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Common Bluetongue (Tiliqua scincoides)

The Common Bluetongue, Tiliqua scincoides, is a large, banded Australian skink that occurs across much of eastern, northern and parts of southern Australia. It can use modified areas, including suburban gardens, but clearing, vehicle movements, domestic animals, pesticides and loss of shelter can harm individuals on development sites.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Critically endangered.

Queensland, Nature Conservation Act 1992: Critically endangered.

Western Australia, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Critically endangered.

Breeding season

Common Bluetongues mate mainly from September to November and give birth from December to April, with births usually concentrated in December and January. Clearing risk is highest during winter sheltering and around summer births, when newborns are present and may disperse only a short distance.

Reproductive mode: Live-bearing, ovoviviparous. Embryos develop in retained egg sacs within the female and receive support from a placenta-like structure.

Litter size: Usually about 10 young. Recorded ranges include 5 to 25 young, with some sources reporting up to 19 or 20.

Gestation: About 3 to 5 months from mating to birth.

Size at birth: About 90 to 130 mm snout-vent length, or approximately 130 to 140 mm total length. Birth weight is about 8.4 to 20.7 g.

Age at maturity: About 561 to 590 days, or approximately 2 years. Adulthood is reached at about 3 years.

Nest or egg sites: No nest or egg site is used. Females give birth to live young. Shelter and birth cover may include logs, rocks, leaf litter, dense ground cover and other ground-level refuges.

Breeding frequency: Usually annual where food is sufficient, with no more than one breeding season each year.

Confirm timing locally before clearing, especially across northern and southern Australia, because temperature, rainfall, food availability and the timing of winter cooling can shift mating, activity and birth periods.

  • Mating: Mating is recorded from August to October and September to November. September to November is the best-supported period for this species, with October within the main overlap.
  • Gravid females: Females carry embryos for about 3 to 5 months after mating. Pregnancy may therefore extend from late winter or spring into summer, depending on mating date and local conditions.
  • Births: Births are recorded from December to April, with December to February supported by reproductive studies and December to January described as usual for the Eastern Blue-tongue. Some sources also report births around January or February to April.
  • Newborns: Newborns are most likely to be present from December to February, following the main birth period. They are independent soon after birth and usually disperse within a few days, but can remain near the birth shelter initially.
  • Active period: Adults are diurnal and are generally more active in spring and summer, with activity extending into autumn. They emerge to bask and forage on warm or sunny days, including occasional winter days.
  • Winter inactivity: Cold-weather inactivity is mainly reported through autumn and winter, with animals sheltering in soil, leaf litter, logs, rocks, hollow logs and other ground debris. Activity may continue in warm northern or coastal conditions, and some animals only slow down rather than enter true brumation.
  • Highest clearing risk: Risk is highest from May to August when cold-weather animals may be concealed in ground-level shelters and cannot readily escape machinery. December to February also carries increased risk because births and newborns occur then, while December to April may contain young near retained shelter.

Identification

This is a large, heavy-bodied skink with a banded colour pattern and a conspicuously blue tongue. It is mainly detected by direct observation, photographs or an animal found sheltering under ground cover, rather than by calls or distinctive tracks.

Adults have a broad head, short legs and a stout, elongate body. The species has a banded colour pattern, and the blue tongue is displayed when the animal is threatened or handled. Exact body length and weight were not provided in the supplied documents.

  • Treat a large, banded skink with a blue tongue as a potential Common Bluetongue until it is identified by a suitably experienced person.
  • Photograph the whole animal, the head and tongue, the dorsal pattern, and the surrounding habitat before release or relocation.

Identification: Similar species

The banded colour pattern helps separate the Common Bluetongue from other large skinks. The Yakka Skink, Egernia rugosa, is described as a similar large skink in part of the range, but it does not have the same banded pattern. Other potentially similar Egernia have spinose tails or different scalation.

  • Check the tail, body pattern, head and scalation rather than relying on size alone.
  • Do not use the presence of a blue tongue as the only identification feature, especially for a brief or obscured sighting.

Identification: Field signs

The supplied documents do not describe diagnostic tracks, scats, calls, nests, sloughs or eyeshine for this species. Individuals may remain in the same garden for years where food and shelter are available, so repeated sightings in one property can indicate a resident animal.

  • Search beneath likely shelter and around garden edges, compost areas and other places where ground cover remains undisturbed.
  • Record the exact location, habitat, photographs and direction of movement for every observation.
  • Avoid handling an animal unless required for authorised fauna management, as the blue tongue display is a defensive response.

