Arabic version: انقسام جيني يزيد المخاطر على طيور البرولغا في فيكتوريا

According to ABC News, a new Macquarie University study has found that Victoria’s endangered brolgas have declining genetic variation and are genetically distinct from northern populations. The findings add to concerns for the southern birds as wetlands used for feeding and breeding continue to decline.

Brolgas occur in every mainland Australian state and the Northern Territory, but their outlook differs sharply by region. Numbers are stable in northern Australia, while Victoria’s population is as low as 1,000 birds. Brolgas can grow to 1.5 metres tall with wingspans of up to 2.5 metres, form mating pairs for life and produce one chick a year when breeding is successful.

Lead researcher Abby Bryce said limited genetic diversity could reduce the population’s ability to withstand extreme events. She said wetland loss and degradation, along with climate change, were restricting the habitat and conditions available to brolgas in Victoria and south-east South Australia. As wetland habitat shrinks, the birds range across a smaller area, further worsening genetic concerns.

For Gunditjmara people in south-west Victoria, brolgas, known as kurout in the Gunditjmara language, are an important totem and an indicator of country health. Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation has led water restoration work at Tae Rak, also known as Lake Condah, near Heywood. The site is welcoming brolgas for the first time in decades.

Wetland restoration efforts elsewhere have also produced encouraging results. Nature Glenelg Trust director Mark Bachmann said Green Swamp, a restored wetland in the Southern Grampians, had recorded up to 250 brolgas flocking at one time. He said birds were able to find restored wetlands with suitable attributes, offering hope that coordinated restoration can support the species’ future.