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Pigeons in an approved study aviary on Magnetic Island .
Photo supplied by Tania Schuett |
Fifty
years ago, Margaret and Arthur Thorsborne became interested in these migratory birds , also known as Torres
Strait Pigeons , on the Brook Islands, near Hinchinbrook, North
Queensland . Foundation members
and office bearers of the Gold Coast branch of the Wildlife Preservation Society
of Queensland, the Thorsborne’s visited
Hinchinbrook in 1964 and settled at Meunga Creek , near Cardwell, on a property
consisting of coastal wetlands and rainforest
facing Hinchinbrook Island .
Although
protected by law since 1877, the pigeons had been extensively shot and breeding
birds had dropped to 3000 by the time the Thorsbornes set out to protect them . Today
the numbers are more than 40,000.
Counting
the flocks became an annual event , involving more and more
people . A film is being made to mark
the 50th anniversary of the pigeon count. Margaret
Thorsborne, 87, now living in a Cardwell retirement village , over the years has also been involved in the struggle to protect
the southern cassowary , mahogany glider
and dugong. This is the first in an illustrated series
covering the mighty efforts of the Thorsbornes and
others to protect Queensland's Wet Tropics World Heritage. NEXT: The Thorsbornes , their contribution to wildlife preservation and their unique cottage in the rainforest .
