Piccaninny Plains Wildlife Sanctuary is a 1700 km² nature reserve on the Cape York Peninsula of

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. A former cattle station adjacent to

Oyala Thumotang National Park Oyala Thumotang, formerly Mungkan Kandju National Park (and prior to that Archer Bend National Park), is a national park in Queensland, Australia, northwest of Brisbane. History The Oyala Thumotang National Park encompasses what was formerly ...

, it is managed 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). It is jointly owned by The Tony and Lisette Lewis Foundation and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, by which it was purchased in 2008.AWC: Piccaninny Plains
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Landscape and climate

The location of Piccaninny Plains in the middle of the Cape York Peninsula between national park and

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

land forms a habitat corridor that helps link the east and west coasts of the Peninsula. The property contains several diverse ecosystems such as gallery

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

, tropical grasslands, wetlands and floodplains. The Archer and Wenlock Rivers flow through the property. The climate is tropical monsoonal, with most rain falling in the wet season, December to April. Rainfall averages 1600 mm annually.

Fauna

Animals found on Piccaninny Plains include the

palm cockatoo The palm cockatoo (''Probosciger aterrimus''), also known as the goliath cockatoo or great black cockatoo, is a large smoky-grey or black parrot of the cockatoo family native to New Guinea, Aru Islands, and Cape York Peninsula. It has a very l ...

trumpet manucode The trumpet manucode (''Phonygammus keraudrenii'')'' is a species of bird in the family Paradisaeidae. The trumpet manucode is named after its powerful and loud trumpeting calls. The specific name, ''keraudrenii'', commemorates French Navy phys ...

yellow-billed kingfisher The yellow-billed kingfisher (''Syma torotoro'') is a medium-sized tree kingfisher. Taxonomy Three subspecies are recognised: *''Syma torotoro torotoro'' (Lesson, 1827) found in West Papuan islands, lowland New Guinea, Yapen Island and Aru *' ...

, magnificent riflebird and spotted cuscus.

References

External links

Australian Wildlife Conservancy
Nature reserves in Queensland Australian Wildlife Conservancy reserves 2008 establishments in Australia {{Queensland-geo-stub