The Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum has teamed up with Bathurst Regional Council’s Environment team to prepare a program of five curriculum-aligned learning modules featuring threatened species found in and around the Bathurst region:
The species have been selected to help students develop a deeper understanding of local biodiversity: by connecting students with species found in their own backyard, the program aims to foster a stronger appreciation for the natural environment and encourages active engagement with conservation issues.
Download the full learning module for the Purple Copper Butterfly here.
Download the full learning module for the Booroolong Frog here.
Download the full learning module for the Bathurst Grassland Earless Dragon here
Download the full learning module for the Regent Honeyeater here
Download the full learning module for the Koala here
The purple copper butterfly (Paralucia spinifera) is a rare and endangered species that is only known to occur in the Bathurst, Lithgow and Oberon regions of NSW.
It has very specific habitat requirements and is found only where its larval food plant, Australian blackthorn (Bursaria spinosa subsp. lasiophylla), and its attendant Australian black ant (Anonychomyrma itinerans) are present. Both species are essential for the butterfly to complete its life cycle and survive in the wild.
The greatest threat to the purple copper butterfly is the loss, degradation and fragmentation of its habitat. Habitat degradation can occur when native vegetation is cleared, heavily grazed or otherwise disturbed, reducing the availability of suitable habitat for the butterfly and the other species it depends on.
Download the full learning module for the Purple Copper Butterfly here.
The Booroolong frog is found only in New South Wales and north-eastern Victoria, mainly along the west-flowing streams of the Great Dividing Range.
The Booroolong frog lives along permanent streams and rivers that have flowing water and plenty of surrounding vegetation, such as ferns, sedges, and grasses. Adult frogs are commonly found on cobble banks, rocky stream edges, and among boulders within the stream environment. They shelter beneath rocks or within dense vegetation close to the water’s edge, where they are protected from predators and harsh weather conditions.
During the 1970s and 1980s, populations declined dramatically due to the spread of the chytrid fungus, a disease that has affected amphibian species worldwide. As a result, the Booroolong frog has disappeared from more than half of its former range.
Download the full learning module for the Booroolong Frog here.
The Bathurst grassland earless dragon lives only in a small part of New South Wales, Australia. It is found in the native grasslands around Bathurst in the Central Tablelands. These grasslands occur on flat, fertile plains and can be found at elevations of up to about 1,200 metres above sea level.
Its habitat is mostly open and treeless, with native tussock grasses covering the landscape. These grasses provide important shelter, hunting areas, and places to hide from predators. Because the Bathurst grassland earless dragon is found in such a limited area, protecting these grasslands is essential for the species’ survival.
The Bathurst grassland earless dragon (Tympanocryptis mccartneyi) faces a range of threats that affect the quality, extent and connectivity of its habitat, as well as the species’ long-term survival.
Download the full learning module for the Bathurst Grassland Earless Dragon here
The regent honeyeater primarily inhabits temperate woodlands and open forests along the inland slopes of south-eastern Australia, although it can also be found in drier coastal woodland and forest habitats. Historically, the species occurred across a much broader range, extending from Adelaide to central Queensland. However, over the past 30 years its distribution has contracted dramatically.
Habitat loss and fragmentation caused by land clearing for agriculture, urban development and other human activities have significantly reduced the availability of suitable habitat for the critically endangered regent honeyeater. In particular, the destruction and degradation of yellow box–white box–Blakely’s red gum woodland communities have had a major impact on the species. Livestock grazing and trampling can prevent the regeneration of woodlands and riparian vegetation, further reducing the quality and extent of available habitat.
Download the full learning module for the Regent Honeyeater here
The koala is a tree-dwelling, herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. Marsupials are mammals whose females have a pouch in which they rear their young.
Koalas feed primarily on the leaves of eucalyptus trees, making the availability of suitable food trees one of the most important factors influencing their distribution and population
size.
Habitat loss and fragmentation resulting from land clearing for agriculture, urban development, and other human activities have significantly reduced the availability of suitable habitat for the endangered koala. In addition, vehicle strikes and dog attacks pose a major risk of serious injury or death, particularly when koalas travel across open ground.
Museums Bathurst is a suite of public museums managed by Bathurst Regional Council, located on Wiradjuri Country. Museums Bathurst acknowledges the Wiradjuri People as the Traditional Custodians of the land in the Bathurst Region. We pay respect to Elders, past, present, and emerging and acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who live, work and play in the Bathurst region.
