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Border Collie

The Border Collie is a British breed of herding dog of the collie type of medium size. It originates in the region of the Anglo-Scottish border, and descends from the traditional sheepdogs once found all over the British Isles. It is kept mostly as a working sheep-herding dog or as a companion animal. It competes with success in sheepdog trials. It has been claimed that it is the most intelligent breed of dog.

History
The Border Collie is descended from landrace collies, a type found widely in the British Isles. The name for the breed came from its probable place of origin along the Anglo-Scottish border. Mention of the "collie" or "Colley" type first appeared toward the end of the 19th century, although the word "collie" is older than this and has its origin in the Scots language. It is also thought that the word 'collie' comes from the old Celtic word for useful. Many Border Collies today can be traced back to a dog known as Old Hemp.

In 1915, James Reid, Secretary of the International Sheep Dog Society (ISDS) in the United Kingdom first used the term "border collie" to distinguish those dogs registered by the ISDS from the Kennel Club's collie (or Scotch collie, including the rough collie and smooth collie) which originally came from the same working stock but had developed a different, standardised appearance following introduction to the show ring in 1860 and mixture with different breeds.

Old Hemp
Old Hemp, a tricolour dog, was born in Northumberland, England in September 1893 and died in May 1901. He was bred by Adam Telfer from Roy, a black and tan dog, and Meg, a black-coated, strong-eyed dog. Hemp was a quiet, powerful dog to which sheep responded easily. Many shepherds used him for stud and Hemp's working style became the Border Collie style. All purebred Border Collies alive today can trace an ancestral line back to Old Hemp. He was believed to have sired as many as 200 pups over the span of his life.

Wiston Cap
Wiston Cap (b. 28 September 1963) is the dog that the International Sheep Dog Society (ISDS) badge portrays in the characteristic border collie herding pose. He was a popular stud dog in the history of the breed, and his bloodline can be seen in most bloodlines of the modern-day collie. Bred by W. S. Hetherington and trained and handled by John Richardson, Cap was a biddable and good-natured dog. His bloodlines all trace back to the early registered dogs of the studbook, and to J. M. Wilson's Cap, whose name occurs 16 times within seven generations in his pedigree. Wiston Cap sired three Supreme Champions and is grand-sire of three others, one of whom was E. W. Edwards' Bill, who won the championship twice.

Introduction to New Zealand and Australia
Collies were listed as imports to New Zealand as early as 1858, but the type was not specified. In the late 1890s James Lilico (1861?–1945) of Christchurch, New Zealand, imported a number of working dogs from the United Kingdom. These included Hindhope Jed, a black, tan and white born in Hindhope, Scotland in 1895, as well as Maudie, Moss of Ancrum, Ness and Old Bob.

It is unclear whether Hindhope Jed was a descendant of Old Hemp. Born two years after him, she is mentioned in a British Hunts and Huntsmen article concerning a Mr John Elliot of Jedburgh:

"Mr. Elliot himself is well known for his breed of collies. His father supplied Noble to the late Queen Victoria and it was from our subject that the McLeod got Hindhope Jed, now the champion of New Zealand and Australia."

When her departure to New Zealand, Hindhope Jed was already in pup to Captain, another of the then-new "border" strain. Hindhope Jed had won three trials in her native Scotland, and was considered to be the "best to cross the equator".

In 1901 the King and Mcleod stud was created by Charles Beechworth King (b. 1855, Murrumbidgee, NSW), his brother and Alec McLeod at Canonbar, near Nyngan (north-west of Sydney), brought Hindhope Jed to Australia, where she enjoyed considerable success at sheepdog trials.

The New Zealand Heading Dog breed was developed from Border Collies.

Description
Border Collies are, on average, medium-sized dogs with a moderate amount of coat, which is often thick and prone to shedding. They have a double coat that varies from smooth to rough and is occasionally curled. While black and white is the most common colouring of the Border Collie, the breed appears in just about any colour and pattern known to occur in dogs. Some of these include black tricolour (black/tan/white), liver and white, and red tricolour (red/tan/white) which have also been seen regularly, and other colours such as blue, lilac, red merle, blue merle, brindle, and Australian red (also known as ee red, blonde, recessive red, or gold) which is seen less frequently. Some Border Collies may also have single-colour coats.

Eye colour varies from brown to green, and occasionally eyes of differing colour occur; this is usually seen with merles. This trait is known as heterochromia. The ears of the Border Collie are also variable — some have fully erect ears, some fully dropped ears, and others semi-erect ears (similar to those of the rough collie).

Although working Border Collie handlers sometimes have superstitions about the appearance of their dogs (handlers may avoid mostly white dogs due to the unfounded idea that sheep will not respect a white or almost all white dog), in general, the American Border Collie Association considers a dog's appearance to be irrelevant. Instead, it is considered more useful to identify a working Border Collie by its attitude and ability.

Dogs bred for show are more homogeneous in appearance than working Border Collies since to win in conformation showing they must conform closely to breed club standards that are specific on many points of the structure, coat, and colour. Kennel clubs specify, for example, that the Border Collie must have a "keen and intelligent" expression, and that the preferred eye colour is dark brown. In deference to the dog's working origin, scars and broken teeth received in the line of duty are not to be counted against a Border Collie in the show ring. The males' height from withers comes from 19 to 22 in, females from 18 to 21 in.

It has been claimed to be the most intelligent breed of dog.

Life span
A 2022 study in England of veterinary records found a life expectancy of 12.1 years, slightly higher than the 11.82 life expectancy for crossbreed dogs. A 2024 UK study found a life expectancy of 13.1 years for the breed compared to an average of 12.7 for purebreeds and 12 for crossbreeds.

Leading causes of death in a 2004 Kennel Club survey were cancer (23.6%), old age (17.9%) and cerebral vascular afflictions (9.4%).

Conditions
Collie eye anomaly is an autosomal recessive condition caused by an autosomal recessive mutation in the NHEJ1 gene that affects Collies and related breeds, such as the Border Collie.

Two types of hearing loss occur in the breed. The first type is pigment associated and is found in Border Collie puppies, although the puppies can have congenital sensorineural deafness from birth as well. The second type is known as adult-onset hearing loss. These dogs have a normal auditory brainstem response test as pups but gradually lose their hearing some time between one and eight years of age. A study is currently underway at The Translational Genomics Research Institute to identify the genetic cause of adult-onset hearing loss in the breed.

Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL) is a rare but serious disease that is limited to show Border Collies. NCL results in severe neurological impairment and early death; afflicted dogs rarely survive beyond two years of age. The mutation causing the form of the disease found in Border Collies was identified by Scott Melville in the laboratory of Alan Wilton of the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales. There is no treatment or cure, but a DNA test is now available to detect carriers as well as affected dogs.

Trapped Neutrophil Syndrome (TNS) is a hereditary disease in which the bone marrow produces neutrophils (white cells) but is unable to effectively release them into the bloodstream. Affected puppies have an impaired immune system and will eventually die from infections they cannot fight. The mutation responsible for TNS has been found in Border Collies, in English working dogs, in show dogs that had originated in Australia and New Zealand, and in unrelated Australian working dogs. This indicates that the gene is widespread and probably as old as the breed itself. TNS was identified by Jeremy Shearman in the laboratory of Alan Wilton of the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales. There is no cure, but a DNA test is now available to detect carriers as well as affected dogs.

Other diseases found less commonly include juvenile cataracts, osteochondritis, hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus and canine cyclic neutropaenia, carpal soft-tissue injury.

A syndrome of exercise-induced collapse similar to that seen in Labrador retrievers, otherwise termed Border Collie Collapse and triggered by episodes of collapse associated with periods of intense exercise has been described in Border Collies in North America, Europe and Australia; and is currently the subject of further investigation. Border Collie Collapse or "the wobbles" is a disease found in many herding/working breeds. The cause is currently unknown. Border Collie Collapse seems to be related to high-intensity exercises that are found to be particularly exciting to the individual dog. For example, some dogs cannot retrieve a tennis ball, as they find this activity highly stimulating, but can run for several miles with no symptoms of Border Collie Collapse. Symptoms commonly include disorientation, mental dullness, loss of attention, unsteady hind legs, dragging of hind legs, and ultimately the need to sit or lie down. Loss of consciousness and seizure-like trembling/spasms are not characteristics of Border Collie Collapse. There is no current diagnostic test or veterinary workup that can confirm Border Collie Collapse and the diagnosis is often given as a diagnosis of exclusion or based on clinical symptoms. There is no current treatment recommended, and it is advised to limit the episodes by avoiding the activities that trigger the collapse.