Distribution: National range

Tiliqua scincoides is recorded from a broad part of Australia, with separate subspecies occupying eastern and northern regions. The supplied documents do not provide a bioregion-by-bioregion range, mapped strongholds, population estimates or a quantified population trend for the species as a whole.

The Reptile Database records the species from New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, south-eastern South Australia, Victoria and north-western Western Australia. The nominate subspecies occurs in south-eastern Australia, while Tiliqua scincoides intermedia occurs in northern Australia.

Recorded states and territory: New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia

Subspecies distribution noted: T. s. scincoides in south-eastern Australia; T. s. intermedia in northern Australia

Bioregional strongholds: Not specified in the supplied documents

Population size and trend: Not specified in the supplied documents

  • Use the relevant state or territory database and local ecological information to confirm the expected subspecies and conservation status at a project site.
  • Do not assume that a widespread national range means a local population is secure, particularly where the site supports a resident animal or retains connected shelter.

Distribution: Developed areas

The species is a common resident of many suburban gardens in south-east Queensland and may remain in one garden for years where food and shelter are available. This means that small retained habitat patches can have local value during construction and clearing.

  • Inspect gardens, reserves, road verges and other retained areas adjoining works, not only intact bushland.
  • Treat repeated records from a property or work area as evidence of a possible resident animal and check for safe movement routes before clearing begins.

Habitat: Habitat types

The Common Bluetongue uses terrestrial habitats ranging from suburban gardens to natural and semi-natural vegetation. The supplied documents give strongest support for habitat with accessible food, undisturbed ground shelter and low levels of persecution.

Recorded habitat information in the supplied documents includes suburban gardens, urban parks, garden edges and open compost areas. The broad distribution indicates use of a range of Australian terrestrial environments, but the supplied sources do not define particular vegetation communities, elevation limits or climate limits for the species as a whole.

  • Retain connected ground cover, garden refuges and vegetated edges where they occur within or beside the development footprint.
  • Assess both the work area and nearby retained land because animals can move between gardens, reserves and other patches of suitable habitat.

Habitat: Structural features

Useful site features include dense or persistent ground shelter, access to food plants and invertebrates, and areas where the animal can forage without repeated disturbance. Open compost heaps may be used for foraging, while garden shelter can support long-term occupancy.

  • Map rock piles, timber, dense vegetation, compost areas, leaf litter and other ground-level cover before clearing.
  • Stage clearing so that shelter is removed only after fauna checks and any required relocation or exclusion measures are in place.

Foraging habitat: Diet

The Common Bluetongue is an omnivore. It forages on the ground and can use both natural food resources and human food sources in gardens, which brings it into contact with pesticides, snail bait and domestic animals.

The documented natural diet includes insects, molluscs, plants and native fruits. In suburban areas, individuals may also eat mangoes, grapes, bananas and material available on open compost heaps.

Diet: Omnivorous

Recorded foods: Insects, molluscs, plants, native fruits, mangoes, grapes, bananas and compost material

  • Avoid applying insecticides, molluscicides and snail bait in retained or adjoining habitat where bluetongues may forage.
  • Cover or manage compost and food waste in a way that does not attract animals into active work areas.
  • Do not provide food as a mitigation measure, because it can attract animals to machinery, roads and domestic predators.

Foraging habitat: Foraging areas

The supplied documents do not provide a measured foraging range or home range. Garden edges, open compost areas and places with abundant slugs, snails and insects are likely to receive use where shelter is also available.

Foraging range: Not specified in the supplied documents

  • Inspect food-rich ground cover and garden edges before vegetation removal or soil disturbance.
  • Keep fauna spotter catchers alert around compost, mulch, dense vegetation and other areas where a basking or feeding animal may be concealed.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

The Common Bluetongue gives birth to live young rather than laying eggs. The supplied documents provide litter size and gestation information, but do not identify a specific breeding shelter, age at maturity, lifespan or month-by-month breeding period.

Mating is followed by the birth of live young after 3 to 5 months. Newborn young become independent within a few days, according to the supplied Queensland information.

