Editing Cape Arid National Park

{{short description|National park of Western Australia}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type                   = protected
| name                   = Cape Arid National Park
| state                  = wa
| iucn_category          = II
| image                  = Yokinup Bay WA.JPG
| caption                = Yokinup Bay, Cape Arid
| image_alt              = 
| local_map   = yes
| zoom        = 8
| coordinates            = {{coord|33|42|14|S|123|22|10|E|display=inline,title}}
| relief                 = yes
| pushpin_label_position = top
| map_alt                = 
| nearest_town_or_city   = 
| area                   = 2794.46
| area_footnotes         = <ref name="ParkAreas">{{cite journal|year=2010 |title=Department of Environment and Conservation 2009–2010 Annual Report |journal=Annual Report |pages=48 |publisher=Department of Environment and Conservation |issn=1835-114X |url=http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/content/view/6139/2345/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111124319/http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/content/view/6139/2345/ |archive-date=11 January 2011 |df=dmy }}</ref>
| established            = 1969
| established_footnotes  = 
| visitation_num         = 
| visitation_year        = 
| visitation_footnotes   = 
| managing_authorities   = [[Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia)|Department of Environment and Conservation]]
| url                    = 
}}

'''Cape Arid National Park''' is a [[List of national parks of Australia|national park]] located in [[Western Australia]], {{convert|731|km|mi|0}} southeast of [[Perth]]. The park is situated {{convert|120|km|mi|0}} east of [[Esperance, Western Australia|Esperance]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.breakloose.com.au/html/adventure_articles/regional/wa/golden_outback/es_cape_arid_np.php |title=Australian Adventure Directory - A guide to Cape Arid National Park at Esperance, Western Australia |year=2009 |access-date=29 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108130529/http://www.breakloose.com.au/html/adventure_articles/regional/wa/golden_outback/es_cape_arid_np.php |archive-date=8 January 2009}}</ref> and lies on the shore of the [[South coast of Western Australia|south coast]] from the eastern end of the [[Recherche Archipelago]].

The bay at its eastern side is [[Israelite Bay]], a locality often mentioned in [[Bureau of Meteorology]] weather reports as a geographical marker.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bom.gov.au/wa/forecasts/eucla-coast.shtml|title=Eucla Coastal Waters|access-date=20 June 2023}}</ref> The western end is known as Duke of Orleans Bay.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Chalmers, C. E. (Colin E.) | author2=Western Australia. Department of Conservation and Environment | author3=Western Australia | author4=Chalmers, Colin | title=Duke of Orleans Bay Regional Park plan of development and management | publication-date=1983 | publisher=Dept. of Conservation and Environment | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/21539381 | access-date=20 June 2023}}</ref>
Its coastline is defined by Cape Arid, a bay called Sandy Bight<ref>{{Citation | author1=Australia. Division of National Mapping | title=Sandy Bight | publication-date=1982 | publisher=NATMAP | edition=1st | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/24901398 | access-date=20 June 2023}}</ref> and, further east, Cape Pasley.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/gazd01?rec=277920 |title=Place Names Search: Cape Pesley |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia 2010 |access-date=4 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604234216/http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/gazd01?rec=277920 |archive-date=4 June 2011 }}</ref>

The [[Suburbs and localities (Australia)|locality]] of Cape Arid of the [[Shire of Esperance]] shares almost identical boundaries with the national park, the exception being a number of roads passing through the park and locality which are part of the latter but not the former.<ref name=Slipmap >{{cite web |url=https://maps.slip.wa.gov.au/landgate/locate/ |title=SLIP Map |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=maps.slip.wa.gov.au |publisher=[[Landgate]] |access-date=24 December 2024 |quote=}}</ref><ref name=Nationalmap >{{cite web |url=https://nationalmap.gov.au/ |title=NationalMap |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=nationalmap.gov.au |publisher=[[Geoscience Australia]] |access-date=24 December 2024 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/capad2022-terrestrial-wa.xlsx |title=Terrestrial CAPAD 2022 WA summary |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=www.dcceew.gov.au/ |publisher=[[Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water]] |access-date=24 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/land/nrs/science/capad/dashboard |title=Australian Protected Areas Dashboard |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=www.dcceew.gov.au/ |publisher=[[Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water]] |access-date=24 December 2024}}</ref>

==History==
The first European to discover the area was the French Admiral [[Bruni D'Entrecasteaux]] in 1792 and he named it ''Cap Aride''; [[Matthew Flinders]] anglicized the name in 1802 and the park took its name from this feature.

Pioneer [[Pastoral farming|grazier]]s arrived in the area in the 1870s and the ruins of homesteads, dams and buildings as well as gravesites can be found near Pine Hill and Thomas Fishery.

Bay whaling was conducted by Thomas Sherratt at Barrier Anchorage in the 1870s.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Gibbs, Martin | author2=Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology | author3=Gibbs, Martin | title=The shore whalers of Western Australia : historical archaeology of a maritime frontier | publication-date=2010 | publisher=Sydney University Press | isbn=978-1-920899-62-2}} pp.&nbsp;142–3.</ref> John Thomas also seems to have had a bay whaling operation in the 1860s at Thomas's Fishery.

