Flinders Chase National Park

Flinders Chase National Park (formerly Flinders Chase) is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located at the west end of Kangaroo Island about Template:Convert west-south west of the state capital of Adelaide and Template:Convert west of the municipal seat of Kingscote. It is a sanctuary for endangered species and home to a few geological phenomena. It was the second national park to be declared in South Australia.<ref>flightcentre.com.auTemplate:Failed verification</ref>

Flinders Chase National Park consists of three sections - an area of coastal landscapes around Cape du Couedic in the south west corner of the island, the Gosse Lands in the centre of the west end of the island and the former Cape Borda Lightstation reserve in the north west corner of the island.

Description

Location

Flinders Chase National Park is located at the north-western end of Kangaroo Island in South Australia approximately Template:Convert west of Kingscote.<ref name=page5/> It is located within the gazetted localities of Flinders Chase, Gosse and Karatta.<ref name=FlindersChase>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=Gosse>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=Karatta>Template:Cite web</ref>

Extent

As of 1993, the national park consists of three separate parcels of land:<ref name=page5>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=PA2015>Template:Cite web</ref>

• Cape du Couedic which is refers to the main parcel of land within the national park and which is bounded at the north by the West Bay Road and the West Melrose Track, to the east by the West End Highway and an unsealed track called the Sand Dune Track; and the portion of coastline extending from West Bay in the west to Cape du Couedic in the south and to Sanderson Bay in the east. This portion of the national park includes the following islands - Paisley Islet (also known as West Bay Island) at West Bay and the Casuarina Islets immediately south of Cape du Couedic.
• The Gosse Lands - a parcel of land which is bounded by the Playford Highway to the north and the West End Highway to the west.
• The former lighthouse reserve at Cape Borda.

Protected area designation

The national park is classified as an IUCN category II protected area.<ref name=CAPAD2016SASum/>

History

Template:OSM Location map Following a deputation of scientists in 1906,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the premier, Tom Price, agreed to set aside the Cape Borda lighthouse reserve of 61 square miles as a nature reserve.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and in 1909 the South Australian government converted another 79 square miles of what had been pastoral reserve to a nature reserve,Template:Efn under the control of the Fauna and Flora Board. The board had asked for 300 square miles but the additional properties needed had already been leased, and the lessees, who had yet to make any improvements,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> demanded £28,000 as compensation for losing what they had been getting for £28 per year<ref name=Register08>Template:Cite news</ref> Professor Stirling urged that when those leases expired they be turned over to the Board.<ref name=Register08/>

The reserve was named Flinders Chase at the suggestion of Samuel Dixon<ref name=reserve>Template:Cite news "Chase" is an old English term for a private game reserve.</ref> (died 1927).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Apart from its intended use as a habitat for koalas and other mammals, it was considered a likely refuge for the lyre bird, "pheasant" (perhaps the malleefowl, [Leipoa ocellata]) and "bush turkey" (perhaps Australian brushturkey, [Alectura lathami]), all threatened on the mainland due to depredations by foxes.<ref name=reserve/> The Rocky River was touted as a platypus reserve.

Parts of the national park first acquired protected area status as a 'flora and fauna reserve' declared on 16 October 1919 under the Fauna and Flora Reserve Act 1919, an act whose specific purpose was:<ref name=SAGG/>

…to establish a Reserve on Kangaroo Island for the Protection, Preservation, and Propagation of Australasian Fauna and Flora, and to provide for the Control of such Reserve, and for other purposes.

No funds were made available for fencing or provision of a ranger however, and the laws regarding burning, shooting, poisoning and taking of protected species were unenforceable and broken with impunity.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1922 the government brought the Chase's total area close to Template:Convert<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> by the addition of the Rocky River freehold and leases south of Rocky River to the landing reserve by the Cape du Couedic lighthouse. The Chase's eastern boundary was now a straight line running south from the De Mole River mouth to the island's south coast.<ref name=News24>Template:Cite news</ref> It also gave the board a couple of cottages for the use of a ranger and visitors.<ref name=News24/>

