Alex,+Hannah,+Saasha+and+Riley

__**Kinglake National Park**__ By Alex Wake, Hannah Watson, Saasha Whitworth and Riley Wilson

__"Kinglake, north of Melbourne, has been among the hardest hit in the Victorian bushfire**"** __ 200 people died on Saturday 7 February 2009, this day was called black Saturday. It was a really windy day and when the fire started it was almost impossible to stop. It was a terrifying time for everyone in and around the fires. Everyone says it was such a loss loosing around 200 people, but what about the animals? They lost there, homes, food, environment and lives. Around 96 percent of kinglake national park was burnt. It’s crazy to think that some of the 400 fires could have been lit deliberately! Wildlife and regrowth in kinglake national park is slowly returning to bushfire-affected areas, as trees and plants damaged by the fires regenerate. Rangers in Kinglake National Park last week spotted the first koala in the park since Black Saturday. A park ranger said the koala was a healthy young male. “It was a welcome surprise to see this animal back in the burnt forest this soon after the fire,” another ranger said said. Wildlife are now coming back and regrowth is getting better but it still has a long way to go, the community have been helping and volunteering with the animals and making sure they have enough food and water. It was a devastating day, with lots of memories that people, and animals will never forget. [|To view our map, click here] media type="custom" key="10263881" This link is to a movie that shows the after footage of the fires and the year later regrowth. [] (movie: recovery of the forest)

**Three endangered animals at Kinglake National Park... ** 1) The Brush-tailed Phascogale!   The endangered Brush tailed phascogale is feared locally extinct after last year’s bushfires destroyed much of its habitat. Not a single brush-tailed phascogale was found during a recent survey of the species in the Kinglake National Park. A ranger said the fires affected around 96% of the park. An early survey found no phascogale in the park, or the nearby Warrandyte Kinglake Nature Conservation Reserve.

 Since the fires there hasn’t been much for these possums to live on, (if there  are any left in the area) they like old, rotting logs and they got burnt in the fires, and they like spiders and beetles to eat but not many of those in the ﻿area at the moment either. Rangers and volunteers have been working on linking the burnt land with the not burnt reserve to encourage native animals to return to kinglake. On April, 2011 there were some sightings of phascogales, but some of those included road kill. The brush tailed phascogale is listed vulnerable in Victoria and threatened in New South Wales. Residents are asked to report sightings of brush-tailed phascogales, including road kill, to Parks Victoria.

The Brush-tailed Phascogale is a carnivorous, nocturnal marsupial that spends most of its time in trees and in tree trunks. The top of the head, back, legs and arms are covered in deep grey fur, with a pale creamy coloured underbelly. There ears are bald and its tail is a deep brown and black colour that is around the same length as their body. A male’s body is about 20 centimeters and the female’s body is about 17 centimeters, male species do not live past the age of one, as they die after breeding season. Breeding occurs between June and August. Brush-tailed Phascogale are a rare endangered species that if not looked after they may become extinct. The Brushed-tailed Phascogale lives throughout all states of Australia. <span style="color: #a700ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">There are two main predators to The Brush-tailed Phascogale. <span style="color: #a700ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The main predators to The Brushed-tailed Phascogale are Feral Cats and Red Fox’s, The Brushed-tailed Phascogale is said to have disappeared from roughly half of their former habitats. <span style="color: #a700ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Brushed-tailed Phascogale is a carnivorous animal. It eats smaller mammals, birds, lizards, and insects partially spiders. <span style="color: #a700ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> It also drinks nectar from flowering trees.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">__//**2) THE SCOOTY OWL!**//__ <span style="color: #119211; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 115%;">The sooty owl was unfortunately on the edge of the black Saturday fire at kinglake national park. The sooty owl, is a medium sized owl, they have white spots on their heads with white spots on the wings. They have large dark piercing eyes. Their face is a very dark grey or sooty black, which is how they got there name. The upper part of the owl is black and the under part is lighter. The sooty owl is nocturnal and hides in hollow tree trunks, caves and in tall trees with heavy foliage. When the fires came they swooped through and burnt the trees with there homes I them. The owl is rarely seen or heard they are very territorial. They eat large marsupials like mice and rats, but they occasionally eat birds and insects. Sooty Owls remain in the same area throughout their adult lives, so when the fires hit, they had to go off and find a new place to go because they couldn’t go back because there would be no habitat, environment or food for them. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">==

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">3)The wedge tailed eagle
<span style="color: #ff0084; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The wedge tail eagle was largely effected in the 2009 Kinglake bushfires. Its habitat was totally destroyed. The Wedge-tailed Eagle has long wings it has the wingspan of 2.3 m. The legs are feathered all the way to the base of the toes. The bill is pale pink to cream colour, the eyes are brown to dark brown, and the feet are an off-white colour.

<span style="color: #ff0084; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wedge-tailed Eagles eat both live prey and carrion. Their diet reflects the available prey, but the most important live items are rabbits and hares. Rabbits usually comprise about 30-70% of the diet. The wedge-tailed eagle is distributed over the entire Australian continent. It is more commonly found in open woodland areas, which have a good grassy ground cover like kinglake national park. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">

[] This movie is about raising money for the animals of Kinglake that were affected by the fires.

<span style="background-color: #d0ebd0; color: #008080; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">__**The Lorax!**__ <span style="background-color: #d0ebd0; color: #008080; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 80%; text-align: center;">//**(if the Lorax knew about the victorian bushfires heres what we think he would say)**// I am the lorax and I speak for the trees,  Speak for the trees,   For the trees have no tongues,    And I’m asking the bushfires at the top of my lungs. Why did you do this to my loving trees? They’re homes for the wildlife, and the buzzing bees  No one can sing from all this smoke    Not even the swomee swans just a choky choke choke Your greedy, greedy I say   Greedy for taking the trees away   The smoke covers all    It’s not very small Please I object, in the name of the trees   Stop burning about, we’d rather freeze   You’ve ruined the greenery   From this lovely scenery Please, please I wish to object,  The trees take years to grow with affect   The trees let us breath don’t burn them away    We need them and use them, every single day They say im a fool   To oppose things like these   But im going to continue   To speak For the trees Yes I am the lorax that speaks for the trees  Which you just keep burning as fast a you please   I am the lorax, and I’m here to say   Think before you burn all of nature away!

__** I[|f you dont know the story of the Lorax, click here] **__