Reproductive mode: Ovoviviparous, with live birth

Mating to birth: 3 to 5 months

Typical litter size: About 10 young

Maximum litter size reported: Up to 25 young

Independence of young: Young fend for themselves within a couple of days of birth

Age at maturity: Not specified in the supplied documents

Lifespan: Not specified in the supplied documents

  • Before clearing, check retained shelter and connected garden or bushland edges for adults and recently born young.
  • Avoid unnecessary disturbance of occupied habitat during the local period when mating or births are suspected, and obtain project-specific seasonal advice where the species is listed or locally sensitive.

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat features

Specific nesting or birthing structures are not described. As a live-bearing terrestrial skink, the species is likely to benefit locally from undisturbed ground cover, food-rich foraging areas and shelter that remains available to adults and young.

  • Retain connected ground cover and refuge features around known or suspected occupied habitat.
  • Inspect beneath removable shelter and along vegetation edges using approved fauna handling procedures before machinery enters the area.

Sheltering habitat: Known refuge context

Shelter is important for persistence in developed areas. The supplied documents do not describe fixed burrows, dens, hollows or refuge dimensions, but they show that animals can remain in gardens for years where shelter and food are available.

Common Bluetongues may live in suburban gardens for years when suitable food and shelter are present. The supplied documents do not identify a standard refuge type or provide dimensions for shelters used by this species.

Refuge dimensions: Not specified in the supplied documents

Fixed burrows or dens: Not described in the supplied documents

Hollows or roosts: Not relevantly described for this terrestrial skink

  • Search under timber, rocks, dense vegetation, mulch, garden debris and other ground-level cover before clearing or grading.
  • Check the bases and edges of retained vegetation, compost areas and garden structures where an animal can remain concealed during the day.
  • Retain a connected set of safe refuges outside the active work zone where practicable.

Sheltering habitat: Site management

Dogs and cats can kill or injure bluetongues, and dog attack is a leading recorded cause of death in urban areas. Work compounds, access tracks and temporary fencing can also restrict movement or expose animals to machinery and predators.

  • Use fauna fencing or staged clearing only where it has been designed for this species and checked regularly for trapped animals.
  • Control domestic dogs and cats around retained habitat and prevent access to active work areas.
  • Provide a clear, low-risk route away from machinery, roads and open excavations when an animal is detected.

Threats: Direct mortality and disturbance

Threats documented for the Common Bluetongue include domestic animal attack, invasive species interactions, pesticides and loss of suitable shelter. Clearing and construction can add direct mortality, habitat fragmentation and vehicle risk, particularly where animals occupy suburban or semi-natural patches.

Dog attack is a common cause of death and injury in urban areas. In Sunshine Coast Wildlife Hospital records from 2005 to 2017, 44 percent of bluetongue admissions from the local government area resulted from dog attacks. Road and construction risks are relevant wherever animals move between habitat patches, although the supplied documents do not quantify road mortality for this species.

Sunshine Coast hospital admissions attributed to dog attack: 44 percent of 840 bluetongue admissions from 2005 to 2017

Dog attack pattern in cited urban data: About 75 percent of dog attacks involved adults

Cat attack pattern in cited urban data: About 75 percent of cat attacks involved juveniles

  • Use a fauna spotter catcher during clearing and soil disturbance where required by approval conditions or risk assessment.
  • Apply low vehicle speeds, clear sight lines and pre-start checks in retained habitat and known movement areas.
  • Inspect open trenches, pits and temporary excavations at least daily, or more often where required by the project risk assessment, and provide escape measures suitable for reptiles.

Threats: Predators and invasive species

Known predators include kookaburras, some small raptors, large snakes, dogs, cats and foxes. In the Darwin region, surveys from 2005 to 2009 recorded a sharp decline in bluetongues after cane toads arrived. Cane toad toxin exposure may interact with exposure to toxic mother-of-millions, an introduced plant.

  • Prevent domestic animals from entering retained habitat and active fauna management areas.
  • Manage cane toads and invasive plants under the project weed and pest plan where authorised and relevant.
  • Do not assume that a site with bluetongues is unaffected by cane toad impacts simply because the animals are still present.

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

Removal of ground shelter, garden refuges and food-rich vegetation can make a site unsuitable even when larger vegetation remains. Fragmentation can increase exposure to roads, machinery, dogs and cats, but the supplied documents do not provide a measured minimum patch size or movement distance.

Minimum habitat patch size: Not specified in the supplied documents

Movement distance or home range: Not specified in the supplied documents

  • Map occupied habitat and nearby shelter before finalising the clearing boundary.
  • Retain links between shelter and foraging areas where practicable.
  • Clear progressively towards retained habitat so animals have an opportunity to move away from machinery, subject to project controls and fauna handling requirements.

