wallabies introduced into the park this week. The third and final translocation of the species into the park over three years, brings the number of radio-collared wallabies, introduced from Wheatbelt reserves and Cape Range National Park, in the Pilbara to 72. Black flanked rock wallabies were considered extinct from Kalbarri National Park for 20 years, until two wallabies were filmed in a gorge in 2015. The translocation is a collaboration between the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) and WWF Australia.