Protecting our small mammals and reptiles
Vital work to track changes in fauna
Small mammal and reptile monitoring is completed every two years at sites around our Southern Middleback Ranges mining operations with the latest session completed in the first week of January this year.
This monitoring is completed during summer when small mammals and reptiles are particularly active. Trapping sites are located close to the operation and distant from, which allows us to track changes to fauna assemblages in the area around the mine when compared with distant sites, and track changes over time.
The trapping was completed by an external consultant with assistance from SIMEC personnel. Five sites were trapped close to the operation, with additional sites distant to operations included in the annual trapping program undertaken by Ecological Horizons (a key partner in the Middleback Alliance and owner of the Secret Rocks Nature Reserve).
Each site consists of eight pitfall traps (a length of PVP pipe dug into the ground flush with the surface) which are connected by flyscreen mesh which helps to direct the animals into the traps. Sites are set up, with traps opened and mesh installed, on day one and are generally left open for four nights.
The high temperatures experienced during the trapping week meant that traps needed to be closed for 24 hours in the middle of the week. The animal ethics approval requires that traps are closed if temperatures are forecast to be over 43C. This limits animals’ exposure to high temperatures and helps to prevent trap deaths.
Sites are visited each morning and checked for any captures. All captures are safety removed, identified, measured and weighed before being released at the site.
A wide variety of animals were trapped during the session and included hopping mice, marsupials, snakes, geckos, skinks and various invertebrates. Additional information collected during the week included bird surveys and spinifex condition monitoring.
Main picture: A feisty southern ningaui (Ningaui yvonnae)
