Collier Range National Park is a national park in the Pilbara region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, northeast of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. The nearest major town to the park is Newman located about north near Kumarina. The park is one of many in the Pilbara and was established in 1978. The ranges vary from low hills to high ridges with many cliffs. The vegetation found in the area is mostly spinifex and mulga with creeklines being surrounded by

eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', '' Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

s. Mulga scrub and

mulla mulla ''Ptilotus'' R.Br. is a genus of approximately 120 species of annual and perennial herbs and shrubs in the family Amaranthaceae. All species are native to mainland Australia, although one species, '' Ptilotus spathulatus'' (R.Br.) Poir., also oc ...

are found in dense scrubland in the northeastern plains with spinifex and sand dunes being found in the western end. The park is the home of the threatened Pilbara Pebble-Mound Mouse ''Pseudomys chapmani'' which is also found in the

Millstream-Chichester National Park Millstream Chichester National Park is a national park in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, located north of the state capital, Perth. The park is made up of the old Millstream Station, which is on the Millstream Creek, just befor ...

and the Karlamilyi National Park. The mulga habitat is a refuge for the critical weight range mammals such as '' Macrotis lagotis'' (greater bilby), ''

Dasycercus cristicauda The crest-tailed mulgara (''Dasycercus cristicauda''), is a small to medium-sized Australian carnivorous marsupial and a member of the family Dasyuridae (meaning "hairy tail") which includes quolls, dunnarts, the numbat, Tasmanian devil and ext ...

'' (mulgara) and ''

dasyurid The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 71 extant species divided into 17 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but th ...

s''. The standard of management in the park is poor and is only visited occasionally by Department of Parks and Wildlife staff from Karratha. The park is baited for wild dogs but suffers damage from

feral A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...

donkeys and wandering cattle. No fire management is in practice and weed problems are unknown.

References

National parks of Western Australia Protected areas established in 1978 Western Australian mulga shrublands {{WesternAustralia-geo-stub

See also

References