Local Environment

Australia’s native plants and animals adapted to life on the Australian continent over millions of years. In Budgee Budgee since European settlement they have had to compete with a range of introduced animals for habitat, food and shelter. Some have had to face new predators. These new pressures have also caused a major impact on the country, waterways and flora and fauna.

Budgee Tops is covered with native vegetation

Feral animals can cause soil erosion. Farmers can manage domestic livestock by removing them from degraded areas until they can be revegetated but it is much more difficult to keep feral animals out of these same areas.

In the days before biological control the rabbit was the cause of much land destruction by establishing large warrens full of burrows. It would be desirable to rid Australia of its worst invasive species but this is not achievable in most cases. In Budgee Budgee we are lucky, especially on Budgee Tops as we have no feral pigs although the occasional fox is sighted. The native grey kangaroo still abounds in small family groups having survived feral and man made occupancy of their environment.

Most landholders use a number of control methods to contain feral animals including conventional control techniques and biological control. Conventional methods include trapping, baiting, fencing and in extreme cases shooting.

Under the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy, the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries’ Vertebrate Pest Research Unit has developed a model for assessing the relative humaneness of pest animal control methods.

The lanes of Budgee Budgee and the surviving native bushland are safe harbours for native animals thus partially preserving native habitats.

Introduced flora such as St John’s Wort and Patterson’s Curse are urgently in need of control measures on the same lines as those implemented for feral animals.

A typical country lane in Budgee Budgee area

There are no known threatened species in the Budgee Budgee locality. However, National Threatened Species Day is held on September 7, each year. Action is highlighted on this day to prevent further extinction by restoring healthy numbers of endangered species and communities in the wild.

Threatened species in Australia include the brush-tailed rock wallaby, Carnaby’s black-cockatoo, Gouldian finch, Flatback turtle and spot-tailed quoll.

For further information email: environment@environment.gov.au