A study in the UK looking at clinical records found the Border Collie to have the highest prevalence of hepatic neoplasia. Border Collies were 2.67 times more likely to acquire the condition than other breeds.

The Border Collie is one of the more commonly affected breeds for a mutation in the MDR1 gene. This mutation results in the affected animal being more susceptible to negative effects of drugs at volumes that are otherwise safe. Common drugs such as doramectin and ivermectin will cause neurotoxicosis.

Breed standards
There are two types of tests, or standards, to determine the breeding quality of a Border Collie: the original ISDS sheepdog trial and appearance.

ISDS sheepdog trial
The original test is the ISDS sheepdog trial. It is still used today, where a dog and handler collect groups of livestock and move them quietly around a course. There are certain standard elements to this test depending on the level: national or international. For both levels, sheep must be gathered as calmly as possible without being distressed. For a national competition, normally held between England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, trials run over a 400-yard course. International courses use a 400-yard course for the qualifying trials, but on the third and final day, trials are held in a course of 800 yards.

The international test involves a "double fetch", where the sheepdog must gather 10 sheep from 800 yards away, bring them on an angle to the centre of the field, and then be sent back in another direction to gather another 10 sheep, also placed 800 yards from the handler. Five of those 20 sheep will have collars on, and at the end of a triangular drive, the sheep are gathered into a circular "shedding ring" and the 15 sheep without collars are driven away as the five collared sheep are kept inside the ring and then penned. Sheepdogs must be directed through obstacles at varying distance from the handler, and then the dog must demonstrate the ability to do work close at hand by penning the sheep and sorting them out.

Appearance
In nearly every region of the world, the border collie is now also a breed that is shown in a ring or bench shows. For the people who participate in these events, the Border Collie is defined by the breed standard, which is a description of how the dog should look. In New Zealand and Australia, where the breed has been shown throughout most of the twentieth century, the Border Collie standards have produced a dog with a long double coat (smooth coats are allowed), a soft dark eye, a body slightly longer than tall, a well-defined stop, semi-pricked ears, as well as a gentle and friendly temperament. This style of Border Collie has become popular in winning show kennels around the world, as well as among prestigious judges. Breed standards state that its tail must be slightly curved and must stop at the hock. The fur must be lush. It should show good expression in its eyes and must be intelligent. It is energetic with most commonly a black and white coat (sometimes brown). It should have a powerful herding instinct.

Criticism of show dog conformity based on appearance
Other enthusiasts oppose the use of Border Collies as show dogs, for fear that breeding for appearance will lead to a decline in the breed's working dog traits. Few handlers of working Border Collies participate in conformation shows, as working dogs are bred to a performance standard rather than an appearance standard. Likewise, conformation-bred dogs are seldom seen on the sheepdog trial field, except in Kennel Club-sponsored events. Dogs registered with either working or conformation-based registries are seen in other performance events such as agility, obedience, tracking or flyball; however, these dogs do not necessarily conform to the breed standard of appearance as closely as the dogs shown in the breed rings as this is not a requirement in performance events, nor do they necessarily participate in herding activities.

United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom the dogs can be registered with the national Kennel Club like any other recognised breed; a breed society, the International Sheep Dog Society, registers only dogs with proven herding ability.

United States

Two of the principal registries for border collies in the United States are the American Border Collie Association (ABCA) and the National Border Collie Association (NBCA), both of which are dedicated to the preservation of the traditional working dog. The breed was also recognised in 1995 by the American Kennel Club (AKC) after occupying the AKC's Miscellaneous Class for over 50 years. The recognition was under protest from the majority of Border Collie affiliated groups, such as the United States Border Collie Club, which felt that emphasis on the breed's working skills would be lost under AKC recognition. AKC registrations have gradually increased since recognition and by 2004 there were 1,984 new AKC registrations of Border Collies, with a further 2,378 for the year 2005. By contrast, the American Border Collie Association registers approximately 20,000 Border Collies annually. Because of the inherent tension between the goals of breeding to a working standard and to an appearance standard, the American Border Collie Association voted in 2003 that dogs who attained a conformation championship would be delisted from the ABCA registry, regardless of ability. Cross-registration is allowed between the working registries, and AKC accepts dogs registered with ABCA, NASDS, and NBCA. but none of the working registries in the U.S. honours AKC pedigrees, with the exception of the NBCA which will accept a transfer of registration from AKC.

Australia
In Australia, Border Collies are registered with an Australian National Kennel Council (ANKC) affiliated state control body or with a working dog registry. Between 2,011 and 2,701 ANKC pedigreed Border Collies have been registered with the ANKC each year since 1986. Inclusion on the ANKC affiliate's main register allows Border Collies to compete in conformation, obedience, agility, tracking, disc dog, herding and other ANKC-sanctioned events held by an ANKC affiliated club, while inclusion on the limited register prohibits entry in conformation events. The ANKC provides a breed standard; however, this applies to conformation events only and has no influence on dogs entering performance events. Non-ANKC pedigreed dogs may also be eligible for inclusion on an ANKC associate or sporting register and be able to compete in ANKC performance or herding events. Agility organisations such as the Agility Dog Association of Australia (ADAA) have their own registry which allows the inclusion of any dog wishing to compete in their events.

Canada
In Canada, Agriculture Canada has recognised the Canadian Border Collie Association as the registry under the Animal Pedigree Act for any Border Collie that is designated as a "Pure Breed" in Canada.

The criteria used are based on herding lineage rather than appearance. It is a two-tiered registry in that dogs imported that are registered with a foreign Kennel Club that does hold conformation shows are given a "B" registration, whereas those that come directly from other working registries are placed on the "A" registry.

Recently, the Canadian Kennel Club has polled its members to decide if Border Collies should be included on the CKC "Miscellaneous List". This designation would allow Border Collie owners the ability to compete in all CKC events, but the CKC would not be the registering body. People who compete in performance events support the move. The CBCA is against this designation.

South Africa
The registration of working sheepdogs in South Africa is the responsibility of the South African Sheepdog Association. ISDS-registered dogs imported into the country can be transferred onto the SASDA register. Dogs not registered can become eligible for registration by being awarded a certificate of working ability by a registered judge. Occasionally they will facilitate the testing of dogs used for breeding, for hip dysplasia and collie eye anomaly, to encourage the breeding of dogs without these genetic flaws.

Turkey
The registration of working Border Collies in Turkey is the province of the Border Collie Dernegi (Turkish Border Collie Association) established in 2007.

Elsewhere
The Border Collie breed is also recognised as the prime sheepdog by the International Stock Dog Federation (ISDF), based in Piccadilly, London, UK.

Activities
Border Collies are one of the most popular breeds for dog agility competitions. They also excel at competitive obedience, showmanship, flyball, tracking, and sheepdog trials and herding events.

Livestock work
Working Border Collies can take direction by voice and by whistle at long distances when herding. Their great energy and herding instinct are still used to herd a variety of animals, from the traditional sheep and cattle, to free-range poultry, pigs, and ostriches. They are also used to remove unwanted wild birds from airport runways, golf courses, and other public and private areas.

Shepherds in the UK have taken the most critical elements of herding and incorporated them into a sheepdog trial. The first recorded sheepdog trials were held in Bala, North Wales, in 1873. These competitions enable farmers and shepherds to evaluate possible mates for their working dogs, but they have developed a sport aspect as well, with competitors from outside the farming community also taking part.

In the US, the national sanctioning body for these competitions is the USBCHA. In the UK it is the International Sheep Dog Society, in Canada the Canadian Border Collie Association (CBCA) and in South Africa it is the South African Sheepdog Association.

Dog sports
Border Collies excel at several dog sports in addition to their success in sheepdog trials due to their high instinct for herding. Herding instincts and trainability can be tested when introduced to sheep or at noncompetitive instinct tests. Border Collies exhibiting basic herding instincts can be trained to compete in sheepdog trials and other herding events. They perform well at some higher jump heights at dog agility competitions, so much so that in England, competitions often include classes for ABC dogs, "Anything But Collies".

The border collie's speed, agility, and stamina have allowed them to dominate in dog activities like flyball and disc dog competitions. Their trainability has also given them a berth in dog dancing competitions.

Border Collies have a highly developed sense of smell and with their high drive make excellent and easily motivated tracking dogs for tracking trials. These trials simulate the finding of a lost person in a controlled situation where the performance of the dog can be evaluated, with titles awarded for successful dogs. Border Collies are used as search dogs in mountain rescue in Britain. They are particularly useful for searching large areas of hillside and avalanche debris. Hamish MacInnes believed that dark-coated dogs are less prone to snow blindness.

