Heirisson Prong facts for kids

Heirisson Prong is a special area in Western Australia where people work to protect animals. It's a long, narrow piece of land that sticks out into Shark Bay. Think of it like a finger pointing into the water!

This reserve was started in 1989 by a local group from a small mining town called Useless Loop. They wanted to create a "biosphere reserve." This means there's a main area for nature protection, surrounded by another area where people use natural resources in a careful way. In this case, the outer area was used for farming salt, but in a way that didn't harm the animals in the main reserve.

History of Heirisson Prong

Heirisson Prong got its name from François-Antoine Heirisson. He was a sub-lieutenant on a French ship called Le Naturaliste. This ship visited Shark Bay between 1801 and 1804 as part of a science trip led by Nicolas Baudin.

The Heirisson Prong Project

The Heirisson Prong area became a big research project for CSIRO. CSIRO is a government group that does scientific research. From 1990 to 2005, they studied why many Australian mammals had disappeared since Europeans arrived.

Later, a company called Wildlife Research and Management helped manage the reserve until 2013. Money for the project came from a mining company, government grants, and a volunteer science group called Earthwatch.

When the project started, some scientists weren't sure if introduced animals like foxes and feral cats were the main reason native animals were disappearing. But, other projects showed that controlling foxes helped animals like rock-wallabies. This made Heirisson Prong a great place to try and create a safe area without these predators. Its long, narrow shape made it perfect for building a fence to keep out foxes and feral cats.

Protecting Animals and Bringing Them Back

In 1990, a special fence was built across a narrow part of Heirisson Prong. This fence was designed to keep out foxes and feral cats. It created a 1200-hectare safe zone at the tip of the peninsula.

The first endangered animal brought back was the burrowing bettong (Bettongia lesueur) in 1992. These bettongs came from Dorre Island in Shark Bay. Later, western barred bandicoots (Perameles bougainville) from Dorre Island were reintroduced in 1995. Greater stick-nest rats (Leporillus conditor) from Salutation Island followed in 1999.

Outside the main fenced area, people tried to control foxes by poisoning them. But this caused a big increase in feral cats in that area. They tried different ways to control the cats, but it was difficult.

The project faced some challenges:

• Leaky Fence: The fence sometimes allowed foxes and feral cats to sneak in. It was hard to build a perfect fence across a wide tidal flat.
• Rabbits: Sometimes, there were too many rabbits. They ate a lot of the native plants, especially Acacia shrubs. This reduced the plants that other animals needed for food and shelter.
• Predator Impact: When foxes got in, they often killed many burrowing bettongs quickly. Feral cats were thought to be the reason western barred bandicoots disappeared from the reserve in 2008.

Even with these challenges, burrowing bettongs were still living on Heirisson Prong in 2013, 21 years after they were first brought back. Some bettongs from Heirisson Prong were even used to start a new population in South Australia in 1999. Also, burrowing bettongs and western barred bandicoots from Heirisson Prong helped start new groups on Faure Island in Shark Bay in 2002 and 2005.

The northern part of Heirisson Prong, inside the fence, was given back to the State government in 2008. Over time, conservation groups started focusing on bigger islands in Shark Bay, like Faure Island and Dirk Hartog Island, because they were easier to keep safe from predators. Because of this, support for the Useless Loop community group to manage Heirisson Prong ended in mid-2013. This meant the fence became less effective over time.

Similar Projects

There are other projects like Heirisson Prong that aim to protect native animals by keeping out predators.

• The Wadderin Sanctuary in Western Australia is another community-managed reserve. It helps protect threatened mammals and birds.
• The Arid Recovery project in South Australia combines conservation with wildlife science.
• The Venus Bay peninsula in South Australia is another fenced area where threatened mammals have been reintroduced.

In all these projects, controlling foxes and feral cats is key. It allows many endangered species to survive when they might not otherwise.