Bobucks in Gippsland. Past Sightings?
Jan Hillyard, Grantville 1990.
An injured Bobuck was discovered by the roadside at Grantville, 1990. It was cared for at the Inverloch Wildlife Refuge and released near Emerald in the distant Dandenongs! Southern Bobucks were - and probably still are? - so little known in South West Gippsland the wildlife carers concluded it must have been brought into the district on the back of the proverbial truck. This was the first and, at time of writing, the only Bobuck ever seen by the Wildlife Refuge.
Gurdies Bobuck cared for in 1990 by the Inverloch Wildlife Refuge
Images copyright © 2006 to J. Hillyard
Gary Wallis, Foster, 1978.
Gary Wallis photographed a Bobuck on his property at Foster in March 1978. It seems that Bobucks are unusual enough that people notice them, and photograph them. The scarcity of sightings must be telling us something. But what? Our cameras detected these Southern Bobucks across a wide swathe of south Gippsland. Have they always been there in isolated habitat islands? Or are they moving in, displacing Common Brushtail Possums? Is a population migration underway in Gippsland, unseen and unknown till now?
Image copyright © 2006 to G. Wallace
Phil Westwood, Bassbush 1999.
Bobucks have been seen once on the Bass River since 1999. Phil took this image of a Bobuck on the Bass River.
Image copyright © 2006 to P. & A. Westwood
My Survey made an effort to discover if Bobucks in southwest Gippsland were widely known. I found they are not. In those rare cases where they have been noticed by casual passers-by, the matter has remained unreported in scientific literature. The three instances reviewed here, from 1978 to the present, being two "happy snaps" and one injured animal that went unrecognised by local conservationists as a member of the regional fauna, represent the grand total of over 30 years' worth of "sightings". This is not merely surprising: it's amazing. What's more, Biodiversity surveys have previously been carried out in the general area and none of them detected these animals.
Yet this survey found that Southern Bobucks are probably the largest and most numerous ground living native marsupial in the district.
The question is: why did they remain unreported to science and uncatalogued, until now, and hardly ever seen over a time span of decades?
Deep History:
Early Victoria and the Leongatha Labour Colony
Note: I sure could use some help with this section. At first I thought the logging of SW Gippsland, and therefore the destruction of the original Bobucks' habitat got started with the Leongatha Labour Colony. But now, having read a little of the Labour Colony's history, I doubt that scenario. If there are any readers who happen to know the history of logging in SW Gippsland, I'd be very interested to hear!
Debbie.
Victorian Koories of the Upper Yarra Valley, 1858. Those standing are wearing Possum-skin cloaks while those seated have European blankets. The preferred pelts were almost always those of Bobucks because the fur is so thick, soft and warm. More so than the fur of the Common Brushtail Possum.Image courtesy Fauchery Album, LaTrobe Library..