Research
The impressive intelligence of the Border Collie has made it a viable subject for research. In particular, the Georgia Institute of Technology's FIDO (Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations) project demonstrated the ability of intelligent dogs to communicate with humans. In particular, Professor Melody Jackson, director of the institute's BrainLab, instrumented a Border Collie named Sky to activate a sensor worn by the dog which allowed Sky to communicate in audible English with its handler. One intent was to allow service dogs to warn their owners of impending danger, or to alert others to emergency situations involving their handler, especially those situations which might have resulted in the incapacitation of their handler.

Notable Border Collies

 * Rico, who was studied for recognising up to 200 objects by name. Another Border Collie, Betsy, was found to have a vocabulary of over 300 words.
 * Chaser had a vocabulary of 1,022 words, could reason by exclusion, and could recognise objects by the groups they belong to.
 * Shep, who was the long-term companion to John Noakes of the BBC's Blue Peter and Meg, companion of Matt Baker, former presenter of the same show
 * Shep was also a dog that appeared at a railway station in 1936 and watched his dead master be loaded onto a train. He remained there, waiting for his master to return, for the next five and a half years.
 * Striker, who is the current Guinness World Record holder for "Fastest Car Window Opened by a Dog" at 11.34 seconds
 * Jean, also known as the Vitagraph Dog, who was the first canine movie star (owned and trained by Laurence Trimble)
 * Bandit, the stray Scottish Border Collie from the TV series Little House on the Prairie, was Laura Ingalls' second dog on the show.
 * Sheila, the first civilian dog ever awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal, for her part in rescuing the crew of a B-17 Flying Fortress, which crashed into the Cheviot Hills, Northumberland
 * Mr. Pickles is the titular protagonist and the Goodman family's pet Border Collie, the physical embodiment of the Devil and who loves to eat pickles.
 * Tilly, a Border Collie who fled from a car crash in Idaho and was found two days later on a nearby farm, herding sheep
 * Mackenzie, a New Zealander Border Collie from the Australian animated preschool TV series Bluey.
 * Messi, a Border Collie who starred as "Snoop" in Anatomy of a Fall and won the 2023 Palm Dog award at the Cannes Film Festival

title: Border Collie


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Douglas Sirk

Douglas Sirk (born Hans Detlef Sierck; 26 April 1897 – 14 January 1987) was a German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s. However, he also directed comedies, westerns, and war films. Sirk started his career in Germany as a stage and screen director, but he left for Hollywood in 1937 after his Jewish wife was persecuted by the Nazis.

In the 1950s, he achieved his greatest commercial success with film melodramas Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind, A Time to Love and a Time to Die, and Imitation of Life. While those films were initially panned by critics as sentimental women's pictures, they are today widely regarded by film directors, critics, and scholars as masterpieces. His work is seen as a "critique of the bourgeoisie in general and of 1950s America in particular", while painting a "compassionate portrait of characters trapped by social conditions". Beyond the surface of the film, Sirk worked with complex mise-en-scène and lush Technicolor to underline his statements.

Early life and career in Germany
Sirk was born Hans Detlef Sierck on 26 April 1897, in Hamburg, of Danish parentage; his father was a newspaper reporter. He spent a few years in Denmark as a child, before his parents returned to Germany and became citizens. Sirk discovered the theatre in his mid-teens, particularly Shakespeare's history plays, and also began to frequent the cinema, where he first encountered what he later described as "dramas of swollen emotions"; one of his early screen favourites was Danish-born actress Asta Nielsen. In 1919, he enrolled to study law at Munich University, but he left Munich following the violent collapse of a short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic. Between stints at university, he began writing for his father's newspaper, not long before his father became a school principal.

Sirk continued his studies for a time at the University of Jena before transferring to Hamburg University, where he switched to philosophy and the history of art. It was here that he attended a lecture on relativity given by Albert Einstein. A major influence in this period was art historian Erwin Panofsky - Sirk was a select member of Panofsky's seminar group for a semester and wrote a large essay for him on the relationship between Medieval German painting and the mystery plays; in his 1971 interview with Halliday, Sirk declared, "I owe Panofsky a lot." To support himself while studying, Sirk began working as a second-line dramaturg at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. In 1922, substituting for a director who had fallen sick, Sirk directed his first production, the Hermann Bossdorf play Bahnmeister Tod ("Stationmaster Death"), which became a surprise success, and from that point Sirk was (in his own words) "lost to the theatre". In addition to the theatre, Sirk worked in many areas of the arts during this formative period - he painted, took a summer job as a set-designer at a Berlin film studio, published his own German translation of Shakespeare's sonnets, translated some of Shakespeare's plays, and published writings of his own.

Schauspielhaus manager Dr Paul Eger offered Sirk a pay raise and the chance to present "one of those crazy modern [i.e. Expressionist ] plays" but Sirk declared that he only wanted to direct "the classics" and took up an offer to become first director at a playhouse in Chemnitz in Saxony. The post proved to be a baptism of fire for the new director - although the company started out with classic works by Molière, Büchner and Strindberg, the season was disrupted when the theatre's main financier and manager gave up and vanished overnight, forcing the cast and crew to form a collective to keep the theatre going, and the program soon changed to comedies and melodramas - "things that made money". Although Sirk later recalled the period as "a pretty terrible time", it was here that he learned his craft, and how to handle actors in "the most strained circumstances". This was during the period of runaway inflation in Germany, and Sirk remembered that after distributing money to the company, they would have to run to the bank with their takings just before midday, because at 12 pm the banks would close their shutters and post the new dollar rate - "... if you got in too late, you had just a small percentage left of what you had earned ..."

With his first wife the actress Lydia Brincken Sirk fathered one son, Klaus Detlef Sierck (1925–1944), born on 30 March 1925 in Berlin-Charlottenburg, Germany. His ex-wife joined the Nazi party and because of Sirk's remarriage to a Jewish woman was able to legally bar him from seeing their son, who became one of the leading child actors of Nazi Germany, known for Die Saat geht auf (1935), Streit um den Knaben Jo (1937) and Kopf hoch, Johannes! (1941). He died as a soldier of the Panzer-Grenadier-Division Großdeutschland on 22 May 1944 near Novoaleksandrovka, Kirovograd Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR (now Novooleksandrivka, Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukraine).

By the 1930s Sirk had become one of Germany's leading stage directors, with a list of credits that included a production of Brecht's The Threepenny Opera. Sirk joined UFA (Universum Film AG) studios in 1934, where he directed three shorts, followed by his first feature, April, April (1935), which was filmed in both German and Dutch versions. His exotic melodramas Zu neuen Ufern and La Habanera made a star of the Nazi cinema out of Swedish singer Zarah Leander.

Career in the U.S.
Sirk left Germany in 1937 because of his political leanings and his Jewish (second) wife, actress Hilde Jary. Still in Europe he worked on films in Switzerland and the Netherlands. On arrival in the United States, he soon changed his German birth name to Douglas Sirk. By 1942, he was under contract to Columbia Pictures and directing the stridently anti-Nazi Hitler's Madman for Seymour Nebenzal, the legendary producer of Nero-Film, for whom Sirk also directed Summer Storm (1944).

Sirk briefly returned to Germany after the war ended, but returned to the U.S. and established his reputation with a series of lush, colorful melodramas for Universal-International Pictures from 1952 to 1959: Magnificent Obsession (1954), All That Heaven Allows (1955), Written on the Wind (1956), Battle Hymn (1957), The Tarnished Angels (1957), A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958), and Imitation of Life (1959).

Despite the enormous success of Imitation of Life in 1959 (partially fueled by the scandal surrounding the murder of Lana Turner's boyfriend by her daughter), Sirk left the United States and retired from filmmaking. He died in Lugano, Switzerland, nearly 30 years later, with only a brief return behind the camera in West Germany in the 1970s, teaching at the film school Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film in Munich.

Contemporary reception
Sirk's melodramas of the 1950s, while highly commercially successful, were generally very poorly received by reviewers. His films were considered unimportant (because they revolve around female and domestic issues), banal (because of their focus on larger-than-life feelings) and unrealistic (because of their conspicuous and distinctive style). Their often melodramatic manner was viewed by critics as being in bad taste.

Later reception
Attitudes toward Sirk's films changed drastically in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s as his work was re-examined by French, American, and British critics. As Jean-Luc Godard wrote in his review of A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958), "...I am going to write a madly enthusiastic review of Douglas Sirk's latest film, simply because it set my cheeks afire."

