Landscape Context
Karakamia Sanctuary is strategically positioned adjacent to local Shire Reserves that are managed as part of the Darling Range Regional Park, connecting a mosaic of State Forest and National Parks and providing ecological ‘corridors’ through which wildlife can disperse.
Although Karakamia Sanctuary is surrounded by a vermin-proof fence, the fence has been carefully designed to exclude feral animals, yet not to confine the small to medium-sized native animals. Plants, invertebrates, birds, and the majority of reptiles and mammals (the young of larger species can pass through the netting) are unconstrained by the fence. Pygmy-possums, Mardo, Dunnarts, Brushtail and Ringtail Possums, and bats can pass through, or over, the netting unimpeded, as can juvenile bandicoots.
Consequently, Karakamia Sanctuary acts as a reservoir of biodiversity for the region. Its protected species have the ability to disperse through the fence to inhabit the surrounding areas. For example, both brushtail possums and southern brown bandicoots are now present in adjacent parks and road reserves, having originated from the population at Karakamia Sanctuary, and benefited from more broadscale predator control programs.
Some large mammals are impeded by the fence, however strategies are implemented to facilitate dispersal and genetic exchange. For example, many Brush-tailed Bettongs have been translocated from Karakamia Sanctuary to restock nearby areas where active feral animal control is being implemented, such as Walyunga and Avon Valley National Parks.