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Kakadu National Park . By: Visakha Narayan 9GC. Kakadu National Park- Background. What is Kakadu National Park?
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Kakadu National Park By: Visakha Narayan 9GC
Kakadu National Park- Background • What is Kakadu National Park? Kakadu park is one of the most beautiful places in all of Australia. It’s beauty and scenery is like heaven for everyone that’s been there. This is Australia’s largest park. It has an area of 19,800 square kilometres. • Where is Kakadu National Park? Northern Territory is the place where this beautiful heaven is located in. It is 171 km southeast of Darwin. Kakadu National park is within the Alligator river regions of Northern Territory.
Native Flora & Fauna • Flora nourishes the park by being eaten by other organisms such as fauna and insects, therefore sustaining the park. Fauna keeps the food chain going, for example: The bugs eat the plants and the bugs are eaten by birds, the birds would be eaten by another creature in Kakadu. • Flora and Fauna work together to provide a stable eco system for the park. They preserve the overall eco system, keeping the balance. Without flora and fauna there wouldn’t be much of an ecosystem left, therefore it is crucial to maintain this balance.
Introduced Species • An introduced specie is an non-indigenous or non-native specie which is living outside it’s natural habitat which have arrived by human actions, either deliberate or by accident. They are usually known for the damage they cause. They are frequently referred to as ‘pests’ or ‘feral creatures’. It is unfortunate that society fails to recognise they’re mistakes by introducing a variety or flora and fauna which are forced to live in an environment which is not natural to these organisms. Introduced species always create havoc to the habitat it’s not meant to be in.
Introduced Species Damage • Feral fauna and wild flora have been introduced to Kakadu by non-indigenous people. This threatens the park itself, and has been a menace for recent decades. The introduced fauna; cane toad (introduced recently: 2001), water buffalo and wild pig, have had major effects on the habitat. Aggressive fauna, such as a weed called mimosa pigra covers 800 km square, including Para grass which displaces the food for many wildlife birds. Brumbies, free roaming feral trees, also inhabit areas of Kakadu Park including yellow water.
What has the Government done? • The Australian Government works together with states and territories to develop strategies to help the environment against the wild introduced species. • The Government intends to slowly eradicate the introduced species. This may involve exclusion of feral animals from an area or the removal of the most destructive individuals. • Biological and conventional control methods have been applied. Conventional control methods involve, trapping, shooting, fencing and baiting. Biological control is the control of pests, diseases, parasites or bacteria. These methods should help tame the wild fauna and flora.
Solutions to this problem • “Hand pulling” (manual method). Pulling out the noxious weeds from the earth is a quick and easy method. • Hot water/ steam treatment- The hot water removes the cuticle coating plant leaves and stems, causing rapid death. • Conventional control methods should be used often with fauna to prevent breeding of animals and to avoid the animals from disturbing and infesting Kakadu National park’s natural habitat.
“Night of the Invasive plants”By: Ken Lonnquist • www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfyBYfifCo4 click on link for full song and video or visit • http://www.ipaw.org/multimedia.aspx for the full song-mp3 version
