The Toorale National Park is a

protected Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

that is located in the far-west region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, in eastern

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 ...

. The national park is located approximately southwest of , at the junction of the Darling and Warrego rivers. The national park is located adjacent to both the

Darling River The Darling River ( Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka'') is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its conflu ence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales. Including its longes ...

and the

Gundabooka National Park The Gundabooka National Park is a protected national park in the north-west region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is located approximately northwest of Sydney. The nearest town is , to the north. The national pa ...

, located to the south-east of the park, and the Toorale State Conservation Area, located to the north-west of the park. The park is jointly managed by the

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is a directorate of the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment responsible for managing most of the protected areas in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Despite its name the ...

and the local

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Kurnu-Baakandji people.

Features

The Toorale National Park consists of land that was previously part of

Toorale Station Toorale Station is a defunct pastoral lease that once operated as a sheep station and cattle station in New South Wales. The station was purchased by the Federal and New South Wales Governments, and Toorale National Park was declared on a por ...

, used for irrigated cropping and grazing. Toorale has a broadly flat landscape with extensive floodplains, and smaller areas of low ridges, riparian strips, and two notable peaks. Small ephemeral lakes ( gilgais) occur in depressions and swamps, whilst historic water management practices have created a vast wetland ecosystem on the park.

Flora

AU-NSW-Bourke-Toorale National Park vegetation-2021

Toorale has diverse vegetation with 27 vegetation communities described and mapped. Of these, inland floodplain shrublands are the dominant community, consisting of lignum shrublands, confined swamps dominated by cane grass, eurah shrublands, riverine chenopod shrublands and low chenopod shrublands. Low chenopod shrubland is the most extensive vegetation community on Toorale, covering over 40 per cent of the park and is a highly variable community. The banks and internal river bends of the Darling River are lined by a tall open forest of

river red gum ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...

. Outer bends of the Darling and Warrego rivers and tributaries are lined by coolibah open woodland, which extends onto the surrounding alluvial floodplains. Floodplain woodlands also include those characterised by

black box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

. Areas associated with semi-permanent water support shallow freshwater sedgelands. Bimble box grows in periodically flooded depressions on sandplains and alluvial plains. On dryland areas there are extensive woodlands of belah,

black oak Black Oak may refer to: Places in the United States * Black Oak, Arkansas * Black Oak, Daviess County, Indiana * Black Oak, Lake County, Indiana, a neighborhood of Gary, Indiana * Black Oak, Missouri Other * Black Oak Arkansas, American band ** ...

, western rosewood and leopardwood. A relatively large expanse of Whitewood–Western Rosewood low woodland occurs on the stony tablelands. There are small patches of supplejack dominated woodland and Western Peneplain woodlands dominated by

coolibah ''Eucalyptus coolabah'', commonly known as coolibah or coolabah, is a species of tree found in eastern inland Australia. It has rough bark on part or all of the trunk, smooth powdery cream to pink bark above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves ...

and beefwood or

ironwood Ironwood is a common name for many woods or plants that have a reputation for hardness, or specifically a wood density that is heavier than water (approximately 1000 kg/m3, or 62 pounds per cubic foot), although usage of the name ironwood in E ...

. Gidgee and occasionally Whitewood tall shrublands, mulga (''Acacia'' spp.) communities and Aeolian dunefields comprising patches of gum coolibah woodland also occur.

Fauna

Mammals

Within the combined area of national park and the Toorale State Conservation Area, at least 28 species of mammal have been recorded. The terrestrial species include the

red kangaroo The red kangaroo (''Osphranter rufus'') is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest terrestrial mammal native to Australia, and the largest extant marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, except for the more fertile areas, such as sou ...

western grey kangaroo The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and (when referring to the Kangaroo Island subspecies) Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo, is ...

and eastern grey kangaroo, as well as the

common dunnart The slender-tailed dunnart (''Sminthopsis murina''), also known as the common dunnart in Australia, is a dasyurid marsupial. It has an average body length of 7 to 12 centimeters (2.8–4.7 in) with a tail length of 5.5 to 13 centim ...

and

short-beaked echidna The short-beaked echidna (''Tachyglossus aculeatus''), also called the short-nosed echidna, is one of four living species of echidna and the only member of the genus ''Tachyglossus''. It is covered in fur and spines and has a distinctive snou ...

