On Monday 11th September, the Year 4 Academic Extension students visited the Perth Hills Discovery Centre to learn more about our endangered Western Australian animals, including the Western Shield programme, which aims to protect many native species by eliminating predatory introduced feral cats and foxes from their habitats.
The students learned how the Department of Parks and Wildlife officers set Sheffield traps to monitor populations of native mammals in the bush. Working in pairs, they prepared the bait of tuna fish and oats and laid their traps out in the forest. Knowing that most of our small native mammals are nocturnal, they were sceptical about their chances of finding anything in the traps.
When they checked the traps later, they were surprised to discover perfect stuffed versions of the real thing: chuditch, numbats and possums. Using a mini toolbox, the students then measured and weighed the animals and determined their gender, recording the data.
The highlight of the excursion was the animal encounter with a critically endangered woylie, a brushtail possum, carpet python, red-tailed black cockatoo, echidna and two rescued orphan joey kangaroos. Students were enthralled by the stories told by presenter Sue, from Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, who explained why the animals are endangered and how we can help to save them.