The Humble Numbat

 

Our eco-group can thank the humble Numbat for really ramping up the prescribed burning issue in the SW of WA. The incineration of one of their significant habitats, and the annihilation of a large percentage of an entire colony of an estimated 50-65 numbats(2) was big news in our Facebook group. It also made it onto our prime time ABC news programs, as well as into several articles by various media outlets. There was such an outpouring of grief and rage that we gained 1000+ members in a few weeks as enraged members shared posts and invited friends to join the group.

I have to admit that until the Perup burn I knew very little about the Numbat. They were completely off my radar. Since then I have started following a couple of Facebook groups where I have been enjoying their antics. I needed to know more so I've done a bit of research and I'm sharing it here.

The numbat (also known as Walpurti and Banded Ant-eater) is a small endangered marsupial animal that used to live right across southern Australia. Today it is estimated there are fewer than 1000 left in the world located in 'two natural populations', in isolated pockets of SW of WA (some re-introduced populations) as well as two fenced sanctuaries in NSW and SA (both managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy)(1). 

The remaining natural habitats are the Dryandra Woodlands, near Narrogin and Perup Nature Reserve, near Manjimup. It was the colony at Perup, specifically Weinup (above), that was most probably all but wiped out in March 2021. Ironically the Numbat Project make this statement on their website (link below): 

'Fire can also threaten Numbats, which means land has to be carefully managed to prevent large bushfires'. 

As it was the 'prescribed' burn that destroyed this colony, not wildfire, I really have to ask: is the cure worse than the disease?

But back to my research. Numbats have a 'long, slender sticky tongue (10–11 cm long)' with which they extract termites from 'narrow cavities in logs, leaf litter and in small holes in the ground'. Numbats only eat termites so loss of habitat to farming, human activity and fire, as well as death from introduced predators, make them very vulnerable. 

Numbats are marsupials but don't have a pouch. Instead they have skinfolds that cover the suckling babies that remain attached for 6–7 months, until they are so big the mother can't walk properly. She then 'deposits them in the nest and returns often to suckle them'. The mother continues feeding them for about 9 months until they learn to forage for termites themselves. When they are 8–9 months old  'the babies start coming out of the burrow to sit and sunbake around the nest'. (1)

I have really fallen in love with these little guys. The more I learn about them, the more determined I am to try and protect them.

Image refs:

Graphic: Author, original digital drawing

Numbat pics: Lyn Alcock from the Dryandra Facebook group

Perup (Weinup) after the fire: Bart Lebbing

Text refs:
1. The Numbat Project 

2. This estimation was made by Bill Smart who's property bordered the numbat colony. He regularly photographed the Numbats there and got to know quite a few of them.

3. Dryandra (Incl Boyagin/Tutanning) - a SW Australian Safari 

Memes, rage and campaigns

Just to prove I haven't entirely lost my sense of humour - here are another couple of gems I found on Facebook. I've always thought cats had a rather wry sense of humour and this confirms it. 

You might have to be an Aussie to appreciate the next one. I think it's hilarious and for anyone who has stepped barefoot on a kid's Lego block, it certainly captures the moment.

So what else is happening? 

Apart from watching gorgeous baby wombat or numbat Facebook videos, and going for bike rides, I'm still busy with the Fire & Biodiversity group. It's going to be a long haul. The odds of having a win against any government department are slim. I still think it will come down to occupying the forest and chaining ourselves to trees but for now I am supporting those who believe we can effect change through the usual channels. 

Unfortunately this takes time and in the meantime, forest management agencies are destroying ecosystems while we are forced to look on. But we have many allies now - nearly 2000 people in the Facebook group and they are watching closely. So even though the enquiry we are calling for was recently declined by the environment minister, we are keeping the pressure on. They know we are watching and we will hold them to account eventually. I just hope we can slow the damage until then.

I'm doing the graphic design work for our group and that is keeping me pretty busy. The infographic above is me working out style and format - content yet to be decided. To have a chance of winning this fight we need the public behind us so a huge re-education campaign is required. I say 're-education' because at the moment most people believe prescribed burning is keeping them safe and convincing them otherwise is a difficult argument to prosecute. The public have little idea of the destruction that is going on in our precious forests and a lot probably don't care as long as they believe 'hazard reduction' programs  are stopping their houses from being burnt in a wildfire. They conveniently ignore how many wildfires are actually escaped prescribed burns. They also don't understand how decades of forestry and short cycle fire management have contributed to the problem by encouraging highly inflammable understorey.

Above was a known numbat habitat, 'prescribed' burnt in March 2021. No numbats have been seen in the area since and it is likely baby numbats were incinerated in the hollowed out logs that these little guys live in. 