The major critical reappraisal of Sirk began in France with the April 1967 issue of Cahiers du cinéma, which included an extended interview with Sirk by Serge Daney and Jean-Louis Noames, an appreciation by Jean-Louis Comolli ("The Blind Man and the Mirror or The Impossible Cinema of Douglas Sirk"), and a "biofilmographie" compiled by Patrick Brion and Dominique Rabourdin. Leading American critic Andrew Sarris praised Sirk in his 1968 book The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929–1968, although Sirk failed to qualify for Sarris' controversial "pantheon" of great directors. From around 1970 there was a burgeoning interest among academic film scholars for Sirk's work - especially his American melodramas. The seminal work in this field was Jon Halliday's book-length interview, Sirk on Sirk (1971) which presented Sirk as "... a sophisticated intellectual, a filmmaker who arrived in Hollywood with a very clear vision, leaving behind him an established career in German theatre and film".

Several major revival seasons of Sirk's films followed over the next few years, including a 20-film retrospective at the 1972 Edinburgh Festival (which Sirk attended), which also generated a book of essays. In 1974 the University of Connecticut Film Society programmed a complete retrospective of the director's American films, and invited Sirk to attend, but on the way to the airport, for the flight to New York, Sirk suffered a haemorrhage that seriously impaired the vision in his left eye.

Analyses of Sirk's work, with their emphases on aspects of Sirk's formerly-criticized style, revealed an oblique criticism of American society hidden beneath a banal facade of plotting conventional for the era - Sirk's films were now seen as masterpieces of irony. The criticism of the 1970s and early 1980s was dominated by an ideological take on Sirk's work, gradually changing from Marxist-inspired visions in the early 1970s, to a focus on gender and sexuality in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Film critic Roger Ebert has said, "To appreciate a film like Written on the Wind probably takes more sophistication to understand than one of Ingmar Bergman's masterpieces, because Bergman's themes are visible and underlined, while with Sirk the style conceals the message."

Sirk's reputation was also helped by a widespread nostalgia for old-fashioned Hollywood films in the 1970s. His work is now widely considered to show excellent control of visuals, extending from lighting and framing to costumes and sets that are saturated with symbolism and shot through with subtle barbs of irony.

In popular culture
Sirk's films have been quoted in films by directors such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder (whose Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is partly based on All That Heaven Allows) and, later, Quentin Tarantino, Todd Haynes, Pedro Almodóvar, Wong Kar-wai, David Lynch, John Waters and Lars von Trier.

More specifically, Almodóvar's vibrant use of color in 1988's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown recalls the cinematography of Sirk's films of the 1950s, while Haynes' Far from Heaven was a conscious attempt to replicate a typical Sirk melodrama—in particular All That Heaven Allows. Tarantino paid homage to Sirk and his melodramatic style in Pulp Fiction, when character Vincent Vega, at a '50s-themed restaurant, orders the "Douglas Sirk steak" cooked "bloody as hell". Aki Kaurismäki alluded to Sirk as well; in his silent film, Juha, the villain's sport car is named "Sierck". Sirk was also one of the directors mentioned by Guillermo del Toro in his Oscar acceptance speech for Best Picture for The Shape of Water : "Growing up in Mexico as a kid, I was a big admirer of foreign film. Foreign film, like E.T., William Wyler, or Douglas Sirk, or Frank Capra."

Polyester (1981) directed by Waters was, according to Waters, informed by Sirk's Universal melodramas.

Awards

 * 1985 Bavarian Film Award, Honorary Award

Feature films

 * April, April! (1935)
 * 't Was één April (1936) (Dutch language version of April, April)
 * The Girl from the Marsh Croft (1935)
 * Pillars of Society (1935)
 * Schlußakkord (1936)
 * The Court Concert (1936)
 * La Chanson du souvenir (1936) co-director (French language version of The Court Concert)
 * To New Shores (1937)
 * La Habanera (1937)
 * Final Accord (1938) (uncredited)
 * Boefje (1939)
 * Hitler's Madman (1943)
 * Summer Storm (1944)
 * A Scandal in Paris (1946)
 * Lured (1947)
 * Sleep, My Love (1948)
 * Shockproof (1949)
 * Slightly French (1949)
 * Mystery Submarine (1950)
 * The First Legion (1951)
 * Thunder on the Hill (1951)
 * The Lady Pays Off (1951)
 * Week-End with Father (1951)
 * No Room for the Groom (1952)
 * Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)
 * Meet Me at the Fair (1953)
 * Take Me to Town (1953)
 * All I Desire (1953)
 * Taza, Son of Cochise (1954)
 * Magnificent Obsession (1954)
 * Sign of the Pagan (1954)
 * Captain Lightfoot (1955)
 * All That Heaven Allows (1955)
 * There's Always Tomorrow (1956)
 * Written on the Wind (1956)
 * Battle Hymn (1957)
 * Interlude (1957)
 * The Tarnished Angels (1957)
 * A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)
 * Imitation of Life (1959)

Short films

 * Zwei Windhunde / Zwei Genies (1934)
 * Der eingebildete Kranke (1935)
 * 3 x Ehe (1935)
 * The Christian Brothers at Mont La Salle (1941)
 * Sprich zu mir wie der Regen (1975) co-director with group of film students
 * Sylvesternacht (1977) co-director with group of film students
 * Bourbon Street Blues (1979) co-director with group of film students

Other work

 * Darling of the Sailors (1937, co-screenwriter)
 * The Strange Woman (1946, uncredited supervisor of reshoots)
 * Never Say Goodbye (1956, uncredited supervisor of reshoots)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Douglas Sirk


text:
Talk:Elliptical orbit

This should be merged into orbit: all orbits are conic sections, with elliptical orbits as the norm, and circular and hyperbolic orbits as special cases.
 * And while you're at it, physics geniuses, please rewrite the moon orbit explanation so a layman like me can understand it. Does the earth-moon pair orbit the sun together, or what? If a huge sphere revolves around a point inside itself is that called an "orbit" or a "wobble"? --Ed Poor

title: Talk:Elliptical orbit


text:
Kennedy Range National Park

Kennedy Range National Park is a national park in Gascoyne region of Western Australia, approximately 830 km north of Perth and about 150 km east of Carnarvon.

Kennedy Range is found on the edge of the Gascoyne River catchment area and is a weathered plateau that extends for a distance of 150 km, essentially forming a huge mesa. Spectacular sandstone cliffs can be found on the southern and eastern sides of the range, which are dissected by steep canyons which have an elevation of up to 100 m.

The Range formed a natural border for two Aboriginal peoples, the Maia and the Malgaru. Natural springs located on the edge of the ranges would have provided game to hunt and outcrops of chert would have provided stone for tools. Over 100 sites provide evidence that the Indigenous Australians inhabited the area for over 20,000 years prior to European settlement.

The first European to explore the area was Francis Thomas Gregory, whose expedition reached the range in 1858. Gregory named the range after the Governor of Western Australia at the time, Arthur Edward Kennedy. He also named the nearby Lyons River in the same expedition before continuing to Mount Augustus. Pastoralists arrived in the area shortly afterwards with Charles Brockman setting up Boolathana Station in 1877, and the region experienced success in wool production until the 1930s when the overgrazing, drought and the Great Depression caused most businesses to fail.

The valleys and plains of the range had been severely degraded but the range top was only slightly damaged as a result of pastoral activity. The area has been explored for minerals but has not been mined.

The park was officially gazetted in 1993 and contains some facilities for visitors. A bush toilet and camp-sites are located at Temple Gorge, but it is planned to relocate this camp ground. There are a number of walk trails within the park but no water is available. Entry to the park is free but camp-site fees apply.

A popular time to visit the park is following heavy rains when wildflowers emerge. Over 80 species of wildflower are known to inhabit the park, including mulla mulla, hakeas, eremophilas, Calytrix, verticordias and various everlasting daisies.

A species of lizard Lerista kennedyensis, commonly called the "Kennedy Range broad-blazed slider", is named after the Kennedy Range.

title: Kennedy Range National Park


text:
Perturbation theory

In mathematics and applied mathematics, perturbation theory comprises methods for finding an approximate solution to a problem, by starting from the exact solution of a related, simpler problem. A critical feature of the technique is a middle step that breaks the problem into "solvable" and "perturbative" parts. In perturbation theory, the solution is expressed as a power series in a small parameter $\varepsilon$. The first term is the known solution to the solvable problem. Successive terms in the series at higher powers of $$\varepsilon$$ usually become smaller. An approximate 'perturbation solution' is obtained by truncating the series, usually by keeping only the first two terms, the solution to the known problem and the 'first order' perturbation correction.

Perturbation theory is used in a wide range of fields, and reaches its most sophisticated and advanced forms in quantum field theory. Perturbation theory (quantum mechanics) describes the use of this method in quantum mechanics. The field in general remains actively and heavily researched across multiple disciplines.

