Carol
and Linda are extremely proud to announce that the Australian
Geographic Society has agreed to help continue the work
of the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service's Northern Hairy-Nosed
Wombat Recovery Project and has offered to sponsor the girls
to assist the project on a volunteer basis.
In
October this year Linda and Carol will be flying to Rockhampton
in Queensland and then travelling to the centre of the state
- Epping Forest National Park (scientific), 120kms north-west
of the small township of Clermont.
During
the two week stay Linda and Carol will be assisting the recovery
project team in a hair census - hair trapping for DNA collection.
This important part of the recovery project is the prelude to
a wombat translocation which is the next major step in saving
the Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat from extinction.
Come
back in late October for the full story.
The
Australian Geographic Societies Sponsorship Project page (Environment)
-
http://editorial.australiangeographic.com.au/society/project_index_environment.aspx?p=4
Information
on the Hair Census from the 2004-2008 Recovery Plan
Action 3.1 Hair census
Justification
A new low disturbance censusing technique, based on DNA “fingerprinting”
of wombat hairs collected on sticky tape at burrow entrances,
was finalised in 2000. Previously, trapping and burrow activity
monitoring were the only census methods available and these
were less accurate and/or involved much more disturbance to
the wombat population. Hair censuses have been undertaken in
2000, 2001 and 2002. Once the results of all three censuses
have been studied, we will have a good understanding of current
population trends. It is proposed in future to undertake hair
censuses every two to three years, depending on the results
of the 2001 and 2002 censuses. This will require two censuses
in the life of this recovery plan.
Methods
A technique based on DNA fingerprinting of wombat hairs collected
remotely on sticky tape at wombat burrow entrances was developed
over several years by Dr Andrea Taylor (currently at Monash
University). The technique is used to sample all wombat burrows
simultaneously to census the population and determine the sex
ratio. The technique depends on amplifying hypervariable DNA
markers to generate individual-specific DNA 'bar-codes' from
wombat hairs. These 'bar-codes' can then be compared to blood
DNA samples taken from trapped wombats to determine the identity
of the wombat. Those samples that cannot be matched to a reference
blood DNA sample can be assumed to be from unsampled wombats.
Each
census requires a 10 day field trip to be undertaken to EFNP
to collect the hair samples. Personnel required are one experienced
person and at least six assistants/volunteers. Hair samples
are sent to Monash University for processing and for analysis
of the data.
Dr
Taylor’s laboratory has recently acquired a LiCor automated
genotyping system. If the reliability of the current manual
method of typing can be matched on the LiCor, its future use
for NHW hair censusing will be highly beneficial because of
anticipated savings in labour costs. In addition, because the
LiCor facility will operate on a semi-commercial basis, the
recovery team will have improved access, relative to that for
Dr Taylor’s research laboratory, while still having the benefit
of Dr Taylor’s expertise in the overall management of this project.
Potential
contributors
Research
organisations (e.g. Monash University), EPA/QPWS, partner organisations
