Mallee-Cliffs-Nationalpark

The Mallee Cliffs National Park is a national park in the south west of the Australian state of New South Wales, 789 km west of Sydney and 30 kilometers north of the Murray River at Mildura. The park was created to preserve the sand flats, sand dunes and habitats of the Mallee country. Special emphasis is placed on the role of the park as a wildlife sanctuary and its furnishings should mainly the habitat of the thermometer chicken ( Leipoa ocellata ) protect.

The park is not open to the public, because you want to protect the thermometer chicken and other endangered animal species and achieve other conservation objectives. Access is possible only for schools and colleges for educational purposes as well as for scientific investigations that are important and consistent with the principles of protection for the park administration.

The national park was established in 1977 on an area of ​​57 969 hectares, after the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife, the entire area had bought from private hands.

Geography

The Mallee Cliffs National Park preserves the original red Lehmebenen in southwestern New South Wales and protects the extensive flat to gently undulating red sand areas, and linear sand dunes which in the dry season 350,000 before - have emerged 500,000 years ago.

Flora

In the park original groups of Mallee trees and loose Belah Rosewood Forest are obtained. Mallee are small eucalyptus trees and bushes with many small stems and thick roots that can store water. Before the irrigated agriculture began, covered mallee thickets most of the North West of the State of Victoria and areas in southwestern New South Wales. The park contains important Mallee societies, including the varieties Bull Mallee and Mallee Whipstick. This vegetation is still eliminates a large area in the country outside the park to win pasture. In the park survive relics of plant communities that can make long-term changes in vegetation visible.

In January 1975, a forest fire destroyed the area, which became a national park later, making the average age of the plants was significantly lower than in similar protected areas. This makes the park less attractive for the suspension of certain animals, such as use of the Black-eared Miner Honigfresserart, the older mallee trees and shrubs as habitat.

Fauna

The park is the only protected area for the thermometer chicken in New South Wales. This bird is found in dry areas only where Mallee grows. The cocks build a nest by digging a large hole in the winter and fill it for four months with grass and leaves. The hens lay in the spring for a few days one egg per day in this nest. The cocks then cover the whole thing with sand. This " compost " then rots and so generates heat. The cocks monitor the nest, check its temperature with the tongue and remove sand as needed or add to what. When the chicks hatch, they dig their way to the surface and remain there quite rigid for up to 20 minutes before they make it into the undergrowth. The chicks hatch already with feathers and are immediately independent of the adult birds. Brood care they do not need. The thermometer chicken is up to 60 cm long.

One finds in addition a number of smaller bird species in the area and also emus. In mammals, there are the western gray kangaroo, the Bilchbeutler and two bat species ( Little Pied Bat and Greater Long-eared Bat), use the old trees as nests. The Mallee ( Spinifex ) is the most important habitat for the blue tongue.