Threats: Fire, disease and hydrology

The supplied documents do not identify a species-specific disease, fire threshold or hydrology requirement. These factors should still be considered where they remove ground shelter, alter food availability or change access to occupied habitat.

  • Record and retain available ground refuges when planning prescribed fire, hazard reduction or construction staging.
  • Seek project-specific ecological advice if drainage, inundation, dewatering or altered runoff will affect occupied habitat.
  • Do not infer absence from a failed search after fire, flooding, grading or other major habitat disturbance.

Survey methodology: 1. Daytime habitat search

Survey effort must be designed for the taxon and habitat affected by the project. Confirm whether the record concerns Common Bluetongue, Tiliqua scincoides, or the EPBC assessment taxon Northern Bluetongue Lizard, Tiliqua scincoides intermedia, because the supplied Australian Government document concerns the latter.

Search retained and impact areas during daylight for bluetongues, shelter sites and recent signs. Focus on garden-like habitat, ground cover, compost areas, dense vegetation, logs, rocks, debris and other sheltered places where skinks can forage or shelter.

Record all observations with a photograph, accurate location, habitat description and the direction of movement. The species is distributed across parts of New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and north-west Western Australia, so identification and taxon confirmation are important.

Reproduction: Ovoviviparous, with live young reported 3 to 5 months after mating and usually around 10 young, but as many as 25.

  • Walk the proposed disturbance footprint and all nearby retained habitat before clearing, including access tracks, stockpile areas and compound sites.
  • Inspect likely shelter locations without dismantling them unless this is authorised under the project fauna management plan.
  • Use photographs to support identification, particularly where a record may relate to an EPBC listed subspecies.

Survey methodology: 2. Spotlighting and nocturnal searches

Include nocturnal searches where the project area contains suitable shelter, food resources or connected suburban habitat. Bluetongues may remain in the same garden for years where food and shelter are available.

The supplied survey guideline extract does not provide a bluetongue-specific spotlighting effort or timing. Set the number of nights, search hours, transect length and repeat visits in the approved survey plan, based on the area, habitat and project risk.

  • Search slowly with a torch along edges of ground cover, logs, rocks, debris, compost areas, access routes and retained vegetation.
  • Complete searches in suitable weather and record temperature, rainfall, wind, start and finish times, observers and search area.
  • Do not treat a single negative night search as evidence that bluetongues are absent.

Survey methodology: 3. Shelter and refuge inspection

Inspect burrows, dense ground cover, debris piles and other potential refuges as part of the pre-clearance search. The supplied reptile guideline identifies searches for burrow systems, distant observation and torch inspection as useful approaches for some large Australian skinks, but its extract is for Yakka Skink, not Common Bluetongue.

Only lift or move logs, rocks, sheets and other cover under an approved fauna procedure, with a spotter catcher present and a safe replacement refuge available.

  • Search both the disturbance footprint and a suitable surrounding area that may receive relocated animals.
  • Mark occupied or potentially occupied refuges before machinery enters the area.
  • Record the location and condition of each refuge that is inspected or disturbed.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Prepare a project-specific survey design that states the search area, transect arrangement, number of observers, search hours, survey dates, weather conditions and detection limitations.
  • Use additional repeat searches where habitat is dense, access is restricted, the species is detected, or clearing will remove shelter and connectivity.
  • Obtain confirmation from the relevant state agency or project approval that the proposed effort meets permit and approval conditions.
  • Submit confirmed records, including negative survey information where required, to the relevant state wildlife database.
  • Report taxon, location, date, observer, evidence, habitat, condition and any action taken for every record.
  • Retain photographs, GPS files, field sheets, relocation records and injured-animal outcomes in the project environmental file.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise

Plan the work around the species' shelter, food and movement needs. Bluetongues use suburban gardens and other modified areas when food and cover are available, and they can remain at one site for years.

Retain connected areas of ground cover, dense vegetation, logs, rocks, debris refuges and other shelter wherever practicable. Avoid isolating retained habitat with roads, compounds, fences or cleared strips.

Retain foraging resources, including native plants, native fruits, insects and molluscs. Do not use snail bait or broad-spectrum pesticides in retained habitat unless the project risk assessment specifically allows them.

