New Years Kangas on the Pines and Palms

New Years Eastern Grey Kangaroo Numbers on Pines and Palms Golf Courses

Figure 1. Thinning of pines along Olympic Drive, removal of rank shrub 

and the elimination of a waste fill hill behind the trees  has reduced and 

eliminated prime loafing and mixing site for Pines resident kangaroos 

and the metapopulation that occupied the Keyside Close site.

My first kangaroo count since 31 March 2015, was a bit of a surprise for two reasons. First the housing construction boom that Sanctuary Cove is currently experiencing is unprecedented. Survey stakes linearly describe the fortunes of the Keyside Close site, houses are in various stages of completion, sections of the pine forest bordering Olympic Drive (see both photos) are significantly reduced and where open fields once dominated the landscape, steel frames outline their future against Queensland skies. The second surprise was the scattered distribution of kangaroos on the courses that varied from their preferred locations  observed in past years and the relatively low numbers of kangaroos particularly on the Pines. The Palms golf course appears to have maintained its past complement of kangaroos and where observed in the usual locations.

The survey took approximately fours to complete. During that time there were approximately 270 Eastern Grey Kangaroos present on both golf courses. Within the total there were 42 males, 116 females, 83 joeys and 29 unclassified.  There were 39 joey-in-pouch (JIP) females, a category we used to describe female and her dependent offspring whereas a joey was simply a young, small looking youngster that displayed, independent behaviour.  We also noted that there were 282 unmark animals and only 17 were observed either with a pink, red or orange tag in one of the ears.  

How does this compare with surveys in previous years? 

The New Year's Day survey is my earliest (January) survey and perhaps the lowest number since 2012 for Sanctuary Cove. In 2013 my survey methods included counting kangaroos and waterbirds associated with ponds and as a result the total (222) does reflect full coverage of both courses. Separated and dedicated surveys for waterbirds and Eastern Greys occurred in 2014. 

The single 2016 January count of 270 kangas for both courses is not that different from previous years (See Totals: Table 1). The number of females and males (adults) are also comparable  from year to year as where the joeys. The fluctuations for the unclassified animals are expected as it was difficult to sex or give a condition of an animal lying down or facing in the opposite direction.  The population average for all January surveys, is 300 animals (n=7, range 222 to 438)  which is 30 kangas above our most recent count. It is my opinion that the January population is holding its own and the year to year differences reflect a normal variation in the distribution and occurrence of kangaroos in the study area. If 270 animals represent a decline in the overall population due the construction phase adjacent the golf courses then it might suggest that they are self regulating to available space and habitat quality. In essence they are relocating and establishing their presences in under exploited areas, adapting to marginal or under used habitats within Sanctuary Cove or Hope Island. 

Follow up information will be available as soon as more surveys are conducted.  

Surveys were not conducted in January 2012; only the total number was recorded for January 2013; Numbers for January 2014 where averaged from two surveys while three surveys was conducted in 2015. In 2016 only a single survey was undertaken at the time of writing.