Witchelina Nature Reserve facts for kids
Witchelina Nature Reserve is a special protected area in South Australia. It used to be a large farm, known as a pastoral lease, where people raised both sheep and cattle. The name "Witchelina" also refers to the local area around the reserve.
This reserve is about 72 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of Leigh Creek and 664 kilometers (413 miles) north of Adelaide. The land here is very diverse. You can find flat, stony areas called gibber plains. There are also woodlands with red river gum and coolibah trees. Other parts have bluebush shrubs, saltbush plains, and sandy areas with acacia trees.
History of Witchelina
The land where Witchelina Nature Reserve is located has a long history. The traditional owners of this area are the Adnyamathanha and Arabunna peoples. Witchelina sits right on the border of their traditional lands.
Early Farm Days
The Witchelina property first started as a sheep farm in 1873. It was set up by a man named John Ragless. His sons, Frederick and Richard, tried to expand the farming in 1882. They took 2,500 sheep to a new area but had to give up after a few difficult years.
By 1915, the farm was home to about 4,000 sheep. In 1916, the Ragless family decided to sell Witchelina. At that time, it covered a huge area of 1,256 square kilometers (485 square miles). It had a 10-room house, a large shearing shed for 20 shearers, and a complete fence around its boundary. The famous businessman Sidney Kidman bought the property along with his partners.
In 1932, after a very hot period, the farm manager caught an amazing 100,000 rabbits! This included 5,000 rabbits in just one night. In 1949, heavy rains caused some damage, washing away several miles of the boundary fence.
Becoming a Nature Reserve
In 1950, the Kidman estates sold Witchelina and several other large farms. These properties, covering over 5,180 square kilometers (2,000 square miles), were bought by A. S. Toll, E. G. and J. L. Boynthon. They formed a company called Myrtle Springs Pastoral.
By 2009, the Witchelina property, which was then 4,219 square kilometers (1,629 square miles), was put up for sale again. It still had its old stone homestead, a manager's house, shearers' quarters, and a stone shearing shed. It was big enough to hold 6,600 cattle or 33,000 sheep.
In 2010, something very important happened. The property was bought by Nature Foundation SA. This group helps protect nature. Most of the money for the purchase came from a Federal Government grant through the Caring for Our Country program. Private donors and the State Government also helped. Witchelina then became the largest private nature reserve in South Australia. It creates a very important natural pathway for wildlife from Lake Torrens all the way into the Northern Territory.
