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Wildlife Survey Results

The survey was carried out by Gosford City Council, in collaboration with Wyong Shire Council and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. The survey was distributed to 67,500 households in Gosford City and Council received 7,145 responses. Many people returned surveys with additional notes, lists and sometimes photos attached to provide more information and giving more detail on local species. In addition there were many phone calls and letters to Council from people expressing enthusiasm and support for this initiative.

As a result, Gosford City Council has gained a significant insight into the attitudes and concerns of the community regarding native and introduced animals in our area. The results of the survey and recommendations will be provided in a report for Council's consideration. Council's Biodiversity Management Plan will be a key way of addressing the identified issues.

We asked you to describe your place of residence

Place of Residence

We asked you how many years have you lived on the Central Coast?

Years on the Central Coast

We asked if your block was within a few mins walk (500m) of a bushland area, National Park or nature reserve?

Response	Total Number
Yes	5542
No	1367
Unknown	238

Native birds, frogs, lizards and other animals living in urban areas may face a number of threats. You indicated the extent to which you believe each of these is an extreme threat to native animals.

Extreme Threats to Native Animals

We asked for additional threats that we may have missed.

The most frequently identified threats were:

Threat	Total Number	Threat	Total Number
Indian Myna birds	223	Litter/dumping waste	41
Humans	160	Cat control/responsible cat ownership	40
Pesticides/weed poisons	64	Water pollution/stormwater	38
Tree removal/clearing	62	Off-road vehicles/trail bikes	37
Kids/children/young adults	59	Other introduced pests/rabbits/mallards/goats	35
Intensive development/block size	58	Inappropriate feeding of native animals	35
Lantana, other weeds, especially camphor laurel	55	Baiting/hunting/trapping/poaching	29
Degradation of waterways	51	Council issues	28
Lack of education/ignorance	44	Inappropriate plants/lack of local species	25

Actions by Councils and Governments

Actions by Councils

We asked for any additional initiatives for local Council that we have missed?

Initiative Identified	Total Number
Cat control/responsible cat ownership	257
Dog control/responsible dog ownership/leash free areas	174
Provide education, competitions, information on wildlife	162
Sustainable development	99
Control Indian Myna birds	91
Bushcare/bush regeneration support/reserve maintenance	82
Encourage planting of native species	77
Provide clean waterways, beaches, lagoons, wetland protection	70
Control introduced pests, rabbits, foxes/predator birds	57
Litter control/recycling/clean ups/waste reduction/green waste collection/composting/water conservation	53
Protection/research/monitoring native plants, animals & birds/support for volunteer groups (WIRES)	42
Provide wildlife corridors, signs, under/over road crossings	49
Tree Preservation	35
Enforce Council controls	30
Control off road vehicles/trail bikes/ traffic calming devices	29
Bushfire hazard reduction	26
Economic use of Council resources	20
Air/Noise pollution control/wood burning fires, plastic bags	20
Discourage inappropriate feeding of wildlife	17

You indicated the priority for simple things that local residents can do in and around their homes.

Residents Actions

We asked for any initiatives for residents that we may have missed.

Initiative Identified	Total Number
Responsible cat ownership	177
Responsible disposable of green waste and rubbish, recycling, composting, mulching, worm farms, free tip fees	151
Responsible dog ownership	127
Obtain information and educate children regarding protection of wildlife and the environment	80
Discourage Indian Mynas and other introduced pests	78
Plant native species, create wildlife friendly backyards	76
Protect and encourage native wildlife, create habitat links between properties, be careful driving at night, beware of wildlife crossing roads, report injured animals to WIRES	65
Keep yards & sheds free of weeds and rubbish, food scraps, bushfire hazard reduction	58
Provide nesting boxes, hollow logs, bird baths and feeders (appropriate feed) for wildlife	54
Avoid inappropriate feeding of native wildlife and introduced pests and birds	53
Don't pollute drains, waterways, plant appropriate species near waterways	39
Avoid inappropriate use of pesticides, weeds, poisons, snail bait	24
Responsible tree preservation/maintenance	23
Support sustainable development	18
Don't pollute air, especially with wood burning fires, take alternative transport to car, ban fireworks	16
Install rainwater tanks	11
Protect bushland/support/join bushcare groups/programs	10

Threatened Birds

Rare and Threatened Mammals

Rare and threatened mammals

Feral Animals

The most commony recorded animals were:

Animal Identified	Animal Identified
1. Laughing Kookaburra	11. King Parrot
2. Rainbow Lorikeet	12. Common Brush-tailed Possum
3. Galah	13. Tawny Frogmouth
4. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo	14. Superb Fairy-wren (Blue Wren)
5. Blue-tongue Lizard	15. Crimson Rosella
6. Eastern Rosella	16. Plover/Masked Lapwing
7. Noisy Miner	17. Fox*
8. Common Indian Myna*	18. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
9. Willie Wagtail	19. Southern Leaf-tailed Gecko
10. Brush Turkey	20. Red Wattlebird

* = Introduced species.

We asked if we could provide more information.

The following number of requests were made:

1590 requests for advice on how to make your garden more friendly for native animals.
787 requests for advice on voluntary conservation agreements.
234 requests for a visit from the Corridors Officer.
1142 requests for information on how to record animals and plants on your property.
3548 requests for Council to provide a summary of survey results.

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