Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation P/L in Cairns, Queensland, Australia | Community organisation

Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation P/L

Locality: Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Phone: +61 7 4019 6200

Address: 242 Sheridan St 4870 Cairns, QLD, Australia

Website: http://www.balkanu.com.au

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24.01.2022 996 likes! Thanks for the love and support! But WHO is going to be the lucky 1000th? Sharing is caring ;) Help us get our great stories out there! This Olive Ridley female was tagged and a satellite tracker installed by researchers from the Environment and Heritage Protection and APN Rangers from Aurukun. After she was finished nesting, she hung out around Aurukun for a while, before heading south to Kowanyama. Quite often these Olive Ridleys will travel up to Indonesia as well! But they always come back to nest on our beach :)

24.01.2022 As promised...a series of pictures, showing some of the rare captures by trail cameras we had deployed in the field. Some of these cameras are programmed to only take 3 photos a day, so some of these photos (the crocs) are quite rare! Comment below how many animals you can identify. Bonus points if you can identify all the bird species correctly :D Taken with the help of the superb Kalan and APN Rangers.

19.01.2022 Stay alert later this week for some of Balkanu's best trail camera images! Starring: Crocs, feral pigs, feral cats...and more! This image was taken with Kalan Enterprises Rangers on Toolka Nature Refuge.

19.01.2022 This is NOT what a Cape York lagoon should look like. The excessive digging damage and dirty water is caused by feral pigs as they forage for one of their favourite foods - bulkuru (Eleocharis sp.). This photo was taken at South Wik near Aurukun while working on our pig control and biodiversity project with APN Rangers. #feralpigs #environment #conservation #australia #indigenous #rangers

18.01.2022 The Cape York Road Chook...or, Australia's Wedge-Tailed Eagle, our closest bird of prey to the impressive Golden Eagle. The females wedgies are bigger than the males, and can get wingspans up to 8 feet wide! #capeyork #australia #eagle #conservation #adventure

16.01.2022 We thought we would share something revolutionary with you all...so here it is! The story of how we SAVE 15,000 TURTLES A YEAR! Balkanu has been working closely with project partners CSIRO and Apn Cape York (Aak Puul Ngantam) Rangers to develop better methods of controlling feral pigs and protecting sea turtle nests in remote areas. One of our solutions has finally been completed and is currently being tested for success. We call it "Spit Fencing". In Cape York, Austral...ia, feral pigs decimate sea turtle nests. In years without control, nest predation was as high as 100% - ZERO turtle hatchlings made it into the ocean. In recent years we have managed to get that down to 25%, below the EHP recommended standard of 30%. With this 'Spit Fencing' strategy we can further reduce that again! Spit Fencing explained: We noticed that the inland estuaries of the Love and Kirke River, ran parallel to the coast for some distance. If we were to use these as a natural barrier to pigs, and install some fencing to close of the last open side, we could protect a massive amount of nesting beach. Using only 2.5 km of (pig proof) fencing material and 2 x 50m nets, we were able to restrict access by feral pigs to two zones comprising 19 km of prime nesting beach for 3 species of marine turtle; the Olive Ridley, Flatback and Hawksbill. The on ground work to achieve this goal was huge, and the APN Ranger team and Balkanu staff must be commended for their efforts. Monitoring of the two areas will continue in coming years to gauge the success of the fences. We hope this will be a perpetual outcome, with minimum input to provide protection to 19 km of beach; equivalent to approximately 190 nests SAVED (approx 15,000 hatchlings) EVERY YEAR. For more details or if you would like to implement this in your area, please contact us and we can provide help and advice.

14.01.2022 Rare photographs: Jabiru nesting in the wet season in Cape York, earlier this year. Shot on the South Wik Homelands, with the deadly APN Rangers!

13.01.2022 'Woot Munk' A language name given by the Indigenous South Wik people from Aurukun, meaning 'old people'. They believe these big old crocs are the spirits of their ancestors that have passed. This big black croc was spotted on the west coast of Cape York. It took two passes in the helicopter before he was bothered to move. We guessed him to be 4.5 - 4.8m. We also guessed he's the boss of this system!

12.01.2022 Who will find the biggest croc this year?

11.01.2022 One of Australia's most iconic festivals is coming up at the end of June...The Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival. Come and see several cultures from our own nation performing their own dance in an extremely powerful and energetic atmosphere.