Description
Perturbation theory develops an expression for the desired solution in terms of a formal power series known as a perturbation series in some "small" parameter, that quantifies the deviation from the exactly solvable problem. The leading term in this power series is the solution of the exactly solvable problem, while further terms describe the deviation in the solution, due to the deviation from the initial problem. Formally, we have for the approximation to the full solution $$\ A\ ,$$ a series in the small parameter (here called $ε$), like the following:

 * $$ A \equiv A_0 + \varepsilon^1 A_1 + \varepsilon^2 A_2 + \varepsilon^3 A_3 + \cdots $$

In this example, $$\ A_0\ $$ would be the known solution to the exactly solvable initial problem, and the terms $$\ A_1, A_2, A_3, \ldots \ $$ represent the first-order, second-order, third-order, and higher-order terms, which may be found iteratively by a mechanistic but increasingly difficult procedure. For small $$\ \varepsilon\ $$ these higher-order terms in the series generally (but not always) become successively smaller. An approximate "perturbative solution" is obtained by truncating the series, often by keeping only the first two terms, expressing the final solution as a sum of the initial (exact) solution and the "first-order" perturbative correction
 * $$ A \approx A_0 + \varepsilon A_1 \qquad \mathsf{ for } \qquad \varepsilon \to 0 $$

Some authors use big O notation to indicate the order of the error in the approximate solution: $\; A = A_0 + \varepsilon A_1 + \mathcal{O}\bigl(\ \varepsilon^2\ \bigr) ~. $

If the power series in $$\ \varepsilon\ $$ converges with a nonzero radius of convergence, the perturbation problem is called a regular perturbation problem. In regular perturbation problems, the asymptotic solution smoothly approaches the exact solution. However, the perturbation series can also diverge, and the truncated series can still be a good approximation to the true solution if it is truncated at a point at which its elements are minimum. This is called an asymptotic series. If the perturbation series is divergent or not a power series (for example, if the asymptotic expansion must include non-integer powers $$\ \varepsilon^{\left(1/2\right)}\ $$ or negative powers $$\ \varepsilon^{-2}\ $$) then the perturbation problem is called a singular perturbation problem. Many special techniques in perturbation theory have been developed to analyze singular perturbation problems.

Prototypical example
The earliest use of what would now be called perturbation theory was to deal with the otherwise unsolvable mathematical problems of celestial mechanics: for example the orbit of the Moon, which moves noticeably differently from a simple Keplerian ellipse because of the competing gravitation of the Earth and the Sun.

Perturbation methods start with a simplified form of the original problem, which is simple enough to be solved exactly. In celestial mechanics, this is usually a Keplerian ellipse. Under Newtonian gravity, an ellipse is exactly correct when there are only two gravitating bodies (say, the Earth and the Moon) but not quite correct when there are three or more objects (say, the Earth, Moon, Sun, and the rest of the Solar System) and not quite correct when the gravitational interaction is stated using formulations from general relativity.

Perturbative expansion
Keeping the above example in mind, one follows a general recipe to obtain the perturbation series. The perturbative expansion is created by adding successive corrections to the simplified problem. The corrections are obtained by forcing consistency between the unperturbed solution, and the equations describing the system in full. Write $$\ D\ $$ for this collection of equations; that is, let the symbol $$\ D\ $$ stand in for the problem to be solved. Quite often, these are differential equations, thus, the letter "D".

The process is generally mechanical, if laborious. One begins by writing the equations $$\ D\ $$ so that they split into two parts: some collection of equations $$\ D_0\ $$ which can be solved exactly, and some additional remaining part $$\ \varepsilon D_1\ $$ for some small $$\ \varepsilon \ll 1 ~.$$ The solution $$\ A_0\ $$ (to $$\ D_0\ $$) is known, and one seeks the general solution $$\ A\ $$ to $$\ D = D_0 + \varepsilon D_1 ~.$$

Next the approximation $$\ A \approx A_0 + \varepsilon A_1\ $$ is inserted into $$\ \varepsilon D_1$$. This results in an equation for $$\ A_1\ ,$$ which, in the general case, can be written in closed form as a sum over integrals over $$\ A_0 ~.$$ Thus, one has obtained the first-order correction $$\ A_1\ $$ and thus $$\ A \approx A_0 + \varepsilon A_1\ $$ is a good approximation to $$\ A ~.$$ It is a good approximation, precisely because the parts that were ignored were of size $$\ \varepsilon^2 ~.$$ The process can then be repeated, to obtain corrections $$\ A_2\ ,$$ and so on.

In practice, this process rapidly explodes into a profusion of terms, which become extremely hard to manage by hand. Isaac Newton is reported to have said, regarding the problem of the Moon's orbit, that "It causeth my head to ache." This unmanageability has forced perturbation theory to develop into a high art of managing and writing out these higher order terms. One of the fundamental breakthroughs in quantum mechanics for controlling the expansion are the Feynman diagrams, which allow quantum mechanical perturbation series to be represented by a sketch.

Examples
Perturbation theory has been used in a large number of different settings in physics and applied mathematics. Examples of the "collection of equations" $$D$$ include algebraic equations, differential equations (e.g., the equations of motion and commonly wave equations), thermodynamic free energy in statistical mechanics, radiative transfer, and Hamiltonian operators in quantum mechanics.

Examples of the kinds of solutions that are found perturbatively include the solution of the equation of motion (e.g., the trajectory of a particle), the statistical average of some physical quantity (e.g., average magnetization), and the ground state energy of a quantum mechanical problem.

Examples of exactly solvable problems that can be used as starting points include linear equations, including linear equations of motion (harmonic oscillator, linear wave equation), statistical or quantum-mechanical systems of non-interacting particles (or in general, Hamiltonians or free energies containing only terms quadratic in all degrees of freedom).

Examples of systems that can be solved with perturbations include systems with nonlinear contributions to the equations of motion, interactions between particles, terms of higher powers in the Hamiltonian/free energy.

For physical problems involving interactions between particles, the terms of the perturbation series may be displayed (and manipulated) using Feynman diagrams.

History
Perturbation theory was first devised to solve otherwise intractable problems in the calculation of the motions of planets in the solar system. For instance, Newton's law of universal gravitation explained the gravitation between two astronomical bodies, but when a third body is added, the problem was, "How does each body pull on each?" Kepler's orbital equations only solve Newton's gravitational equations when the latter are limited to just two bodies interacting. The gradually increasing accuracy of astronomical observations led to incremental demands in the accuracy of solutions to Newton's gravitational equations, which led many eminent 18th and 19th century mathematicians, notably Lagrange and Laplace, to extend and generalize the methods of perturbation theory.

These well-developed perturbation methods were adopted and adapted to solve new problems arising during the development of quantum mechanics in 20th century atomic and subatomic physics. Paul Dirac developed quantum perturbation theory in 1927 to evaluate when a particle would be emitted in radioactive elements. This was later named Fermi's golden rule. Perturbation theory in quantum mechanics is fairly accessible, mainly because quantum mechanics is limited to linear wave equations, but also since the quantum mechanical notation allows expressions to be written in fairly compact form, thus making them easier to comprehend. This resulted in an explosion of applications, ranging from the Zeeman effect to the hyperfine splitting in the hydrogen atom.

Despite the simpler notation, perturbation theory applied to quantum field theory still easily gets out of hand. Richard Feynman developed the celebrated Feynman diagrams by observing that many terms repeat in a regular fashion. These terms can be replaced by dots, lines, squiggles and similar marks, each standing for a term, a denominator, an integral, and so on; thus complex integrals can be written as simple diagrams, with absolutely no ambiguity as to what they mean. The one-to-one correspondence between the diagrams, and specific integrals is what gives them their power. Although originally developed for quantum field theory, it turns out the diagrammatic technique is broadly applicable to many other perturbative series (although not always worthwhile).

In the second half of the 20th century, as chaos theory developed, it became clear that unperturbed systems were in general completely integrable systems, while the perturbed systems were not. This promptly lead to the study of "nearly integrable systems", of which the KAM torus is the canonical example. At the same time, it was also discovered that many (rather special) non-linear systems, which were previously approachable only through perturbation theory, are in fact completely integrable. This discovery was quite dramatic, as it allowed exact solutions to be given. This, in turn, helped clarify the meaning of the perturbative series, as one could now compare the results of the series to the exact solutions.