It was constituted as a national park upon the proclamation of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 on 27 April 1972 which repealed five items of existing legislation including the Fauna and Flora Reserve Act 1919.<ref name=SAGG-NPWact>Template:Cite journal</ref> At proclamation in 1972, it consisted of the following land in the following cadastral units as well as the entirety of the Casuarina Islets - section 11 in the Hundred of Borda, section 64 in the Hundred of Gosse, section 17 in the Hundred of McDonald and section 66 in "South out of Hundreds".<ref name=NPWact>Template:Cite Legislation AU</ref>

On 15 October 1993, land in section 11 of the Hundred of Borda, section 64 of Hundred of Gosse and Allotments 50 and 52 in DP 38340 and with an area of Template:Convert was removed from the national park and constituted under the Wilderness Protection Act 1992 as the Ravine des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area.<ref name=CAPAD2016SASum/><ref name="SAGG-1993">Template:Cite web</ref>

Sanctuary

Since creation in November 1919, it has become a sanctuary for endangered species, some of them introduced from the mainland in the 1920s and 1930s. During the 1940s, 23 additional species were introduced, including koalas (1923) and platypus (1928). Most of these species can still be observed today. Kangaroos, goannas and echidnas<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> are commonly seen in the national park.Template:Citation needed

Little penguins

Little penguins have been recorded in Flinders Chase in the 1920s,<ref>"Cape de Coudie Light. Guarding rocky coast. Lighthouse keeper's life." The Mail, South Australia (1926-01-23). Retrieved 2014-03-13.</ref> 1930s,<ref>Hill, Ernestine "A Southern Eden. Flinders Chase and its family" The Advertiser, South Australia (1936-09-05). Retrieved 2014-03-13.</ref><ref>"Sanctuary - Flinders Chase" The Mail, South Australia (1935-03-30). Retrieved 2014-03-13.</ref> 1940s,<ref>"Preserving our wildlife - Work being done at Flinders Chase" The Advertiser, South Australia (1946-02-13). Retrieved 2014-03-12.</ref> and 1950s.<ref>N.Q. Naturalists Club "Current Nature Notes. Flinders Chase, Kangaroo Island." Townsville Daily Bulletin, Queensland, Australia (1953-04-25). Retrieved 2014-03-13.</ref> It is believed that these colonies have since gone extinct, partly due to the increase of long-nosed fur seal populations after the end of commercial sealing. In 1886, little penguins were seen at Admiral's Arch.<ref>"Trip across Kangaroo Island" South Australian Register, South Australia (1886-12-07). Retrieved 2014-03-13.</ref>

Geological monuments

File:Remarkable Rocks granite dome.jpg

The Remarkable Rocks granite dome. The boardwalk was built after the 2020 fires.

The national park contains two geological features that have been listed as geological monuments by the Geological Society of Australia: Cape du Couedic and Remarkable Rocks.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Remarkable Rocks are naturally sculptured formations precariously balanced atop a granite outcrop. They remind visitors of the sculptures of Henry Moore.<ref name="ReidWashingtonPost">Template:Cite news</ref>

Fire

Lightning strikes on Thursday 6 December 2007 caused approximately Template:Convert of land in both the national park and the adjoining Ravine des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area to be burnt, before being brought under control ten days later.<ref name="FMP">Template:Cite web</ref> The national park was again damaged during the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with the Visitor Centre completely destroyed.

Gallery

• An echidna at Flinders Chase National Park
  An echidna at Flinders Chase National Park
• Remarkable Rocks
  Remarkable Rocks
• Admirals Arch
  Admirals Arch
• View from Bunker Hill lookout
  View from Bunker Hill lookout
• Western grey kangaroo
  Western grey kangaroo
• Cape de Couedic
  Cape de Couedic
• Flinders Chase Visitor Centre
  Flinders Chase Visitor Centre

See also

• Protected areas of South Australia
• Loch Vennachar
• 2007 Kangaroo Island bushfires
• Rocky River (Kangaroo Island)
• Field Naturalists Society of South Australia

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline
• Template:Wikivoyage-inline
• Flinders Chase National Park official webpage
• Flinders Chase National Park webpage on protected planet