First record of the eastern grey kangaroo, Macropus giganteus at Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, northwestern Victoria

2 Pages·1992·0.44 MB·English

by  G Coulson

Contributions
First Record of the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, Macropus
giganteus, at Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, North-western
Victoria
Graeme Coulson* and Sally Troy**
In Victoria, theEasternGreyKangaroo, 23 June 1991, the authors observed two
Macropusgiganteus, andtheWesternGrey Eastern Grey Kangaroosin thevicinityof
Kangaroo, Macropusfilugniosus, occurin Lake Bitterang (34°40'S, 142°22'E), roughly
abandofsympatrywhicharcs from south- in the centre of the park. They were
west Victoria through Central Victoria to observed between 1230 and 1300 hours in
the north-west of the state (Coulson and good light conditions. The first individual,
Hutchinson 1983; Cauhley et al. 1984). anadult male, wassighted from adistance
Thisbandisnarrowinthesouth-west and of about 250 m in grassland 1 km north
central Victoria but becomeswider in the ofLakeBitterang. Hewasobservedbriefly
north-west whereit continues into N.S.W. with 7x50 binoculars and a 22x spotting
There, theoverlapbetweenthetwospecies scope beforehe fledwith agroupofeight
is more extensive and both occur Western Grey Kangaroos into Black Box,
throughoutmuchofthewestern halfofthe Eucalyptus largiflorans, woodland to the
state (Cauhley et al. 1984). north. The second individual was sighted
Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, in shortlyafterthefirstingrasslandadjacent
north-western Victoria, lies on the border to Red Gum, Eucalyptus camaldulensis,
of the two states. The Western Grey woodland, some 500 m north ofthe lake
Kangaroo has long been known to occur This individual was smaller, but its sex
in the park, together with a small could not be determined. It was viewed
population of Red Kangaroos, M. rufus with binoculars and telescope from less
(Coulson 1988). A culling program has than 100m forabout 5 minutesasitstayed
been undertaken in an experimental area some 20 m from a group of Kangaroos.
ofthe park to encourage regeneration of It then hopped towards, but did notjoin,
plant communities that have been anothergroupofWesternGreyKangaroos
threatened by the heavy grazing pressure
near the woodland.
exerted by the kangaroos (Department of Ourattention was initiallydrawn tothe
Conservation and Environment, undated).
twoEasternGreyKangaroos bytheoverall
The park now carries a population of caramel coloration oftheir pelage, which
26,000 Western Grey Kangaroos (Morgan
was noticeably paler than the typical
1991). chocolate-brown of the Western Grey
AlthoughCaughleyetal. (1984)reported Kangaroos in thearea. Thediagnosiswas
the occurrence of both Eastern and
j confirmed by the characteristic pale face
Western Grey Kangaroos on the New-
oftheEastern GreyKangaroo,asdescribed
South Wales side of the Murray River
and illustratedbyKirsch and Poole(1972)
between Mildura and Hattah-Kulkyne
Na'ional Park, therehave been noreliable and Caughley et al. (1984).
The occurence of Eastern Grey
Trhisdnsotoeftrheepofrotrsmetrhespeficrisetsuinnetqhueivpoacrak.l Kangaroos at this site is noteworthy
becausetheywereobserved nearatransect
sighting ofthe Eastern Grey Kangaroo in
Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. line where one of us (GC) had made
Duringareconnaissanceofthepark on thousands of sightings of only Western
Grey Kangaroos while conducting
* School of Science and Mathemaiics Education, populationand movementstudies between
UniversityofMelbourne, Parkville, 3052. 1983 and 1986 (Coulson and Norbury
•*DepartmentofZoology,UniversityofMelbourne,
Parkville, 3052. 1988). Further surveys will be needed to
Vol. 109 (2) 1992 49
Contributions
determinewhetherthesightingsreported References
here represent no more than a couple of Caughley, G. Brown, B., Dostine, P., and Grice, D.
transient individuals, or whether there is (1984). The Grey Kangaroo Overlap Zone.
Australian Wildlife Research, 11: 1-10.
nowaresidentpopulationofEasternGrey Coulson, G. (1988). The History of Kangaroo
Kangaroos in Hattah-Kulkyne National Populations in Haltah-Kulkyne National Park,
Park. Thepossibilityofathird species in North-westernVictoria. The VictorianNaturalist,
the park should be considered in future 105. 68-73.
monitoring and management of the CoulosfonR,anGg.eMo.fatnhdeEHausttcehrinnGsorne,yKCa.n(g1a9r8o3o).,EMxatcernospiuons
kangaroo populations. giganteus, in Victoria. The Victorian Naturalist,
100: 204-206.
Coulson, G. and Norbury, G. (1988). 'Ecology and
management of Western Grey Kangaroos
(Macropus fuliginosus) at Hattah-Kulkyne
National Park'. Technical Report Series No.72.
(Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental
Research: Melbourne.)
Department of Conservation and Environment
(undated). 'Restoring the balance. A kangaroo
controlprogram fortheHattah-KulkyneNational
Park'. (Department of Conservation and
Environment: Victoria.)
Kirsch,J.A.W.andPoole,W.E. (1972).Taxonomyand
DistributionoftheKangaroosMacropusgiganteus
ShawandMacropusfuliginosus(Desmarest),and
their Subspecies (Marsupialia: Macropodidae).
Australian JournalofZoology, 20: 315-39.
Morgan, D.G.(1991). 'Hattah-KulkyneNationalPark
and Murray-Kulkyne State Park Kangaroo
Populations, July 1991'. (School of Science and
MathematicsEducation: UniversityofMelbourne)
Notes from the National Herbarium of Victoria No. 11
Authorities in Plant Nomenclature
Ian Clarke*
M
tIha^i'tb'eghaenm Trhle"aVJtcmtaolrltsaenrNiaetsuroafliasrttisc,levsodlea1l0i8,ngnwait5h.aAsnpeucntsdeorfsbtoatnadniincgalonfotmheenccolnatteunrtes
oftheprevious articles has been assumed.
op(arabuefbbbsIbrplnrpeoielvnsvasihbiniaeoatbtdttsleeaeiddnn)ainjrcfaoeaoumnlrreanosmaftcleteosaesx,irntnestihocnfefagaolslnlcletditodhehwneeaetiuimdnft.bihocobtprnyaTiaanthpiimeetesesrhstses.es cTnpauhnoabidmmlsmei4sosahtnreyledpay,tetaehknaoaecvlnfoleufnarautrouteatmhrnohektrodsihr,,teiihtjeoyosowu.nervciNnseeaurlm,tMbhfbueeooertrlasmlnmaeiolirc,sliaty3al
In the following examples, the 7, no. 2, published by the National
authorities given are those for the names Herbarium of Victoria.
of species, L&, the authors concerned 1. Pomaderrisoblongifolia N. G. Walsh
coinedthespecificepithetsandusedeach 'N. G. Walsh' is the authority for the
in conjunction with a particular genus. combination Pomaderrisoblongifolia,
i-e., N. G. Walshdecidedontheepithet
taire^sr" of victor,a- Birdwood ** oblongifolia, and useditwhennaming
this new species of Pomaderris.
50
Victorian Nat.