ROCKING THE WHEATBELT

In 2012 the students of Kellerberrin District School joined the fight to save the threatened black-flanked rock-wallabies of the central Wheatbelt in WA. Their dedicated teacher, Ms Melinda White, posted this story.

The Year 4/5 class are involved in a joint project with the Shire of Kellerberrin, Department of Environment and Conservation and WWF-Australia to help research and collect data relating to the black-flanked rock-wallaby.

The rock-wallaby is our local threatened species and the data collected will be used in the future planning for the conservation and protection of the wallaby. The project started as an extension of the class’s initial excursion to Kokerbin Rock in Term 1, where the class looked at the effects of humans on the natural environment and what we can do to help preserve and protect our existing bushlands and native animals.

Once a week a small group of 3 or 4 students accompany Miss Tracey Hobbs (Shire of Kellerberrin) to various sites to set up camera monitoring, conduct scat counts and collect data from the cameras. The program was set up with the assistance of Craig Pentland, a researcher and rock-wallaby expert from Edith Cowan University, and Katherine Howard, WWF’s Species Conservation Manager for Southwest Australia.

The students also get to learn about other aspects of our environment, including interesting things about animals and plants. Here are some snippets from recounts the students have done on their return:

“We look for rock-wallaby poo in different spots to tell if there have been any wallabies in that area.”

“We stopped on the way back to get some sandalwood nuts. They taste good.”

“We found a rock with heaps of water on it. That was when we set the sensor camera.”

As part of the project, the Year 4/5 class are also busy fundraising to help the conservation and protection of the rock-wallaby. We would like to say a BIG thankyou to Miss Tracey Hobbs for helping organise our project. Watch this space for further updates.