The improved understanding of dynamical systems coming from chaos theory helped shed light on what was termed the small denominator problem or small divisor problem. In the 19th century Poincaré observed (as perhaps had earlier mathematicians) that sometimes 2nd and higher order terms in the perturbative series have "small denominators": That is, they have the general form $$\ \frac{\ \psi_n V \phi_m\ }{\ (\omega_n -\omega_m)\ }\ $$ where $$\ \psi_n\ ,$$ $$\ V\ ,$$ and $$\ \phi_m\ $$ are some complicated expressions pertinent to the problem to be solved, and $$\ \omega_n\ $$ and $$\ \omega_m\ $$ are real numbers; very often they are the energy of normal modes. The small divisor problem arises when the difference $$\ \omega_n - \omega_m\ $$ is small, causing the perturbative correction to "blow up", becoming as large or maybe larger than the zeroth order term. This situation signals a breakdown of perturbation theory: It stops working at this point, and cannot be expanded or summed any further. In formal terms, the perturbative series is an asymptotic series: A useful approximation for a few terms, but at some point becomes less accurate if even more terms are added. The breakthrough from chaos theory was an explanation of why this happened: The small divisors occur whenever perturbation theory is applied to a chaotic system. The one signals the presence of the other.

Beginnings in the study of planetary motion
Since the planets are very remote from each other, and since their mass is small as compared to the mass of the Sun, the gravitational forces between the planets can be neglected, and the planetary motion is considered, to a first approximation, as taking place along Kepler's orbits, which are defined by the equations of the two-body problem, the two bodies being the planet and the Sun.

Since astronomic data came to be known with much greater accuracy, it became necessary to consider how the motion of a planet around the Sun is affected by other planets. This was the origin of the three-body problem; thus, in studying the system Moon-Earth-Sun, the mass ratio between the Moon and the Earth was chosen as the "small parameter". Lagrange and Laplace were the first to advance the view that the so-called "constants" which describe the motion of a planet around the Sun gradually change: They are "perturbed", as it were, by the motion of other planets and vary as a function of time; hence the name "perturbation theory".

Perturbation theory was investigated by the classical scholars – Laplace, Poisson, Gauss – as a result of which the computations could be performed with a very high accuracy. The discovery of the planet Neptune in 1848 by Le Verrier, based on the deviations in motion of the planet Uranus. He sent the coordinates to J.G. Galle who successfully observed Neptune through his telescope – a triumph of perturbation theory.

Perturbation orders
The standard exposition of perturbation theory is given in terms of the order to which the perturbation is carried out: first-order perturbation theory or second-order perturbation theory, and whether the perturbed states are degenerate, which requires singular perturbation. In the singular case extra care must be taken, and the theory is slightly more elaborate.

In chemistry
Many of the ab initio quantum chemistry methods use perturbation theory directly or are closely related methods. Implicit perturbation theory works with the complete Hamiltonian from the very beginning and never specifies a perturbation operator as such. Møller–Plesset perturbation theory uses the difference between the Hartree–Fock Hamiltonian and the exact non-relativistic Hamiltonian as the perturbation. The zero-order energy is the sum of orbital energies. The first-order energy is the Hartree–Fock energy and electron correlation is included at second-order or higher. Calculations to second, third or fourth order are very common and the code is included in most ab initio quantum chemistry programs. A related but more accurate method is the coupled cluster method.

Shell-crossing
A shell-crossing (sc) occurs in perturbation theory when matter trajectories intersect, forming a singularity. This limits the predictive power of physical simulations at small scales.

title: Perturbation theory


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Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park

Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park is a national park in the South West region of Western Australia, 267 km south of Perth. It is named after the two locations at either end of the park which have lighthouses, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Naturaliste. It is located in the Augusta-Margaret River and Busselton council areas, and is claimed to have the highest visiting numbers of any national park in Western Australia. The park received 2.33 million visitors through 2008–2009.

Description
The park extends over 100 miles, from Cape Naturaliste in the north to Cape Leeuwin in the south. It is composed of 28 separate reserves, which together have an area of about 15,600 ha. Despite the park's large size, the reserves are fragmented, and in many places the park consists only of a narrow coastal strip.

It has many features of interest including limestone and granite outcrops like Sugarloaf Rock and Canal Rocks. The coastal area also contains many beaches with well-known surf breaks, such as Supertubes, Yallingup Beach, and Smiths Beach. Other coastal features include coastal cliffs and aeolian dunes. The park has a network of caves, some of which are accessible by the public. There are brackish and freshwater lakes and springs, and the park is crossed by several creeks and rivers, including the Margaret River.

The park either passes through or contains historic sites including the Cape Leeuwin water wheel.

Leeuwin–Naturaliste Ridge
Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge runs north and south parallel to the coast from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin. The ridge is composed of two landform elements. The Leeuwin-Naturaliste Coast is a discontinuous strip of coastal dune limestone known as the Tamala Limestone Formation, which extends along the western shore. The Tamala Limestone is karstified, with numerous caverns and groundwater systems, including the Jewel Caves and Devil's Lair, which contains the earliest archeological evidence of human habitation in Southwest Australia. The Margaret Plateau extends north–south to the east of the Leeuwin Coast. It is an undulating and dissected plateau, composed of the basement rock on which the Tamala Limestone formed. This basement rock is known as the Leeuwin Complex, a strongly metamorphosed igneous Proterozoic rock made up mostly of granitic and anorthositic gneisses. The Dunsborough Fault forms the eastern boundary of the Leeuwin Complex and Margaret River Plateau, where they adjoin the sedimentary Perth Basin. The ridge's geology and the variations in vegetation are confined to a number of very narrow bands that follow the north–south orientation of the ridge.

Flora and fauna
The park contains a large range of geologic features and soil types. The landscape and soil diversity supports a range of plant communities. These include coastal herblands and grasslands, sedgelands, and heath near the coast. Further inland are shrublands, woodlands, and forests, including peppermint tree (Agonis flexuosa) and Banksia shrubland and woodland, and significant stands of tall karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor) and jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest.

A large variety of bird species inhabit the park including many sea birds, red-eared firetail, white-breasted robin, rock parrot and emu. Native mammals that can be found within the park include southern brown bandicoots, western grey kangaroos, western ringtail possums and brush wallabies.

Conservation
The national park was created from crown lands along the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge at a time after the main primary industries in the region had been dairying and forestry, and when increased land-use conflict was arising from the spread of wineries, increased population on hobby farms and other agricultural activities.

Since then many competing land uses have created a complex land management scenario for state and local government authorities trying to mediate quite conflicting issues. The national park is located on some of the most vulnerable land in the region.

2021 Bushfire
In December 2021, a bushfire was deliberately lit according to police. The fire destroyed almost 5,500 hectares.

Cape to Cape Track

In 2001, the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) opened the Cape to Cape Track, a 135 kilometre walking track along the Leeuwin-Naturaliste ridge.

title: Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park


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Mundy Regional Park

The Mundy Regional Park is a regional park located on the western edge of the Darling Scarp, approximately 22 km east of Perth in Western Australia. The 56 ha park has commanding views of the Swan Coastal Plain, the city of Perth and surrounding suburbs. The park is managed by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

Location and features
The park contains the 50 m Lesmurdie Falls, formed by Lesmurdie Brook emptying over the Scarp, and the surrounding riparian and heath vegetation. Wandoo, jarrah and marri trees can all be found within the park. A gravity hill exists near the carpark on Palm Terrace.

The Mundy Regional Park has multiple walking and running trails of varying difficulty and is popular for walking and running. The walking trails include: Lesmurdie Brook Loop, Lewis Road Walk, Palm Terrace Walk,Xanthorrhoea Trail, Whistlepipe Gully.

Some sections allow horse riding and off-road cycling.

title: Mundy Regional Park


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Lesueur National Park

Lesueur National Park is a national park straddling the boundary between the Wheatbelt and Mid West regions of Western Australia, 211 km north of Perth. The park was gazetted in 1992. It includes two mesas known as Mount Lesueur and Mount Michaud, and supports a highly diverse flora.

Flora

Lesueur National Park lies in the Geraldton Sandplains bioregion, which is characterised by scrubby heath with a high number of plants from the family Proteaceae.

Vegetation in the park is structurally complex, with patches of woodland amongst shrublands.

There are over 900 indigenous plant species in the park, many of which are endemic. Rare or threatened species include the Mount Lesueur Grevillea, Forrest's Wattle, the Lesueur Hakea and the Laterite Mallee.

The park is the northern limit for Jarrah and Mountain Marri, both of which grow as mallees instead of the more usual tall tree form.

Lesueur National Park is under threat from the effects of Phytophthora dieback, a disease which kills plants and is spread through movement of infected soil or water.

1980s coal mining and power station proposals
In the 1980s, due to appraisals of coal deposits in the area, the Mount Lesueur and Hill River areas were in controversy over proposed coal mining and power station development,  until the creation of the National Park in 1990.

title: Lesueur National Park


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Millstream Chichester National Park

Millstream Chichester National Park is a national park in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, located 1190 km north of the state capital, Perth.

