Kalamurina Sanctuary is a
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
in
arid
A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...
north-eastern
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. The land was established as a
sheep station sometime before 1994 and then a
cattle station until the early 2000s, called Kalamurina Station. It occupies .
It was acquired in December 2007 by the
Australian Wildlife Conservancy
The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is an Australian independent, nonprofit organisation, working to conserve threatened wildlife and ecosystems in Australia. This is principally achieved through the acquisition of extensive areas of land ...
(AWC) to become a nature reserve for
biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
conservation and
wildlife management. There are several threatened species in the sanctuary.
Landscape
Kalamurina borders on the north coast of
Lake Eyre North and contains a large proportion of the Lake Eyre catchment. Its habitats include
dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
fields,
gibber plains,
desert
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
s, freshwater and saline lakes, and
riparian habitats along the three important desert waterways that converge on the property the
Warburton and
Macumba River
Macumba River (Arabana: ''Maka-Wimpa''; Arrernte: ''Ura-Ingka''), once known as Treuer River, is an ephemeral freshwater stream in the far north of South Australia, that is part of the Lake Eyre Basin.
Course and features
The river rises at the ...
s and
Kallakoopah Creek
The Kallakoopah Creek, part of the Lake Eyre basin, is a watercourse located in the southern part of the Simpson Desert in the Australian state of South Australia. It is an anabranch of Warburton Creek
The Warburton River (or Warburton Cree ...
.
[
Although bordered by ]Cowarie Station
Cowarie Station most commonly known as Cowarie is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in north east South Australia.
The property is located north of Marree and south west of Birdsville. The Diamantina River merges with the M ...
to the east, the reserve is also between the Simpson Desert Regional Reserve
Simpson most often refers to:
* Simpson (name), a British surname
*''The Simpsons'', an animated American sitcom
**The Simpson family, central characters of the series ''The Simpsons''
Simpson may also refer to:
Organizations Schools
*Simpso ...
to the north, Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park
Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park (formerly Lake Eyre National Park) is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia. It is located 697 km north of the state capital of Adelaide, Australia, Adelaide within the gazetted loca ...
to the south, the establishment of Kalamurina as a nature reserve creates a continuous protected area in central Australia larger than the State of Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
.[
]
Wildlife
Since its acquisition in December 2007 by the AWC to become a nature reserve for biodiversity conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...
and wildlife management, a high priority management need is to have a feral animal control program.[AWC: Kalamurina]
Retrieved 25 June 2018.
Threatened wildlife species on Kalamurina include the crest-tailed mulgara, kultarr, Lake Eyre dragon, and Eyrean grasswren
The Eyrean grasswren (''Amytornis goyderi'') is a small grasswren from the Passerine family Maluridae. This is a cryptically plumaged and uncommon bird endemic to arid regions of Central Australia. The species was discovered by F.W. Andrews i ...
.[ The night parrot has been reported as being sighted on the property, but the work produced by naturalist and wildlife cinematographer ]John Young John Young may refer to:
Academics
* John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow
* John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Coll ...
was later found to be suspect, and reports published by the AWC were retracted.
Station history
The pastoral lease for Kalamurina was established prior to 1884; at this time the property was stocked with merino sheep for the purpose of producing wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.
As ...
. Owned in 1888 by A. Mercer, the station had also introduced camel
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
s for the transportation of supplies. By 1889 a herd of cattle was being run at the property, then owned by Cave and Robertson. The station had been acquired by William Robertson in about 1895.drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
conditions, with all the waterholes having dried up completely by 1902. Robertson was declared insolvent in late 1902,[ and the property was valued shortly afterwards at £12,675. Drought hit the area again in 1908 resulting in virtually no feed left on many properties in the area, including Kalamurina, which had an area of and was stocked with about 6,000 head of cattle.
In 1994, when much of the area was again in the grip of a severe drought, the station was acquired by Tony Boyd, John Said, Graeme Croft, Vince Conte and Thomas Ng, who were advised by climatologists that rains would arrive in the next season. Rains arrived and the property had two good seasons back to back, with 3,500 cattle being reared on the property. Boyd, Said, Croft, Conte and Ng sold the station in 2003/2004.]
References
External links
Australian Wildlife Conservancy Webpage for Kalamurina Sanctuary on the Protected Planet website
Nature reserves in South Australia
Australian Wildlife Conservancy reserves
2007 establishments in Australia
Far North (South Australia)
{{Stations of South Australia