Biodiversity in Our City

Some of the plants in Canning are so special and rare they are included as threatened and priority flora under the State’s Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.

Flora species that are considered critically endangered, vulnerable, extinct or extinct in the wild are listed in the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attraction’s List of Threatened and Priority Flora. A list of Canning species can also be found in the City’s Local Biodiversity Strategy.

Canning is lucky enough to have several Bush Forever sites. Bush Forever is the Western Australian strategic plan for the conservation of bushland on the Swan Coastal Plain in the Perth Metropolitan region. The plan protects significant bushland areas by ensuring they are considered in land-use planning and decision-making.

For more information on Bush Forever, visit the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage website.

City of Canning, Bush Forever sites include:

• Canning River Regional Park
• McDowell Street Bush Plan
• Queens Park Regional Open Space
• Yagan Wetland Reserve
• Jandakot Regional Park and surrounding areas
    

The Quenda (Isoodon obesulus subsp. fusciventer), or bandicoot, is a small marsupial with a pointed head, round ears, short limbs and a tapered dark brown tail. They have fur that is dark grey to brown-yellow with an underside that is cream coloured.

Quendas are omnivorous and consume a range of foods including insects, plant roots, tubers and fungi and provide various ecological benefits to bushland. The quenda can be found in scrubby, often swampy, vegetation types with a dense understory.  

Quendas are subject to a range of threats including habitat fragmentation, predation from feral and domestic animals and motor vehicles strikes. 

With assistance from environmental volunteer groups and residents, we are helping to protect this species by maintaining and enhancing their preferred habitat, creating wildlife corridors and controlling exotic predators. You can also help protect our quenda by:

• watching out for quendas when driving past reserves as they may stray onto the road
• plant native gardens that creates habitat 
• keep cats contained within your property and ensure dogs are on leash

The City is fortunate to support two threatened black cockatoo species which are found nowhere else in the world but the southwest of Australia.

Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo (Zanda latirostris) is black with narrow off-white fringes to its feathers. Their tails also have large white panels and can grow to an average size of 55cms.

Likewise, the Forest Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii) is a glossy black with scarlet panels on their tails, also growing to an average size of 55cms.

Carnaby’s black cockatoos spend time foraging on the Swan Coastal Plain, including Canning, in non-breeding times between Kambarang (spring) to Makuru (winter).

The Forest Red-tailed Black Cockatoo movements have changed over time. Historically, it was unusual to the see the Forest red-tailed black cockatoo move from the Darling Range, however, over recent years, the birds can be observed throughout the year searching for food and water on the Swan Coastal Plain, which puts them at increased risk of vehicle strikes and other threats.

The City undertakes a range of activities to protect these species including revegetation and the installation of cockatoo nesting boxes and watering stations.

For further information on black cockatoo species, visit:

• Black cockatoos on the Swan Coastal Plain – report by the WA Museum
• Birdlife Australia Black Cockatoo Recovery Program website

Residents are encouraged to make better choices and help protect our native wildlife by using bird friendly rodent controls around the home.

Many of the most commonly used rodent poisons around the home are second generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs). These poisons don't kill rodents instantly and often results in secondary poisoning of many native birds and animals that feed on rats and mice.

Studies in Australia have found harmful, and often fatal levels of SGARs in dead birds of prey, including Southern Boobooks, Wedge-tailed Eagles, and Powerful Owls. They have also been indicated in the deaths of native reptiles, marsupials, and domestic pets.

Residents can help by:

• avoiding the use of SGARs
• promoting bird friendly environments outdoors
• using other forms of rodent control to avoid rodent infestations.

The City encourages residents to replace SGARs with first generation anticoagulant rodenticides (FGARs), which breakdown more quickly so there is less chance of larger animals experiencing secondary poisoning.

See a full list of what to avoid and what to buy.

For more information, visit the Birdlife website or find other ways to be involved.
 

If you come across injured or sick animals and birds, please call the WA Wildcare Helpline on 9474 9055 for further advice who can refer you to a wider network of animal rescue centres for assistance.

Other animal rescue and rehabilitation centres within Perth that you can bring injured wildlife to:

 
Snakes

If you see a snake in a City managed park, leave it alone and do not bother it in any way. If it doesn't move away, phone the City to arrange for it to be relocated to a more suitable area. Please note, this service is not available after business hours.

If you see a snake in another location and have questions about snake safety or reptile behaviour, please call the Wildcare Helpline on 9474 9055.

The Wildcare Helpline no longer offers a volunteer call out service for the relocation of reptiles. If you require the removal or relocation of reptiles on private property, please contact a pest control service or volunteer reptile handler/snake catcher via an online search.