  • Keep a continuous link between retained habitat and nearby suitable refuge areas where the site layout allows.
  • Do not clear more area than the approved design requires.
  • Locate stockpiles, site sheds, lighting and access routes away from retained shelter and known records.
  • Treat dogs and cats as a project risk and exclude them from work areas and retained habitat.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and timing

Check the EPBC Act status and the applicable state listing before works begin. The Australian Government consultation document concerns eligibility of the Northern Bluetongue Lizard, Tiliqua scincoides intermedia, for the Critically Endangered category, so the project taxon must be confirmed against the approval or referral.

Obtain required state permits for handling, trapping, collection, relocation and rehabilitation. Follow any EPBC referral decision, approval condition, species management plan and fauna licence condition.

  • Refer the action under the EPBC Act if the proposed works may have a significant impact on the listed entity.
  • Confirm the relevant state authority, permit holder, fauna spotter catcher and wildlife rehabilitation contacts before mobilisation.
  • Schedule clearing outside the locally important activity or breeding period where the approval and ecological assessment identify one.
  • Stage clearing so that retained habitat remains available while each work area is searched and cleared.

Before habitat disturbance: Site preparation

Complete a pre-clearance survey immediately before disturbance and repeat it after any delay that could allow animals to move back into the work area. Mark all known records, refuge sites, retained habitat and exclusion zones on plans and in the field.

Use exclusion fencing only where it is appropriate to the site and does not trap animals inside the clearing area. Inspect fencing regularly and provide a controlled fauna escape or relocation process.

  • Brief all operators on the species' appearance, shelter use, stop-work rules and reporting chain.
  • Fence or flag retained refuge areas and prohibit vehicle access, materials storage and waste disposal within them.
  • Remove artificial shelter or debris progressively under fauna supervision rather than leaving it to be disturbed by machinery.
  • Confirm that the fauna spotter catcher has the required authority, equipment, release locations and wildlife carer or veterinary contacts.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls

Use a supervised, staged clearing process. The fauna spotter catcher must have clear authority to stop work and must remain close enough to inspect habitat before machinery disturbs it.

Hold a daily pre-start briefing covering the clearing boundary, retained habitat, weather, previous records, exclusion zones and the stop-work process.

Inspect the active work area each morning and after breaks, rain or other delays. Bluetongues can use shelter in gardens, debris and ground cover, so check these features before machinery moves.

  • Keep machinery within the approved clearing limits and maintain a slow, supervised sequence from cleared ground towards retained habitat where that arrangement is safe and suitable.
  • Use a fauna spotter catcher to inspect each section immediately before clearing and to watch the machine during disturbance.
  • Prevent workers, vehicles and materials from entering fenced retained habitat.
  • Keep dogs, cats and unauthorised people out of the clearing area.
  • Record the date, crew, machinery, area cleared, weather, searches, fauna sightings and incidents each day.

During habitat disturbance: Handling and relocation

If a bluetongue is found, stop the relevant activity and allow the fauna spotter catcher to assess it. Only an appropriately authorised person should capture, handle or relocate the animal.

Relocate an uninjured animal to nearby suitable retained habitat that is outside the work area, connected where practicable, and agreed in the fauna management plan. Do not move it to an unrelated site or release it into unsuitable exposed ground.

Minimise handling time, heat exposure and disturbance. Follow the permit and project procedure for containers, temperature, release timing and records.

  • Do not pick up an animal unless capture is necessary for safety, approved relocation or veterinary assessment.
  • Keep the animal separate from machinery, workers, dogs and cats while its condition and release location are assessed.
  • Take injured animals promptly to the nominated veterinarian or authorised wildlife carer and record the outcome.
  • Report any death, injury, escape, unauthorised handling or relocation outside the approved area to the environmental manager and relevant authority.

During habitat disturbance: Habitat feature controls and stop work

Treat logs, rocks, debris, dense ground cover, burrows and compost-like shelter as potential refuges. Move or remove them only under spotter catcher supervision and only after an inspection.

Stop work if an animal is found, if an occupied or potentially occupied refuge cannot be safely inspected, if exclusion fencing fails, or if clearing moves outside the approved footprint.

Stop work and review controls if repeated records show that animals are using the work area or moving through an unprotected connection between retained areas.

  • Do not bury, burn, crush or stockpile a potential refuge before it has been checked.
  • Make the area safe, keep machinery stationary and establish a temporary exclusion zone around a found animal.
  • Resume work only when the animal has been safely managed and the fauna spotter catcher or authorised environmental representative releases the area.
  • Photograph and map significant habitat features that are removed, retained or reinstated.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

The project environmental officer should verify that clearing controls worked, that retained habitat remains usable and that all fauna records and incidents have been closed out.

