Mammal Survey Croup Contributions— VI. 



The Mammals of the Brisbane Ranges 



by 



f, w. i Hampton* 



INIRODIK HON 



I he Hiishaue Ranges winch ate 

 ihe broken mid eroded edge of a 

 plateau of Ordovieian rocks, cleat K 

 mark the western boundary ol iIk- 

 plain which extends eastwards to the 

 coast p] I'ori Phillip May in Vic- 

 toria At this boundaiy the hills rise 

 sharply, in pl.,ccs to 1200 fL, then 

 gradually tneree westwards with the 

 tablelands ol the Meredith district. 



I his range is bordered m ihc soulh 

 and west by the Moorahool River 

 and in the north bv the I'arwan 

 Creek. 



As little seemed to he known 

 the mammal fauna ol Ihese hills the 

 Mammal Survey Group earned out 

 three sample surveys during 

 and ftW. the results of which arc 

 presented in this paper The .names 



of ihe iwembera of the Ghtoup whose 



work provided the data upon which 

 this report is based are given in the 

 author's acknowledgements. 



DESC RIPTION Ol Mil Ari a 



Hi\H>ry 



The fusion of European pcnctra 

 tion into these hills is esseniiallv trtf 

 histoid of the gold mining that wem 

 on from 1853 to about I'.'OO This 

 activity was centred on Steiglu/ 

 i formerly Sticghtz, which accounts 

 for its present pronunciation) where 

 the population exceeded 1000 m 

 1856 when there were sis schools 

 lour hotels and four churches in use 



I I again reached this level in 1894 

 when over forty reefs were being 

 worked. (Anon. L>$1- McKmlay. 

 I Wo. While very tew Jigu Of such 

 a town remain at ihc sight of Sicig- 



lii/, the Mirronndmg bush conceal* 

 ihc remains of extensive miniii)> 

 activity. Ihc dependence ol such g 

 |:opulation upon wood lot luel ami 

 (lOWep, mine-timbcrinu and building 

 loi ovei forty years, and the pros, 

 peeling nf almost BVCrj yard of the 

 dixit let in the search lor new reefy 

 must have had a devastating effect 

 on Ihe mutual habitat. 



Unlorlunalely no recoids have 

 been lound which describe the 

 natural surroundings m 1 the animal 

 life al Ihe time id the lust discover- 

 ies Oi gold on the prftpWlJ hclongm;: 

 lo Chailes von Stieglit/. Ihe lack ol 

 agiieultutal dcveloprneiil, in marked 

 contiast to that in the ad|oinmg areas 

 along the eastern boundary of the 

 Ranges, around Anakic and Slaiigh- 

 ion Vale, indicates the poor value nf 

 tie soils. Ihe tesultv ol the surveys 

 piescuied in this paper tend lo am 

 In in this. Part of the area k used 

 as a walei catchment and. while there 

 arc some lencvd properties, its only 

 oilier uses appear to be as a pk& 

 area. a« a source ol firewood and 

 tor >hon|Miir,. 



Rainfall 



Official rainlall ti.iturcs lor Durdid 

 warrah i W.S l<>CS average) and 

 for Anak.e I ISH9-I%X aver.igcl ate 

 given in Table I, logelhei with ItW 

 average iHimbei of days on which 

 more ihun 001 " ot rain fell. Nv 

 data is availaoUt for SteigliU hUl 

 appeared lo be a drier area dun 

 Durdidwarrah. 



■•Mammal BWm ' Ft HIP, I Nt V ... Bgf> 



62 



Vict Nat Vol 88 



