Driving Tips
When driving at night, Queensland Transport advises that
"Animals can be hypnotised by the glare of your headlights. If an animal is on the road:
- slow down
- be prepared to stop
- sound your horn, if necessary
- flash your lights
- keep control of the vehicle and do not swerve. (Try to pass behind the animal.)
Of course, you should always do this in a safe manner and not cause collisions with other cars or people.
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The Road Ahead
The Burbank Wildlife Protection Group is mentioned in the October/November 2006 issue of the RACQ's The Road Ahead publication.
The eco motoring column by Jon Dee (co-founder of Planet Ark) starts with a quote by Steve Irwin - "People don't slow down enough when they see the wildlife signs and this is the result".
The article states that "Many thousands of injured native animals received treatment at Steve Irwin's animal hospital at Australia Zoo, but unfortunately too many native animals still die on the state's roads."
Further in the article the BWPG gets their mention:
"The Burbank Wildlife Protection Group is one Queensland group that has successfully lobbied to reduce speed limits in areas of high road kill frequency".
An important point is that the RSPCA and Main Roads have created a statewide number to call when hit or encounter an injured animal. The number is 1300ANIMAL.
Of course, it best to avoid hitting an animal. These driving tips will help.
Please check out the article!
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Overview
Welcome to the Burbank Wildlife Protection Group.
This group was formed in May 2005 by a group of local residents. Our intention is to protect the local native wildlife population.
Burbank residents are fortunate to share their land with Koalas, Red-necked Wallabies, Swamp Wallabies, Brushtail Possums, Ringtail Possums, Northern Brown Bandicoots, Long-nosed Bandicoots, ducks, frogs, native geckoes, turtles and many more species of native fauna. We often wake up to the idiosyncratic sounds of the Pheasant Coucal and Laughing Kookaburra.
Burbank is a suburb on the south eastern outskirts of Brisbane City Council in Queensland, Australia. We share our border with Redland Shire Council and Logan City Council.
Burbank contains mainly large acreage properties and government-owned bushland. Brisbane City Council has spent a considerable amount of money purchasing bushland through funds raised from the Bushcare Levy charged on its rates notices.
A significant number of property owners are members of the Land for Wildife scheme and maintain their land to provide suitable habitat for wildlife.
Government-owned land in the area includes the Brisbane Koala Bushlands, Venman's Bushland National Park, Ford Road Conservation Area and Don and Christine Burnett Conservation Area. The latter three are included in Queensland's first co-ordinated conservation area, the Koala Bushland Coordinated Conservation Area.
Unfortunately, the ever-increasing volume of traffic in the area, due to the population expansion of South East Queensland, is a threat to the wildlife. The number of animals in the area is decreasing largely due to roadkill.
When driving through the area on roads such as Alperton, Kloske, Priestdale and Ford Roads, we ask that you slow and keep an eye out for wildlife.
Please help us preserve our wildlife by following these driving tips!
Rochedale Urban Community draft plan
The latest Rochedale Urban Community draft local plan has been released. The plan is available on Brisbane City Council's website. The plan has also been known as the Rochedale Master Plan.
However, yet again, there is no indication of how the traffic is to be routed. That is to be covered in the forthcoming Infrastructure Change Plan (ICP). Residents need to ensure that the traffic routing is in place before the development starts.
The Rochedale Urban Community will bring an extra 15,000 people into the area. This number was orginally supposed to be much smaller. At times a considerably larger number has been quoted.
Brisbane City Council has bought large pockets of wildlife habitat in the area which includes Alperton, Kloske, Ford and Priestdale Roads. The Brisbane Koala Bushlands are located in Alperton Road. This area needs to be protected from speeding traffic. Many vehicles use those roads as a shortcut. However, the roads are only a shortcut if you speed. Those speeding vehicles are slaughtering wildlife.
For examples of some of the wildlife that will be affected by this development visit our photo gallery. The gallery contains photos of wallabies, koalas, snakes and otther animals that reside in this area.
Note that submissions need to be made by Tuesday 31 October 2006. Details for submissions are available on Brisbane City Council's website.
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Native Geckos
Most people in Brisbane are familiar with the introduced Asian House Gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) and the "chuck-chuck" sound they make.
However, various Australian native geckos found are found in Burbank. These include the Robust Velvet Gecko (Oedura robusta), Dtella (Gehyra dubia) and Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus vittatus).
Stone Geckos have a very fat tail. We have not seen a Stone Gecko for quite some time.
The Dtellas, also called House Geckos, can look similar to the Asian House Gecko. They will become very pale and patternless depending on the wall they are sitting on. However, they are much bigger. Including the tail they can be up to 14cm. The Asian House Gecko also has spikes on the upper side just where the tail joins the body. The Dtellas are smooth.
We have had some of the introduced variety appear recently and are monitoring them.
Some photos of Geckos can be found in our Gecko Gallery.
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Feeding Wildlife
Human beings seem to have a desire to feed wildlife. Feeding wildlife can cause many problems.
- Dependence on fluctuating food sources supplied by humans, rather than natural sources
- Inadequate dietary balance and possible health problems
- Alteration to the community structure of the animal population with potential consequences for other species of plants and animals. The feeding station may also act as a focus for predators
- Transmission of diseases or harmful chemicals as a result of contamination of the food or feeding location or direct tranmission between animals at the feeding station
- Conflicts arising between human social and economic needs, and wildlife, including human disease transmission
Wallabies
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