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Penguin Hunting
Between 1810 and 1919, seals and then penguins were hunted almost to the point of extinction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macquarie_Island -
Discovery of Macquarie Island
http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-Antarctica/history/stations/macquarie-island Macquarie Island was first visited/found by Sealing Captain, Frederick Hasselburgh . -
Who did Macquarie Island take it's name after ?
The island took its name after Colonel Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales. -
Sealing at Macquarie Island
Despite attempts to keep the location a secret, by December 1810 another three Sydney based sealing gangs had been landed on the island. -
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Sealing
In the first 18 months of operations around 120,000 fur seals were killed. By 1815 the population of an estimated 250,000 animals had dramatically declined, with only 5,000 skins being taken during the entire season.At least one of the earliest gangs on the island had also turned to the exploitation of elephant seals for their oil. Within a decade sealing operations at Macquarie Island had turned exclusively to the exploitation of elephant seals. -
Rabbits and Weckas
Rabbits and weka introduced by sealers to Macquarie Island -
Visit from Douglas Mawson.
In 1911, Australia's Sir Douglas Mawson established the island's first scientific station. In addition to conducting geomagnetic observations and mapping the island, studies were made of the island's botany, zoology, meteorology and geology. From 1913 to 1915 the meteorological observations begun by Mawson's group were continued by the Commonwealth Meteorological Service but discontinued after the loss of the relief ship Endeavour with all crew and passengers in 1914. -
Macquarie Island to a wildlife sanctuary.
Macquarie Island has a harsh and rich history prior to its reservation as a nature reserve. In 1933 Macquarie Island was proclaimed a wildlife sanctuary under the Tasmanian Animals and Birds Protection Act. -
Reforming Macquarie Island
The island was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1933, and with the establishment of the Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1971. Macquarie Island became a conservation area. It was upgraded to a state reserve in 1972 and in 1978 was renamed the Macquarie Island Nature Reserve. In 1998 Macquarie Island was granted World Heritage status. -
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Pests on Macquarie Island
A major project to remove the last remaining mammal species (creating a havoc in Macquarie Island). Rabbits, ship rats and mice was undertaken between 2007 and 2014. -
Macquarie Island - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Macquarie Island was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1997.
Macquarie Island was one of 15 World Heritage places included in the National Heritage List on 21 May 2007. -
Pest eradication process
The World Heritage-listed Macquarie Island has been declared free of pests after a near seven-year campaign to eradicate it of rats, rabbits and mice. In April 2014, after nearly three years of monitoring with no sign of surviving individual rabbits, rats or mice, the project was declared a success.
With the removal of rabbits and the resulting intensive grazing pressure, the island's vegetation is rapidly rebounding. -
Establishment of the research station
Macquarie Island, or “Macca” as it is often called, is a Nature Reserve managed by the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service. It has been inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1997 as a site of major geoconservation significance, as an island of unique natural diversity and one of the truly remarkable places on earth.
