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Mt Tyson's Grassland Earless Dragon: not extinct after all
Chocolate bilbies are facing stiff market competition from the Grassland Earless Dragon in Mount Tyson on Queensland's Darling Downs.
GED (as the Grassland Earless Dragon is affectionately known) was thought to be extinct, but was rediscovered in 2001. An adult GED grows to around 12 centimetres long and has spotted spiky skin which makes it a camouflage specialist.
Members of Mt Tyson Landcare Group are using creative ideas to promote the need to conserve GED habitat.
One of these has resulted in Mt Tyson confectionary maker, Heather Hanlon of White Mischief chocolate shop and restaurant making chocolate dragons for sale to the public on behalf of the group. Proceeds of chocolate sales are used to fund landholder education programs and continue research into GED and its habitat.
Funding
The Landcare Group has received more than $7,000 from the Australian Government to fund a variety of activities designed to promote awareness of GED and create a conservation management strategy for the species.
The Group had previously received funding through a State Government Community Natural Resource Awareness Activity Grant, which they used to commission the chocolate mould that was provided to manufacture the chocolate dragons.
Support has also been provided by local businesses such as Ergon Energy in Toowoomba and by the Queensland Museum and the University of Queensland Gatton campus.
Activities and achievements
Paula Halford from Mt Tyson Landcare said that the Group had given a number of talks and presentations on GED to landholder and school groups, with officers of the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Queensland Murray Darling Committee helping out.
"We have conducted property surveys to clarify the distribution and range of the species," she said.
"The GED habitat appears to be the deep cracking clay soils of the floodplain, the most fertile soil in the region, most of which is under cultivation on private land."
Achievements
"We hope to continue researching the dragon's habits and learn more about what it needs to survive," Paula said.
"We know the dragons like living in the retained stubble of a recently harvested crop and hide in waterways and grassy verges where they get protection from predators such as feral cats, foxes and hawks."
Paul said that the Landcare Group was excited about using the chocolate dragon to promote good farming and land management, particularly to the younger generation. "This will make a difference to our future landscapes," she said.
More information
- Paula Halford, Mount Tyson Landcare Group: (07) 4693 8186
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