10.01.2022 Pigs trample through an immaculate lagoon in Cape York. The green fields are bulkuru, an aquatic sedge with a small nut-like tuber at it's base. This is one of the feral pigs favourite foods, but it also plays a crucial ecological role. It provides habitat for aquatic animals, nesting sites for magpie geese, keeps the soil healthy and reduces evaporation. When the lagoon dries out and the bulkuru dies it provides important refuges for small animals, often being one of the habitats safe from bushfire! Unfortunately feral pigs absolutely pillage these swamps for the bulkuru's precious and tasty tuber! See the next image on our wall for what it looks like when pigs eat it! This image is from work with APN Rangers on South Wik Country near Aurukun.

08.01.2022 *Select HD for best viewing* One of many examples of pig damage on South Wik Homelands. Pigs rapidly destroy fields of bulkuru (an aquatic sedge), digging for its' nut like bulb. This is also a primary food and nesting habitat for magpie geese and several other species. A recent aerial shoot conducted with APN Rangers removed 1,170 pigs in 5 days. This reduces the early impacts on these important wetlands and reduces the chance of pigs making it to the beach and digging up sea turtle nests.

08.01.2022 An exciting job opportunity for any ATSI ladies out there :) From Bush Heritage Australia: We are seeking applicants for a trainee Conservation Officer, to be based on Bush Heritage's iconic Carnarvon Station Reserve in Central Queensland. The position is open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait women wanting to develop knowledge and understanding of land management and conservation practices. The position is full time for a fixed term of two years.... The successful applicant will contribute to day-to-day operations on the reserve, while also completing a nationally recognised qualification in Conservation and Land Management. For more details please visit our website https://www.bushheritage.org.au//conservation-officer-trai About the traineeship: The one year Certificate II Conservation and Land Management Traineeship Program will provide you with access to an online training program through Queensland Agricultural Training Colleges. Practical skill development will be achieved through supervised on-the-job training during work hours. You will be supported through the theoretical component of the qualification, which will require a commitment of up to eight hours per week, during work hours. The program will be supported by a qualified instructor from Queensland Agricultural Training Colleges who will support your training and conduct your practical assessments at the reserve. https://www.bushheritage.org.au//conservation-officer-trai

07.01.2022 Balkanu made the news again with their innovative feral pig and sea turtle program! YEE-HAH!

06.01.2022 Guess what's under this 'specialised ecologists tool'? We will share the video tonight! You won't believe it until you see it!

04.01.2022 Absolutely STELLAR work from the Kalan Enterprises Rangers (Coen) this week. Our Balkanu ecologist visited the team to give a refresher on technical data recording and to see how their trapping program was running. They have had huge success in the past 6 months, trapping over 100 pigs (mostly trapped in Nov/Dec). The wet season has now dispersed the pigs and trapping is hard again, however it's a great opportunity for maintenance and program review! Here are the lads setting up a different kind of trap called a 'Silo Trap'.

02.01.2022 Cape York has a big pig problem. Pigs eat carrion, and this has the potential to help disease spread. Controlling them in Cape York is critical as this is the gateway to disease in Australia.

02.01.2022 So here is the answer... (Click the settings cog and watch in HD!) It was keeping a 1.7m MULGA SNAKE (King Brown) chill! The snake was relocated from a shed in Cape York. Nope, it's not a Taipan like every brown coloured snake is thought to be. It's a member of the black snake family (Pseudechis) which is why its other name (King Brown) isn't very accurate and shouldn't be used. Whilst this big beauty's venom isn't the most potent compared to other aussie slipperies, it delivers one of the largest volumes per bite! She was a gorgeous and calm snake, easily relocated by one of our field partners from CSIRO. Stunning EYES!

02.01.2022 ABC Radio aired an interview yesterday with our Balkanu project manager/ecologist. The interview chatted about the damage feral pigs do to the environment and the control options being used to reduce their damage to biodiversity; particularly to marine turtle nests and wetlands in Cape York. Balkanu works closely with CSIRO and two amazing ranger groups in Cape York, Kalan Enterprises rangers and APN Cape York rangers, to bring their country back to better health. Here is the online article: http://www.abc.net.au//feral-pig-proof-fence-could/8313600 #feralpigs #conservation #indigenous #rangers #capeyork #australia

01.01.2022 Cats are one of the biggest biosecurity threats we have in Australia. These cryptic critters are absolutely fine tuned predators and well adapted to the Australian environments. Read the interesting points below :)

01.01.2022 As if sea turtles don't already have it hard enough, battling against seagulls, crabs, fish, sharks and pollution to make it to adulthood! This video shows another battle before they even hatch: nest predation. In Cape York Peninsula, Australia, wild dogs (and feral pigs and goannas) dig up turtle nests for their eggs, a vital protein source. This wild dog dug this nest up and ate all the eggs (around 100) over 2 nights. This video was taken by Balkanu and APN Ranger staff using remote trail cameras. #CapeYork #Australia #conservation #SeaTurtle #WildDogs #Predation