The Wenlock River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

located on the

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

in Far North

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

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 ...

Course and features

The river rises on the western slopes of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

below Jacks Knob, west of Nundah homestead. The river flows generally north-west through

tropical savanna Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is dominated by grass and/or shrubs located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and t ...

plains and

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s, joined by fifteen minor

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...

, before reaching its

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

and joining with the

Ducie River The Ducie River is a river located on the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia. Formed by the confluence of the Palm Creek and South Palm Creek, the headwaters of the Ducie River drain the Richardson Range, part of the Great ...

on the western side of the peninsula at

Port Musgrave Port Musgrave is a shallow, almost enclosed, estuarine bay located on the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia. Geography Two major rivers, the Wenlock and the Ducie discharge into it. The bay itsel ...

, just north of Mapoon. Finally, the Wenlock River enters the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary is ...

and descends over its course. The total catchment size is . The river has no water storage facilities built on it and there is little development within the drainage basin, resulting in a low population. In 2010, the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...

declared the river a 'wild river', one of thirteen Queensland rivers that are free of

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

s, irrigation schemes and industrial development, and remain largely intact. Much of the river is bordered by gallery rainforests which provide habitat for animals such as the

white-tailed rat The white-tailed rat (''Mystromys albicaudatus'') also known as the white-tailed mouse, is the only member of the subfamily Mystromyinae in the family Nesomyidae. This species is sometimes placed in the subfamily Cricetinae due to similarities ...

spotted cuscus The common spotted cuscus (''Spilocuscus maculatus''), also known as the white cuscus, is a cuscus, a marsupial that lives in the Cape York region of Australia, New Guinea, and nearby smaller islands. Names It is known as aklang or gabi in the ...

and

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 ...

. During the

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

the river floods, replenishing the wetlands. With some 48 species, the river contains the highest diversity of

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

of all Australian rivers, many of which are shared with the rivers of southern New Guinea. They include Buffon's river garfish and fimbriate gudgeon, as well as the

freshwater sawfish The largetooth sawfish (''Pristis pristis'', syn. ''P. microdon'' and ''P. perotteti'') is a species of sawfish, family Pristidae. It is found worldwide in tropical and subtropical coastal regions, but also enters freshwater. It has declined dra ...

and more common species such as the

sooty grunter The sooty grunter (''Hephaestus fuliginosus''), also known by the name black bream, blubberlips, Northern grunter or purple grunter, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a grunter from the family Terapontidae. It inhabits coastal and inland ...

, saratoga and

barramundi The barramundi (''Lates calcarifer'') or Asian sea bass, is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Perciformes. The species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, spanning the waters of the Middle East, South ...

. The river is also home to one of Queensland’s largest breeding populations of the

saltwater crocodile The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia. It has been listed ...

. Originally named the Batavia River, the river was renamed in 1939, reportedly in honour of

Baron Wenlock Baron Wenlock is a title that has been created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in 1461 when the soldier Sir John Wenlock was summoned to Parliament as Lord Wen ...

References

{{Rivers of Queensland Rivers of Far North Queensland Gulf of Carpentaria

Course and features

See also

References