The park is made up of the old Millstream Station, which is on the Millstream Creek, just before it joins Fortescue River, one of the few permanent watercourses in the area and the Chichester Range.

History
The area is homeland of the Yinjibarndi people. Millstream Creek was named by the explorer Francis Thomas Gregory in 1861. He reported the favourable grazing prospects. The first pastoral lease was taken up on 1865.

By 1907 the property was owned by Loton and Padbury, and occupied an area of 1000 sqmi. It was stocked with 20,500 sheep, 1,900 cattle and 150 horses, and was passed in at auction at £26,000.

The present Millstream Homestead was built in 1920. The homestead was a tavern between 1975 and 1986.

In 1970, the Chichester Range National Park was set aside and officially named. In 1975, the Conservation through Reserves Committee made recommendations for reserves in the Pilbara region, and subsequently, the Millstream region was integrated into the park in 1982.

The Yindjibarndi people work as rangers and contractors in the Park. The Millstream Homestead Visitor Centre is in the old homestead, which feature rooms dedicated to the Yinjibarndi people, the early settlers and the natural environment. Other displays provide information about the park's attractions and management challenges.

Climate
The Pilbara is located within the arid tropics. During summer, between October and April, temperatures rise above 40 C, and cyclones and local thunderstorms can flood roads and watercourses. The cool season, between May and August, experiences little rain, with daytime temperatures around 26 C. Nights at this time of year can be cool, so warm clothes may be necessary.

Camping
Camping is available at Miliyanha and Stargazers campgrounds. Miliyanha has a camp kitchen, toilets and generators are allowed. It has some shade in the mornings and afternoon. Stargazers is a more open site and generators are not permitted. A gas BBQ and toilets are provided. Both campgrounds are suitable for tent camping up to very large caravans and motorhomes, and can be accessed by two-wheel drive vehicles in good weather. Information concerning road conditions can be obtained from the Shire of Ashburton.

Snake Creek Campground has been closed to campers since 2011; Crossing Pool has been closed to campers since 2013 due to safety issues concerning a drop in water levels and tree death.

Yindjibarndi people
The Millstream Chichester area is a very significant Indigenous cultural site in northern Australia. Its cultural and mythological importance stems from thousands of years of occupation, with Millstream being the home of the mythical serpent or warlu, whose presence is still strongly felt at Nhanggangunha (Deep Reach Pool). All the pools are significant in this regard and warrant a high level of respect because of their spiritual and mythological importance.

The broad area of land straddling the Fortescue River (Yarnda Nyirranha) from the Hamersley Range through to the Chichester escarpment is the homeland of the Yindjibarndi people. The Ngarluma people's lands run from the Chichester escarpment northward to the sea.

Aside from its highly important spiritual significance, Millstream was an important campsite for inter-tribal meetings. The Fortescue River provided food and water, particularly during drier months. Along the river, Indigenous people had a varied diet of red meat, fish, reptiles, grubs, eggs, honey fruits and root vegetables. Extensive areas were burnt to create natural paddocks and attract kangaroos. The dry climate meant that knowledge of the locations of waterholes was important. The Indigenous people (Ngardangarli) were skilled in land management and were nomadic within their traditional boundaries.

Yindjibarndi and Ngarluma people continue to come to the park to spend time on country and to carry out customary activities. They are also represented on the Jirndawurrunhs Park Council which, in association with the Department of Parks and Wildlife, manages the strategic direction of the park.

title: Millstream Chichester National Park


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Moore River National Park

Moore River National Park is a national park in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 95 km north of Perth. The Moore River runs through the park on its way to the Indian Ocean where the township of Guilderton is situated.

The park is situated west of the Brand Highway near Regans Ford and consists of mainly banksia heathland. There are no facilities in the park.

title: Moore River National Park


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Mount Augustus National Park

Mount Augustus National Park is located 852 km north of Perth, 490 km by road east of Carnarvon and 390 km northwest of Meekatharra, in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Mount Augustus itself, the feature around which the national park is based, is known as Burringurrah to the local Wadjari Aboriginal people.

Mount Augustus
Mount Augustus is an inselberg or monocline, not a monolith as often stated in tourist literature.

There is a caravan park at nearby Mount Augustus Station homestead, which also has "Donga" style accommodation and a restaurant which is open in peak tourist season.

Geology
Mount Augustus is composed of sandstone and conglomerate, a formation known to geologists as the Mount Augustus Sandstone, which overlies older granite near its northern end. The Mount Augustus Sandstone was deposited by ancient river systems and is somewhat younger than the 1.64 billion year old granite beneath. The originally horizontal sediments have been folded into an asymmetric anticline by later tectonic movements.

European history
Francis Thomas Gregory reached the summit on 3 June 1858 during his 107-day journey through the Gascoyne region, becoming the first recorded European to climb the mountain. Some weeks later he named the peak after his brother, Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (1819–1905). At the time Augustus was on his last expedition, an unsuccessful foray into western Queensland in an attempt to discover the whereabouts of Ludwig Leichhardt.

The pastoral lease, Mount Augustus Station, which once included Mount Augustus was settled in 1887. A portion of this lease along with a portion of the Cobra Station lease, totalling 9168 ha were voluntarily released in 1989 to create the National Park.

title: Mount Augustus National Park


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Mount Frankland National Park

Mount Frankland National Park is a national park in the South West region of Western Australia, 327 km south of Perth. The park is part of the larger Walpole Wilderness Area that was established in 2004, an international biodiversity hotspot.

Geography
It covers an area of 371.22 square kilometres in the low granite hills to the north of the town of Walpole.

Mount Frankland (411 metres), known as Caldyanup to the aboriginal inhabitants, is a granite peak which offers panoramic views across the landscape. There is a fire lookout atop the mountain. The mountain was named in 1829 by Thomas Braidwood Wilson after George Frankland, who was then Surveyor General of Tasmania.

The park extends from northwest to southeast. It is bounded on the north by Mount Frankland North National Park, on the east by Mount Roe National Park, on the south by Mount Frankland South National Park, and on the west by Shannon National Park.

Climate
Annual rainfall at Walpole is around 1200 mm. On the 422-metre high peak of Mount Frankland, though no rain gauge has ever been installed, annual rainfall is probably around 1500 mm. Most rain falls between May and August, but unlike drier parts of southwestern Australia, showers are not infrequent even during the summer.

Flora and fauna
The park is covered largely by forests of karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor) and red tingle (Eucalyptus jacksonii), two of the world's largest trees. The three tingle species are unique to the area between the park and the coast and the only eucalypts to be buttressed, a feature which reflects the moist conditions prevailing within the park.

Low heathland is the dominant vegetation on the thin soil over the park's many granite outcrops.

Recreation
There are several walking trails in the park, ranging from wheelchair-accessible to difficult.

An unsealed road, usable by conventional vehicles, provides auto access to a car park within the park. There are picnic areas with gas barbecues and toilets 100 metres from the car park, and a treetop-level wilderness lookout further on.

title: Mount Frankland National Park


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Nambung National Park

Nambung National Park is a national park in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 200 km northwest of Perth, Australia and 17 km south of the small coastal town of Cervantes. The park contains the Pinnacles Desert which is an area with thousands of limestone formations called pinnacles.

The park derives its name from an indigenous Australian word possibly meaning crooked or winding. The word was used in 1938 when naming the Nambung River which flows into the park and disappears into a cave system within the limestone. The Yued people are the acknowledged traditional custodians of the land since before the arrival of Europeans.

Nambung National Park also contains beaches at Kangaroo Point and Hangover Bay, as well as coastal dunes and flowering plants in low heathland areas. A boardwalk in the northern area of the park at Lake Thetis allows visitors to view thrombolites which, like stromatolites, are structures built by micro-organisms, especially cyanobacteria. Some of the fossilized thrombolites have been dated to 3.6 billion years old. The Pinnacles Desert Discovery Centre features exhibits about the geology of the pinnacles formations and the cultural and natural heritage values of the area.

History
Europeans first visited the area in 1658 when Dutch maps recorded North and South Hummocks on their maps. Phillip Parker King also mentioned the Hummocks in his journals in 1820. The Pinnacles Desert area remained relatively unknown until surveyed in 1934. The national park was created in July 1994 by combining three separate reserve areas gazetted in 1956, 1967 (the Pinnacles) and 1968.

Geography
The park is bordered to the north by the Southern Beekeeper's Nature Reserve and to the south by Wanagarren Nature Reserve. A large area of vacant Crown land is found along much of the eastern boundary while the Indian Ocean defines the park's western boundary. Visitors can access the Pinnacles Desert from points north or south of Cervantes via the Indian Ocean Drive or via Cervantes Road from the east. The park is located 17 km south of Cervantes.

