A BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CAPE LE GRAND NATIONAL PARK

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 9 years ago

INTRODUCTION - During 15 April - 2 May and 5 - 23 December 1972, the survey unit of the Western Australian Museum carried out a biological survey of the Cape Le Grand National Park under the auspices of the Western Australian National Parks Board. This survey was intended primarily to discover the species of vertebrates on the Park, evaluate their status, and to make recommendations for their management.

Cape Le Grand National Park is important because it is one of three National Parks (the others being Fitzgerald River National Park and Cape Arid National Park) representing the southern littoral sand heath formation. This formation is one of the twelve major vegetational groupings described for Western Australia by Gardner (1944) and extends from Albany to Israelite Bay.

Apart from occasional bird sightings (see Dell - this report), most of our knowledge of the fauna of Cape Le Grand National Park and its immediate surrounds, prior to these surveys, is from reports written by National Parks Ranger, N.' Walmsley, to the Managing Secretary of that Board. In the first of these reports (dated 10 October 1966), Walmsley recorded that he had seen 'brown kangaroos, grey kangaroos, brumbies, native cats, possums, a few rabbits, emus, black ducks, and swans' on the Park, and had been told that Tammar Wallabies also occurred there. In November of that year he reported that a Mr Dunn, who lives just off the eastern end of the Park, had also seen Tammars, as well as pigmy mice, marsupial mice, wild turkey, Cape Barren Geese, White Egrets, bitterns and ducks. During 1969 Walmsley visited the area on three occasions. In January he reported seeing only several ducks and brumbies, but observed large numbers of emus and kangaroos. He also noted that the area burnt by fire during the summer of 1967-1968 had recovered, and that there were more flowers there than previously; in September he noted the absence of Bustards, Cape Barren Geese and brumbies; in December he reported that 'the flora has made a spectacular recovery after the fire of the summer of 1967-1968'. In September 1971 he again reported an absence of Bustards, Cape Barren Geese and brumbies. However, he noted on that occasion that small birds, emus, and kangaroos were plentiful and suggested that the tameness of kangaroos indicated that there had been no recent shooting in the area.

The only other animals known to occur (or to have occurred) on the Park are known from specimens located in the Western Australian Museum. They are the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby (Petrogale penicillata), the House Mouse (Mus musculus), and several species of reptiles and frogs.

The flora of the Park was surveyed in 1971 and 1972 by A.S. Weston, Western Australian Herbarium.

This report consists of three principal papers that deal separately with the mammals, birds, and reptiles, frogs and freshwater fish, found on the Park. Each paper lists the species present and provides notes on them. The recommendations concerning the management of the fauna of the Park are not inclurled in this report.