As a result of the [[2015 Esperance bushfires]] up to 90% of the remaining [[Western Ground Parrot]] habitat within the park was burned.<ref name=parrot1>{{cite news|last1=Shine|first1=Rhiannon|title=Fears for rare western ground parrot after Esperance fires destroy 90 per cent of habitat|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-30/fears-for-rare-western-ground-parrot-after-esperance-fires/6987740|accessdate=4 May 2016|work=ABC News|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=30 November 2015}}</ref><ref name=parrot2>{{cite news|author1=Rhiannon Shine|author2=Sam Tomlin|title=Western ground parrot 'facing extinction' after devastating Esperance bushfires|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-21/western-ground-parrot-on-precipice-of-extinction-expert-says/7105544|accessdate=4 May 2016|work=ABC News|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=22 January 2016}}</ref> Much of the habitat had already been burned by a bushfire in Cape Arid National Park during October of the same year.<ref name=parrot1/> Prior to the fires, there were believed to be only 140 individual parrots living in the wild, and the number was estimated to have been reduced to only 30–40 as a result of the damage caused by the fires.<ref name=parrot1/><ref name=parrot2/> The widespread destruction of dense vegetation the ground-dwelling birds rely on for nesting prompted discussion that the critically endangered parrot could "...&nbsp;become the first bird in at least 200 years to become extinct in Western Australia".<ref name=parrot1/><ref name=parrot2/> Two parrots—a male and a female—were rescued from the Cape Arid fire ground and taken to [[Perth Zoo]] for inclusion in a [[captive breeding]] program, however both birds died in captivity.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jorgensen|first1=Cari|title=90 Percent of Western Ground Parrot Habitat Destroyed By Fire In Australia|url=http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-news/2015/12/03/90-percent-of-western-ground-parrot-habitat-destroyed-by-fire-in-australia-trending.aspx|website=BirdChannel|publisher=I-5 Publishing|accessdate=6 May 2016|date=3 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Shine|first1=Rhiannon|title=Perth Zoo's western ground parrot breeding program suffers setback after death of two birds|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-06/rare-parrots-die-in-captivity/7070996|accessdate=6 May 2016|work=ABC News|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=6 January 2016}}</ref>

==Environment==

===Geography===
[[File:Tagon Bay WA.JPG|thumb|left|Tagon Bay]]
[[File:Bay near Tagon Point WA.JPG|thumb|left|Bay near Tagon Point]]
The area is composed of sandy beaches and rocky headlands to the south with low [[granite]] hills extending to the north to join the jagged Russell Range that is primarily composed of pre-cambrian [[quartzite]]. The highest point of the park is Tower Peak, located within the Range, which reaches a height of {{convert|594|m|ft|0}}. Sand-plains that are rich in flora surround the hill areas.

The eastern boundary of the park joins the western side of [[Nuytsland Nature Reserve]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=4229&Itemid= |title=Department of Environment and Conservation - Cape Arid and Eucla National Parks |year=2007 |access-date=15 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128015925/http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=4229&Itemid= |archive-date=28 January 2011}}</ref> [[Ngadju Indigenous Protected Area]] adjoins the park on the north.

===Fauna===
A wide variety of [[habitat]] exists within the park which supports a wide variety of flora and fauna. The park is an important site for the bird life in Western Australia. It is home to over 160 species of birds including some that are endangered and restricted. Some of the birds found in the park include: the [[western ground parrot]], the [[Australasian bittern]], [[Short-billed black cockatoo|Carnaby's cockatoo]] and [[Cape Barren goose|Cape Barren geese]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/component/option,com_hotproperty/task,view/id,106/Itemid,755/|title=Department of Environment and Conservation - Parkfinder - Cape Arid National Park |year=2009|access-date=26 September 2010}}</ref>

Fauna that can be found include the [[western brush wallaby]], [[quenda]], the southern [[bush rat]], many small [[marsupial]] predators and a variety of [[reptile]]s and [[amphibian]]s.

A rare and primitive species of [[ant]] of the [[genus]] ''[[Nothomyrmecia]]'' is thought to inhabit the area.<ref>{{cite AHD|9814|Cape Arid National Park|date=2010|access-date=21 November 2010}}</ref>

===Flora===
Vegetation found within the park is mostly on young dune systems that have large communities of coastal heath with smaller systems of [[Eucalyptus cornuta|yate]], [[banksia]], [[paperbark]] and [[Mallee (habit)|mallee]].
Species of [[orchid]] and [[fern]]s exist near Mount Ragged including a small population of the sticky-tail flower (''Anthocersis viscosa'').

===Trails===
Many walk trails can be found in the park, including the Len Otte Nature Trail, Tagon Coastal Trail, Boolenup Walk Trail and walks up both Mount Ragged and Mount Arid. The most accessible campsite is at [[Thomas River]] with conventional drive access, [[barbecue]]s, toilets and water tanks. Other campsites at Mount Ragged, Poison Creek and Deal Creek are only accessible by [[four-wheel drive]] vehicles.

==See also==
* [[Protected areas of Western Australia]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{National Parks of Western Australia}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:National parks of Western Australia]]
[[Category:Goldfields–Esperance]]
[[Category:Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1969]]
[[Category:Whaling stations in Australia]]
[[Category:South coast of Western Australia]]