Below is an image of a numbat that has had to evacuate the fire - it is disoriented and possibly stressing about its babies and loss of its home. (You can just see it off the right hand corner of the inset).

This is a karda (Racehorse goanna) with its foot burnt off in another 'prescribed burn' in the Mercea block of the Walpole Wilderness last year. In a cool fire, these lizards would likely escape, but the fires being conducted by 'authorities' are so hot, often incendiary fires that encircle an area, leaving no escape routes.

Lots of images of cute bioturbators and marsupial mammals will be needed to change minds so I'm getting more familiar with tiny honey possums (for the logo below) and numbats (in the infographic above).

New vector logo. I had to redo it as the old one I did in a hurry was only raster and low resolution.

Original Numbat.

More graphic experiments - creating motifs to be used and reused on different educational material.

I'm not being paid for this work but I am happy to use my skills for something important so I don't mind. My 'real' job still pays the bills.

I haven't been blogging much for months and the reason - a combination of using computer time to do graphics, but also an inability to express the grief and rage at the wanton destruction of our beautiful country as these maniac arsonists burn the hell out of it. Sometimes I am just too angry for words, but I'm determined to keep fighting - maybe just because my sense of justice won't allow these bastards to get away with it.

Photo refs: Courtesy of FaBWA Facebook group page

Artwork: © Author - Mad Fish Designs

This Looks Familiar

 

Who's experienced this? I know I have.

Borrowed Time

View from the restaurant.

Where do I start? There's so much going on. Maybe this will have to be a stream of consciousness rant.

Life is surreal. Even more than usual. 

Today my partner and I went to Pepper & Salt Restaurant (above) to celebrate 20 years together. For anyone who knows us this is a real accomplishment. Apart from the first rocky couple of years, it hasn't actually been that difficult. Which means we both finally made a good choice.

Sitting in the rather posh (for me) restaurant was surreal. Floods in Germany and COVID lockdowns a world away kept messing with my peace of mind. The food was brilliant. The view stunning. I tried to tell myself it was OK to enjoy myself. But the rest of the world kept crashing in to remind me not to enjoy myself too much. I don't think the other people in the restaurant were feeling guilty. The alcohol probably helped with that.

Images of sad Mongolians kept drifting into my mind - the ones who are being forced to leave their nomadic life on the steppes because their sheep are dying from a lack of food. A perfect storm of climate change and overstocking since the Communists stopped regulating the size of their herds. So much for free enterprise. Humans need regulating. If you let them do what they want they will expand their flocks, have too many children, cut down all the trees and leave nothing for the next generation. Humans really haven't grown up yet. These Mongolians are giving up generations of nomadic life to move to the stinking cities and live on rubbish tips, ekeing out a paltry living collecting plastic bottles. Spending $60 on lunch just has to be wrong. 

Maybe it's just my age - but I feel I am living on borrowed time. I'm not in their league but I'm starting to understand why Buddha and Jesus devoted their lives to relieving the suffering of others. But is there any point in that? Maybe when there was certainty that the world would keep spinning, the sun would shine and the rain would come. But now? Here I am working my arse off nurturing 5 acres of bush and trying to save a few numbats from the arson squad of government fire regulators. Is there any point? I used to believe in an afterlife, but right now I don't.

This is a numbat escaping a prescribed burn. Its babies are probably burning in a hollow log in there. What psycho would incinerate a known numbat habitat?

After the restaurant we went to look at the beach. This year we've had a huge amount of rain. The opening of the inlet is the widest we've ever seen it. The water levels are the highest we have ever seen them. This could be the year the old surf club (tucked away right on the water's edge just out of view in the left of the photo) finally succumbs to the sea. Climate change is here. It's not some random future theory any more. In Germany people are falling into sink holes and dying. In the NW of Canada people are dying of heat stress. These things are surreal. Sitting in a restaurant in a distant corner of the world with no limits on my movements, or my life (unless I want to fly overseas, which I don't) is also surreal. Our leaders, our governments have failed us. All of us. No matter which country you call home. And I'm having lunch and trying to stop the arsonists from burning the forests down. I must be mad.

I keep telling myself I'm lucky and I should be grateful. I have lived out most of my life in probably the best era in human history on the planet. But I just feel bad for all those suffering, for the animals suffering, for the climate refugees all over the world who could eat for a month on the $60 I spent on lunch. 

If you don't believe in an afterlife, having a conscience isn't a noble thing. Caring too much, feeling compassion and empathy - are a disadvantage. The only thing that keeps me going are the other people who care as much as I do. This is where I find true humanity. And this isn't surreal.

Grow up