Fencing Links & Downloads
Links to more articles on Ozcranes and other sites, relevant to crane-friendly fencing issues – entrapment on fences; barriers to movement; and rank vegetation growth.
On Ozcranes ..
Fence-kills: research downloads
- ‘Barbed Wire Fencing as a Hazard for Wildlife’ (pdf 191KB). Courtesy scientist Rodney van der Ree, with records of 62 species caught including a Sarus Crane. From the Victorian Naturalist 116(6) 1999, pp. 210-217.
- ‘Bird casualties in fences in Diamantina National Park, Queensland, 1996-2008’ (pdf 29.6KB). A Ley & R Tynan, courtesy WFF, with records of 18 species. From Australian Field Ornithology Vol 26, 2008, pp. 96-98.
- Wingspan (Birds Australia's quarterly magazine) December 2007 issue with articles on Birds & Barbs, and Brolga swamps (small version, pdf 1.57MB)
Barriers to movement
↓ Brolgas take flight in SE Australia (Mitch Reardon)
Size matters! Cranes are large birds and need room to move around their wetlands. Ozcranes pages with FAQ and images of Brolgas and Sarus Cranes, and their lifestyles –
- Australian Cranes» Ozcranes Australian Cranes Intro, leads to FAQ for Brolgas and Sarus
- Cranes in Flight» Images of crane flight, landing and takeoff.
TOPVegetation Management
Fencing to exclude stock can lead to dense overgrown vegetation, this also excludes cranes. Some related Ozcranes pages –.
- Dancing Brolgas» – Matt Herring worked with Riverina farmers (SE Australia) to support Brolga nesting, by integrating wetland management into farm routines. Including crash grazing and fire to manage overgrown vegetation.
- Burning for Brolgas» – Experiments with fire and cyclical grazing in a Conservation Park (north Queensland), celebrated for Brolga habitat until overgrown by tropical pasture grasses.
- Goodbye Sarus: How could we lose the Tableland cranes?» – grazed wetlands and edges of water storages are a key habitat for the only known large winter aggregation of Australian Sarus Cranes. Fencing them could close major roost sites.
Other sites ..
Wildlife Friendly Fencing Australia
Wildlife Friendly Fencing is a developing site with growing on-line resources. Their theme: ‘Wildlife friendly fencing avoids the use of barbed wire, but is safe effective fencing for wildlife, people and livestock’. The website has images, case studies, Guidelines and Action Plan evolving with feedback. Some highlights –
- Guidelines
- Action Plan – with a downloadable pdf (347KB)
- Ten WFF pages of ideas and case studies on friendly fencing
- Links page
South Africa
The South African Crane Working Group of the Endangered Wildlife Trust report fence collisions are a regular source of injury or death for South African crane species, including the endangered Blue Crane, South Africa's national bird. Some newsletters and conference proceedings can be downloaded from their site but are most easily accessed from the International Crane Foundation Library, or by Googling ‘Grus Grapevine’, make sure to expand all the pages on Google. The Group also produce brochures for landowners (no on-line link).
← Endangered Blue Cranes in South Africa have been killed or injured on barbed wire, and locked out of their breeding sites by new fencing (International Crane Foundation)
‘Grus Grapevine’ March 2006 – This pdf Newsletter (364KB) has details of a Blue Crane chick that starved to death when the parents' territory (including farm dam) was fenced in during the breeding season (ironically, due to former pasture and cropland being converted to vineyards).
Landcare Groups
Some Australian Landcare and related groups in regions with key crane habitat are implementing wildlife-friendly fencing in their projects –
- TREAT – Trees for the Evelyn and Atherton Tableland
- BRICMA – Barron River Integrated Catchment Management Association
- Johnstone River Catchment Management Association. No website, contact via the north Queensland Wet Tropics regional NRM body Terrain NRM.
Feedback
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