Witchelina Nature Reserve, in
South Australia, is situated on a former
pastoral lease
A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands.
Australia
Pastoral lease ...
known as Witchelina that had operated as both a
sheep station and
cattle station, before being converted into a
nature reserve by the
Nature Foundation
Nature Foundation, formerly The National Parks Foundation and Nature Foundation SA Inc. (NFSA), is the largest non-government nature conservation organisation based in South Australia. It was founded in October 1981, and is supported by the Gove ...
. The station gave its name to the locality of
Witchelina
Witchelina Nature Reserve, in South Australia, is situated on a former pastoral lease known as Witchelina that had operated as both a sheep station and cattle station, before being converted into a nature reserve by the Nature Foundation. The ...
.
The property is situated approximately north west of
Leigh Creek and north of
Adelaide. The country is made up of
gibber plains,
red river gum and
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 ...
woodlands,
bluebush shrubland,
saltbush plains and
acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...
dunefields.
[
]
History
The traditional owners of the area are the Adnyamathanha and Arabunna peoples; Witchelina straddles of the boundary of both the groups' traditional lands.[ The property was first established as a sheep station by John Ragless in 1873.
Ragless' sons, Frederick and Richard, left Witchelina in 1882 with 2,500 sheep and three station hands to open up a property east of Lake Callabonna; after some poor seasons the brothers abandoned the run in 1886.
In 1915 the property was carrying a flock of approximately 4,000 sheep. The Ragless brothers placed Witchelina on the market in 1916, at this time it occupied an area of with a 10-room homestead, a 20-stand shearing shed and a complete boundary fence. The property was acquired by Sidney Kidman in partnership with Lewis and Pearce.
Following a heat wave in 1932 the station manager, Mr. Gourlay, trapped an estimated 100,000 rabbits, including 5,000 in a single night.
In 1949 the area had good rains, although several miles of boundary fence at Witchelina were washed away. Kidman estates disposed of Witchelina, Mount Nor' West, Myrtle Springs and Ediacra stations with a combined area of over in 1950. The purchasers were A. S. Toll, E. G. and J. L. Boynthon, who had established the Myrtle Springs Pastoral company.][ The property is rated to carry either 6,600 head of cattle or 33,000 sheep.][
In 2010 the property was purchased by ]Nature Foundation SA
Nature Foundation, formerly The National Parks Foundation and Nature Foundation SA Inc. (NFSA), is the largest non-government nature conservation organisation based in South Australia. It was founded in October 1981, and is supported by the Go ...
with two-thirds of the funds provided by a Federal Government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
grant via the Caring for Our Country
The Natural Heritage Trust (NHT), or National Heritage Trust Account was set up in 1997 by means of the ''Natural Heritage Trust of Australia Act 1997'', with the main objective of conserving the "natural capital infrastructure" of Australia. Mon ...
program, with strong assistance from some private donors and State Government
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...
land purchase funds.[ forming "a vital habitat link for Lake Torrens into the Northern Territory".]
See also
* Hiltaba Nature Reserve
* List of ranches and stations
External links
*
References
{{Stations of Sidney Kidman
Stations in South Australia
Nature reserves in South Australia
Far North (South Australia)
1873 establishments in Australia
Gawler bioregion
Protected areas established in 2010