Earthwatch Institute Adventures on Echidnas and Goannas of Kangaroo Island - 2004
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Ed Note: Senior volunteer Warren Stortroen shares his experience with Earthwatch Institute.
After a second Bilby [Earthwatch] expedition I had about a week of free time, so took the bus to Melbourne to see the countryside, and booked a tour on The Wayward Bus along the Great Coast Road back to Adelaide. Then, the next morning I met the other volunteers for a short hop on Emu Airlines to Kangaroo Island. Peggy Rismiller, Principal Investigator met us - Susan and I from the USA, Chris from New South Wales, Franceline from Brazil and Riana from Indonesia. Franceline and Riana were sponsored by their employer, HSBC, as part of a five year commitment this world-wide bank made to Earthwatch.
Then, a short ride to Pelican Lagoon Research and Wildlife Centre which was built almost entirely of native materials by Peggy's husband, Mike, a nature photographer and assistant on the project. The Centre was virtually self-sustaining with solar power and water from a cistern catchment. A small bottle gas burner was fired up every other day to heat water for showers. Kangaroos and wallabies were all around the station and fun to watch! The three ladies bunked in a small cabin while Chris and I shared a large platform tent with built-in bunks and shelving.
A lady from town had volunteered to cook the first three days while we were training, but after that we each took turns with station duty, being responsible for all three meals and daily cleaning. When it was my turn I made a vegetable soup for lunch and for dinner I improvised with extra ingredients to make kangaroo burgers with onions, mashed potatoes with gravy, vegetables and salad. Nothing was left, so everyone seemed to enjoy it!
The Short-beaked Echidna (spiny anteater) is a fascinating animal! They are one of the world's three egg-laying mammals - the other two are the Platypus in eastern Australia and the Long-beaked Echidna in Papua New Guinea. These monotremes represent the oldest surviving mammals on the planet.
Goannas are large monitor lizards that co-exist with the Echidnas, and are their only natural predator.Our main studies involved radio tracking both species, attaching transmitter or putting ID marks on new animals, and checking health, reproduction, location and behavior. John, another local volunteer familiar with the animals and the area, was a great help to us.
We did a lot of radio tracking over a wide range of eucalyptus forest and scrubland around the station, and, because I was familiar with hiking alone and use of a GPS, I did a lot of solo searching for Goanna dens. I would put little sticks in front of the den mouth, mark the location, and return later to see if they were disturbed. If they were, the den was active, and I would bring Mike back the next morning to capture and ID the lizards when they came out to bask in the sun. I believe we captured a record number of them!
The day we arrived Mike got a call that some tourists had spotted a road-killed mother Echidna and a "puggle," a baby that had been in her pouch and apparently uninjured. He went to town and brought him back to the station where Peggy cleaned him up and prepared a formula for feeding him. It was difficult to get him to eat because he was used to feeding upside down from a milk patch. They don't have a mouth, just a hole in the beak through which the tongue is extended! He probably was the homliest baby we'd ever seen, but still very cute!! We made a den in a box for him to sleep in, and the volunteer on station duty carried him around in a shirt front most of the day! In December I heard from Peggy and Mike that he had gained a lot of weight, was getting his little spines and soon would be released to the wild!
This was a great group of volunteers, the animals and the location fascinating, the local volunteers made us feel very welcome and Peggy and Mike treated us wonderfully, so this definitely was one of my favorite Earthwatch expeditions!
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