Indigenous rangers are assisting Randwick City Council to handle a whale carcass that washed onto rocks between Coogee and Maroubra beaches. Two nearby beaches have been closed as a safety precaution. The council said it would wait to see whether the tide carries the animal back out to sea before moving it. The area has been cordoned off, and the carcass is hard to reach because it sits among cliffs and rock ledges. Robert Cooley of the Gamay Rangers said the animal appears to be a young humpback whale, which holds deep spiritual significance for his people.
A baby whale carcass has washed ashore at Lurline Bay in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, and Randwick City Council has shut nearby beaches as a precaution. The council is consulting the NSW Department of Primary Industries and the Gamay Rangers on a culturally and environmentally sensitive approach. The carcass is not being removed for now. Its rocky, cliff-lined location makes access difficult, and the council is considering closing the surrounding area and rock shelf walkway. Mayor Clare Willington said the whale is an important totem animal to the local Bidjigal people.
A baby whale carcass has washed ashore at Lurline Bay in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, and Randwick City Council has shut nearby beaches as a precaution. The council is consulting the NSW Department of Primary Industries and the Gamay Rangers on a culturally and environmentally sensitive approach. The carcass is not being removed for now. Its rocky, cliff-lined location makes access difficult, and the council is considering closing the surrounding area and rock shelf walkway. Mayor Clare Willington said the whale is an important totem animal to the local Bidjigal people.
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A baby whale carcass has washed ashore at Lurline Bay in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, and Randwick City Council has shut nearby beaches as a precaution. The council is consulting the NSW Department of Primary Industries and the Gamay Rangers on a culturally and environmentally sensitive approach. The carcass is not being removed for now. Its rocky, cliff-lined location makes access difficult, and the council is considering closing the surrounding area and rock shelf walkway. Mayor Clare Willington said the whale is an important totem animal to the local Bidjigal people.
Dingoes in the Great Sandy Desert are hunting feral cats, according to a research project run by Nyangumarta rangers. Scat research over six months shows dingoes now get nearly 30 per cent of their diet from feral cats. Rangers say the cats are killing animals such as the greater bilby and desert mouse. A single feral cat can kill more than 700 small animals a year, according to WA's Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. The Wartaji project, begun in 2022 with Central Queensland University, tracks dingo movements using cameras and satellite collars.
Indigenous rangers and researchers in West Arnhem are testing artificial intelligence in wildlife monitoring. The Mayh program, which uses camera traps across the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area, fed 1572 hours of ranger data into the MegaDetector AI model. Image analysis fell by 81.4 per cent, cutting processing time from six months to two. Rangers have used the time saved for species identification, language documentation and community resources. Researcher Cara Penton said people remain part of verifying and processing the data.
Cape York Indigenous rangers and a consulting biologist have trekked more than 60 kilometres to search for endangered palm cockatoos. The team is retracing its 2024 survey route, not knowing how many birds survived Tropical Cyclone Narelle. The 2024 survey found 36 palm cockatoos, mostly along the Wenlock River. Results of the latest survey are due soon. A Queensland Government grant of more than $69,300 is funding a strategic burning project to protect the birds' habitat.
