Wildlife Recovery Count

The first batch of data was completed earlier this year, and it has been fully analysed to reveal some important information about wildlife in the Hawkesbury region. Below is a small summary with a link to our website, where more detail is included, including the full report.

What we found

• The vegetation at burnt sites has largely recovered enough to support CRW mammals again. How badly a site burnt no longer affects how many species live there. This is in contract to two years after the fires, where burnt sites had clearly fewer species.
• Gentle fire can help in the long run. We recorded the most wildlife at low-severity burn sites with open, regrowing vegetation. These sites probably offer a flush of new food and plants as the burnt understorey recovers.
• Unburnt areas were lifeboats. Wildlife numbers in unburnt areas stayed steady, while numbers in burnt areas declined substantially at first then rose slowly over time. This confirms how important unburnt patches are as shelter straight after the fires.
• Cats and deer are a growing threat. We found cats at six times as many sites compared to 2021–22. Deer are appearing near private properties and could spread into the national park if they aren't controlled.

Read the full report here!
https://www.scienceforwildlife.org/BushfireRecovery_SmallMammals