Inspect the cleared area after each staged section and again at the end of clearing for trapped, injured or overlooked bluetongues. Check fence lines, stockpiles, drains, pits and other places where an animal could become confined.

Confirm that retained shelter and movement links have not been damaged by vehicles, sediment, waste, lighting or accidental encroachment.

  • Complete a final supervised walkover of the footprint and adjoining retained habitat.
  • Remove temporary exclusion fencing only after the environmental officer confirms that no animal remains inside and that construction risks are controlled.
  • Close out every fauna record with its location, action, release or treatment outcome and photographs where available.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

Monitor known release areas and retained habitat at the frequency required by the approval or fauna management plan. Use repeat daytime and nocturnal searches where the project removed shelter or where animals were relocated.

Report project impacts, relocations, injuries, deaths, unexpected records and control failures to the approval holder and relevant state and Australian Government authorities.

  • Submit confirmed species records to the relevant state wildlife database.
  • Compare post-work observations with pre-clearance records and investigate a marked reduction in use where monitoring is required.
  • Maintain exclusion fencing, refuge areas, weed controls and predator controls until the environmental manager signs them off.
  • Review the fauna management plan if construction changes affect retained habitat or movement connections.

After habitat disturbance: Offsets and approval commitments

Check whether the EPBC approval, state approval or planning instrument requires an offset, restoration commitment, compensatory habitat or additional monitoring. Do not substitute an offset for avoiding and minimising direct disturbance.

Document the area of habitat retained, cleared, restored or protected, and provide the evidence required by the approval.

  • Obtain written confirmation from the relevant approval authority where an offset or variation is proposed.
  • Link any offset or compensatory action to the correct listed entity and state taxon.
  • Keep approval correspondence, spatial data and completion evidence with the project records.

Rehabilitation actions: Rebuild shelter and food resources

Rehabilitation should rebuild sheltered ground habitat and connected foraging areas used by bluetongues. The supplied documents do not specify a standard plant list, habitat area, monitoring period or success threshold, so these must be set by the project ecologist and approval conditions for the local population.

Use locally appropriate native plants that provide dense ground cover and native fruits, and allow natural insect and mollusc prey to return. The species also eats plants, insects, molluscs and native fruits, and may use open compost areas in suburban settings.

Reinstate suitable logs, rocks and other natural ground refuges where their placement is safe and consistent with the approved rehabilitation design.

  • Use local provenance plants where required by the rehabilitation plan and protect new plantings from vehicles and mowing.
  • Do not introduce cane toads, mother-of-millions or other invasive species as part of rehabilitation.
  • Do not use snail bait or pesticides in restored habitat unless approved controls demonstrate that bluetongues will not be exposed.
  • Connect restored areas to retained habitat rather than creating isolated planting islands.

Rehabilitation actions: Predator, weed and fire controls

Manage weeds so that native ground cover and refuge structure can establish. Control domestic dogs and cats around restored habitat, because dog and cat attacks are recorded causes of bluetongue injury and death in urban areas.

Set fire management actions with the land manager and local ecological advice. The supplied documents do not provide a species-specific fire interval or fire intensity, so do not apply an unsupported prescription.

  • Inspect restored areas for weed invasion, erosion, exposed shelter and predator access.
  • Keep construction waste, artificial hazards and unsecured pits out of restored habitat.
  • Use fire planning that retains refuge cover and avoids burning the full connected habitat area at once where this is consistent with the approved plan.
  • Record weed, predator and fire management actions and their results.

Rehabilitation actions: Success monitoring

Monitor plant establishment, ground cover, refuge condition, connectivity and bluetongue use. Use the same observation methods and recording standards as the pre-clearance surveys so results can be compared.

Treat repeated bluetongue records, intact refuge structure and continued habitat connection as useful indicators, but set the formal completion criteria in the rehabilitation plan or approval.

  • Inspect restored habitat during daylight for shelter use, tracks, animals and damage.
  • Repeat nocturnal searches where they formed part of the baseline survey or where the approval requires them.
  • Map rehabilitation areas and retain photographs from fixed points and comparable locations.
  • Repair failed plantings, eroded areas, damaged refuges and broken exclusion controls before the next monitoring inspection.
  • Submit significant records to the relevant state wildlife database and report rehabilitation results under the project approval.

Sources