Cattle in the Riparian Zones in the Bellinger Valley

Has anything changed for the critically endangered Bellinger River Snapping Turtles in the Bellinger River catchment? 

 

Managing Stock on Waterways and in Wetlands in the Bellinger Valley (pdf)

Why exclude stock from riparian zones? (pdf)



Cattle grazing in arid environments leads to desertification. "Humans as Agents in the Termination of the African Humid Period" (source)

See also:
Healthy Riverbanks Booklet: The Turtle, The Cattle and The Indian Myna (here)

Images:
Turtle and wildlife in clean river, Coffs Harbour mural
Bellinger River banks with cattle, March 2017

Freshwater Ecosystems and Cattle

"Today it's simply socially unacceptable to let stock in rivers; people view it in the same way as it's unacceptable to smoke in restaurants"  Conservation group raises alarm over river protection, 22.02.2016  

Image:
Bellingen graffiti: Cattle standing in the Bellinger river

Livestock grazing of riparian vegetation #1

The acoustic ecology of native bird extinction and the sound of “cock-a-doodle-doo”

For eons the Laughing Kookaburra has been announcing the break of dawn for eastern Australia. The loud 'koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-kaa-kaa-kaa' is often heard in a chorus. The bird is one of the larger members of the kingfisher family and lives in one place for most of its life. It also mates for life.

The more settlers convert bio-diverse landscapes into mono-culture and populate it with alien species, the ecology changes into an artifact. The soundscape too takes on the characteristic of a noise composition.

Now the highest-ranking rooster has priority to announce the break of dawn. The (overseas) circadian clock of the domesticated fowl often is set off long before dawn. They do not sing in a chorus but in a strict hierarchical pattern. The sound of “cock-a-doodle-doo” echos over the dark valleys. Barking dogs and cars complete the early morning cacophony.

Non-native species and fossil fuel combustion machines constitute the ambient soundscape that announces the break of dawn of more industrial activity. The bird chorus of kookaburras and other common native birds fades as the environmental noise increases.

Deforestation and land clearing robs Kookaburras (and other Australian wildlife) of their homes which they need for nesting, roosting and perching to catch snakes and mice. The generously splashed pesticides poison the insects that the birds eat.



Kookaburra and magpie among Australian birds in decline, says report , Guardian 15.07.2015

Magpies, kookaburras and willie wagtails among common Australian birds 'starting to disappear', report suggests, abc, 15.07.2015

The highest-ranking rooster has priority to announce the break of dawn, Tsuyoshi Shimmura, Shosei Ohashi, and Takashi Yoshimura, July 23, 2015 in Scientific Reports, 5, Article number: 11683. DOI: 10.1038/srep11683

http://birdlife.org.au/state-of-birds/

Wedge-tailed Eagle vs rooster

Wedge-tailed eagle rescued from a chicken coop. WIRES
 

Images
Graffiti EU

The Bellinger River and dairy

New Zealand-owned Raleigh Dairy Holdings operates two farms at Yellow Rock and North Bank south of Coffs Harbour. The directors want to realise the asset and focus on their New Zealand operations. The company has approval from the Bellingen Shire Council to expand operations at its North Bank Dairy.

In 2011, it withdrew a development application for expansion of its Yellow Rock site, following community concerns over the possibility of effluent run-off during floods polluting the adjacent Bellinger River.

abc rural, Major NSW dairy for sale 17.0.913

Update:
abc 15.04.2015  "The (Norco) Raleigh operation recently celebrated 12 months exporting cold milk to China. It's currently exporting between 5000 and 20 000 litres a week.... The next financial year they expect to export between three and five million litres of cold milk to China." 

Images:
Marc, Franz, The yellow Cow, 1911
Gogh, Vincent Willem van, Lying Cow ,1883