Staaten River National Park
| Staaten River National Park Queensland | |
|---|---|
  Staaten River National Park | |
| Nearest town or city | Chillagoe |
| Coordinates | 16°15′19″S 142°40′46″E / 16.25528°S 142.67944°E |
| Established | 1977 |
| Area | 4,700 km2 (1,814.7 sq mi) |
| Managing authorities | Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service |
| See also | Protected areas of Queensland |
The Staaten River National Park is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1,640 km northwest of Brisbane. It receives its name from the Staaten River which flows through the park.[1]
Environment
[edit]The park encompasses an extensive section of the least modified tropical savannas in Queensland. The vegetation is savanna woodland dissected by ephemeral streams with a small number of permanent or semi-permanent waterholes. It has few exotic weeds or introduced animals.[2]
Important Bird Area
[edit]The park has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a large population of up to a thousand endangered golden-shouldered parrots. Feral pigs destroy the parrots' nesting mounds and reduce the bird's food source. When conditions allow the pigs population to grow significantly the animal is culled by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.[3]
It also supports populations of Australian bustards, bush stone-curlews, black-throated and masked finches, varied lorikeets, and yellow-tinted, banded, yellow and bar-breasted honeyeaters.[4]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ "Staaten River National Park". Total Travel. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
- ^ BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Staaten River. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 24/10/2011.
- ^ Kirsty Nancarrow (7 December 2011). "Hope feral pigs cull will save endangered parrot". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
- ^ "IBA: Staaten River". Birdata. Birds Australia. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
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