. Several bat species have been recorded, including

Gould's wattled bat Gould's wattled bat (''Chalinolobus gouldii'') is a species of Australian wattled bat named after the English naturalist John Gould.Chruszcz, Bryan & Barclay, M. R. (2002)''Mammalian Species'' Chalinolobus gouldii The American Society of Mammal ...

, the

lesser long-eared bat ''Nyctophilus geoffroyi'' is a vespertilionid bat, a flying nocturnal mammal found in Australia, The species is relatively common. They have been referred to as the lesser long-eared bat. Taxonomy It is the type species of genus ''Nyctophilus''. ...

inland broad-nosed bat The inland broad-nosed bat (''Scotorepens balstoni'') is a species of vesper bat. They are endemic to Australia and widespread throughout the inland, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. This insectivorous microbat, measuring in length, r ...

little broad-nosed bat The little broad-nosed bat (''Scotorepens greyii'') (pronounced skoh’-toh-rep’-enz grey’-ee-ee’) translates to "Grey’s darkness creeper". Sometimes called Grey’s broad-nosed after the third governor of South Australia, Sir John Edward ...

yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat The yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat (''Saccolaimus flaviventris''), also known as the yellow-bellied sheathtail or yellow-bellied pouched bat, is a microbat species of the family Emballonuridae found extensively in Australia and less commonly in ...

and

little pied bat The little pied bat (''Chalinolobus picatus'') is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is found only in semi-arid woodlands in eastern Australia. Description The little pied bat is the smallest bat of the genus. The coat ...

. Several introduced pest species occur, including the European fox,

European rabbit The European rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus'') or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (including Spain, Portugal, and southwestern France), western France, and the northern Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. It has ...

, brown hare,

feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

feral goat The feral goat is the domestic goat (''Capra aegagrus hircus'') when it has become established in the wild. Feral goats occur in many parts of the world. Species Feral goats consist of many breeds of goats, all of which stem from the wild goat ...

feral pig The feral pig is a domestic pig which has gone feral, meaning it lives in the wild. They are found mostly in the Americas and Australia. Razorback and wild hog are Americanisms applied to feral pigs or boar-pig hybrids. Definition A feral pi ...

, European cow and

House mouse The house mouse (''Mus musculus'') is a small mammal of the order Rodentia, characteristically having a pointed snout, large rounded ears, and a long and almost hairless tail. It is one of the most abundant species of the genus '' Mus''. Althoug ...

Reptiles and amphibians

At least 57 species of reptile have been recorded within the combined area of national park and the Toorale State Conservation Area. These include the

Murray River turtle ''Emydura macquarii'' (common names include Murray River turtle, Macquarie River turtle, eastern short-necked turtle, eastern short-neck turtle and southern river turtle) is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. It is a wide-ranging spec ...

, Interior blind snake, leopard Ctenotus, ringed brown snake,

sand goanna The sand goanna (''Varanus gouldii'') is a species of large Australian monitor lizard, also known as Gould's monitor, sand monitor, or racehorse goanna. Taxonomy John Edward Gray described the species in 1838 as ''Hydrosaurus gouldii'', noting ...

, Bynoe's gecko and

Central bearded dragon The central bearded dragon (''Pogona vitticeps''), also known as the inland bearded dragon, is a species of agamid lizard found in a wide range of arid to semiarid regions of eastern and central Australia. Taxonomy ''Pogona vitticeps'' was fi ...

. Seventeen species of amphibian have also been recorded including the

broad-palmed frog The broad-palmed frog (''Litoria latopalmata'') is a species of ground-dwelling tree frog. It is native to much of eastern Australia. They can be found from mid-Queensland to south of Sydney. It is associated with the coast and inland, and is d ...

, desert froglet and rough frog.

Gallery

File:AU-NSW-Bourke-Toorale National Park entrance sign-2021.jpg, Toorale National Park sign on Bourke–Milparinka Road (2021). File:AU-NSW-Bourke-Toorale National Park entrance road-2021.jpg, Toorale National Park entrance, Toorale Road (2021). File:AU-NSW-Bourke-Toorale National Park stock fence-2021.jpg, Toorale National Park stock fence (2021).

References

External links

* {{authority control National parks of New South Wales Protected areas established in 2010 2010 establishments in Australia Far West (New South Wales) Bourke Shire