Help protect the lake’s own otter

THE Australian Platypus Conservancy is aiming to work with community members to protect Lake Wendouree’s rakali population.

APC director, biologist Geoff Williams, has been studying Australia’s otter-like animal for 28 years, which he said is best observed in Ballarat.

He will present a free public information session about rakali at Federation University’s Gillies Street campus on Tuesday, 6 September at 7pm, and those who attend will have the opportunity to form a local Friends of Rakali lobby group.

“The Rakali is a genuine native rat, and its ancestors are believed to have come here between five and 10 million years ago, so it’s been in the environment longer than we have,” Mr Williams said.

“They are Australia’s ecological equivalent of the otter as the dominant mammalian predator in aquatic systems and are at the top of the food chain. They play a very important part in keeping the ecological system in balance.

“They’ve got many otter-like features; fabulous whiskers, a broad head with strong muscle attachments for their jaws and can go through the water like a tugboat, they have small ears to be streamlined, webbed feet, fur like an otter, and a conical-shaped tail which stores fat and acts as a rudder.”

Mr Williams said reports of sightings at Lake Wendouree have increased in the last two years, however, concerns have grown, so education and awareness is key.

“People see them not just in the water, but exploring the surrounding areas, and they don’t know what they are, or assume they’re rats,” he said.

“Sometimes people put out Ratsak, or rat traps, quite a few have been killed by cars on the surrounding roads, and there has been at least one documented case of one being deliberately killed by shooting.

“We need to get the message out there that Rakali have white tips on their tails, and if you do see them, they’re not going to be a pest.”

Mr Williams suggested signage could be installed in the surrounding areas to alert people, and drivers, to the presence of rakali, and to slow down.

He said Rakali are smart, cute, and sometimes come up to the feet of humans to beg for food, however, they shouldn’t be fed, or patted.

“If this goes on and people don’t respect wild animals, eventually they can get bitten. They have formidable teeth,” he said.

Contact [email protected] for more information.