Geology
The Pinnacles Desert contains thousands of limestone pillars. The pillars are the weathered and eroded fragments of limestone beds composed of deposited marine organisms such as coral and molluscs. Some of the tallest pinnacles reach heights of up to 3.5m above the yellow sand base. The different types of formations include ones which are much taller than they are wide and resemble columnssuggesting the name of Pinnacleswhile others are only a metre or so in height and width resembling short tombstones. A cross-bedding structure can be observed in many pinnacles where the angle of deposited sand changed suddenly due to changes in prevailing winds during formation of the limestone beds. Pinnacles with tops similar to mushrooms are created when the calcrete capping is harder than the limestone layer below it. The relatively softer lower layers weather and erode at a faster rate than the top layer leaving behind more material at the top of the pinnacle.

Fauna and flora
Nambung National Park is home to a variety of wildlife with 176 observed animal species, including 128 birds, 8 mammals, 15 reptiles, several fish and arthropods and one amphibian. Among the mammal species are the western grey kangaroo, red kangaroo, dingo, honey possum and red fox. Some common bird species include silver gull, black-faced woodswallow, white-backed swallow, red-capped plover and raven. Reptile species include Buchanan's snake-eyed skink, yellow-faced whip snake, bobtail (a species of blue-tongued skink) and sand goanna. The only observed amphibian species is the sign-bearing froglet.

Humpback whales visit the Indian Ocean waters adjacent to the park during their northern and southern migration seasons, while sea lions and dolphins are year-round inhabitants.

The park's flora includes more than 170 angiosperms with a few examples being coastal wattle, sea nymph, acorn banksia, cowslip orchid, ringed wallaby grass and coast hop-bush. The only recorded gymnosperm is the swamp cypress.

title: Nambung National Park


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Neerabup National Park

Neerabup National Park is a national park in the City of Wanneroo in Western Australia, situated approximately 27 km north of Perth.

The park is found to the west of Wanneroo Road and is a long thin strip of bushland that is about 12 km in length. It contains no car parks and roads or any other facilities and attracts no entrance fee.

The area protects part of an ancient Indigenous Australian migration route between Lake Joondalup and Loch McNess (in Yanchep National Park). This later became are well used stock route and then part of the Yaberoo Budjara Heritage Trail. The trail is based on the Yellalonga tribes movements between the lakes and highlights features of historical, aboriginal and natural significance.

The park lies within the Northern Swan Coastal Plain Important Bird Area, so identified by BirdLife International because of its importance in supporting several thousand Short-billed Black Cockatoos during the non-breeding season.

title: Neerabup National Park


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Peak Charles National Park

Peak Charles National Park is a national park in Western Australia, 507 km east of Perth and 170 km north west of Esperance.

The park is named for one of the main features, Peak Charles, which is an ancient granite peak with an elevation of 651 m that dominates the park along with its neighbour Peak Eleanora. Both afford excellent views over the park, which is primarily composed of dry sand plain heaths and salt lake systems.

It is located within the IBRA sub region of the Eastern Mallee and has a number of rare plants within its boundaries including Gastrolobium acrocaroli.

No entry fee applies to enter the park but there are few facilities available to tourists. A car park, campground and toilets are available.

A 2 km looped walk trail to a lookout at the top of Peak Charles is also available which requires rock scrambling.

title: Peak Charles National Park


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Porongurup National Park

Porongurup National Park is a national park in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. It covers 26.21 km2, and is 360 km southeast of Perth and 40 km north of Albany.

The park contains the Porongurup Range, which is the relic core of an ancient mountain range formed in the Precambrian over 1200 million years ago. The Porongurup Range forms part of the Southwest Biodiversity Hotspot, which is one of 34 regions in the world noted for a rich diversity of flora and fauna species. The range contains many peaks and hiking trails, with the highest point being Devils Slide at 670 m, followed by Nancy's Peak at 644 metres. Castle Rock (558 metres) is capped with The Granite Skywalk, a steel viewing platform which provides panoramic views of the surrounding karri forest.

History
The Porongurup Range is culturally significant to the Mineng and Koreng/Goreng sub-groups of the Noongar people. Minang man Larry Blight states:"This is our most sacred site...Porongurup or 'Borrongup' means totem in Noongar — a totem could be an animal or a plant that we inherit from our mother’s and father’s side when we are born."The Porongurup Range was first sighted by Europeans passing near Albany in 1802 but farming in the surrounding districts did not start until around 1859 when vegetables were first grown on the southern slopes of the range. The giant karri and jarrah trees of the range were first harvested for timber in the 1880s and timber leases did not begin to be withdrawn until 1925. The National Park was not gazetted officially until 1971, with an area of 1,157 ha. This has now been increased to 2,511 ha.

Geomorphology
The Porongurup Range is 15 km from east to west and consists of porphyritic granite peaks levelled into domes. The range is the remnant of a sizeable reservoir of molten granite that bubbled up when the Antarctic continent struck Australia in the Stenian Period of the Mesoproterozoic Era, around 1200 million (1.2 billion) years ago.

The sea levels of the late Cretaceous were around 100 metres higher than today and during this time the Porongurup Range was an island surrounded by the sea.

Flora
The Porongurup National Park contains over 700 native plant species and at least 300 macrofungi species. At least nine flora species are unique and found only in the park. Examples of plant groups present include: heaths (Epacridaceae), especially beard-heaths (Leucopogon); peas (Fabaceae), notably flame-peas (Chorizema), bitter-peas (Daviesia and Bossiaea) and poison-peas (Gastrolobium); native myrtles (Myrtaceae); pimeleas (Thymelaeaceae), notably rice flowers (Pimelea); sundews and pitcher plants (Nepenthales); bloodroots, conostyles, kangaroo paws and their allies (Haemodorales); and banksias and grevilleas (Proteales). It is also important for richness in lilies, orchids and allies (Liliales), notably native lilies (Anthericaceae), irises and allies (Iridaceae), and orchids (Orchidaceae).

High granite peaks create their own micro-climates due to their altitude and their capacity to attract topographic rainfall. This maintains cooler and moister climate conditions than the surrounding low-lying plains. A remnant island of karri forest prevails here, hundreds of kilometres east of the cool southwest cape where they are more commonly found. They thrive in the granitic soils (known as "karri loam") and cool, moist air.

On lateritic soils downslope, the predominant type of vegetation is a mixed forest of jarrah and marri, whilst on the highly exposed and frequently waterlogged summits, an open mossy herbland prevails.

Fauna
The mammal species in the National Park include the western grey kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus), brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecular), pygmy possum (Cercartetus concinnus), mardo (or yellow-footed antechinus – Antechinus flavipes leucogaster), mooti (or bush rat – Rattus fuscipes fuscipes), quenda (or southern brown bandicoot – Isoodon obesulus fusciventer) and honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus).

Seventy-one bird species including the red-eared firetail (Emblema oculata) and Baudin's black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus baudinii) are also found in the park.

At least 17 reptile species are known to inhabit the park including King's skink (Egernia kingii), the southern heath monitor (Varanus rosenbergi) and the marbled gecko (Phyllodactylus marmoratus). Several tree frog and southern frog species are also evident.

Invertebrates present in the National Park include Gondwanan relictual species such as the Porongurup trapdoor spider (Neohomogona bolganupensis), land snails (Bothriembryon spp.) and giant earthworms (Megacolex sp.). Other invertebrates include peacock spiders (Maratus sp), velvet worms (Onychophora) and the social crab spider (Diaea socialis).

Climate
The plains surrounding the Porongurup Range have an annual rainfall of around 800 mm to the south and around 600 mm on the northern side. Most of this rain falls between April and October: although light showers are common in the summer months, the average rainfall between November and March totals only around 110 mm in the southern plains and less than 75 mm to the north. Summer temperatures on the plains average a very warm 26 °C in the daytime and decline to around 18 °C at night. In winter, although it can be rainy, temperatures average a very pleasant 16 °C during the day and a cool 8 °C in the morning. Temperatures on the peaks are around 3 °C (5.4 °F) lower than on the plains, and snow has occasionally fallen on the ranges (heavily in October 1992 and June 1956).

Fire and cyclones
In 1978, Cyclone Alby felled many trees within the National Park (it was an unusual depression that produced very little rainfall after moving south of the Tropic of Capricorn).

On 11 February 2007, a fire began on private property near the north-west corner of the park. It quickly spread into the native vegetation and raced up the steep slopes within hours. Volunteer fire crews and Department's firefighters battled the fast-moving blaze and managed to contain it overnight after it had burnt around 50% of the park. The fire broke containment lines on Monday afternoon (12 February) and spread further through the park and into private property to the north-east. Fire crews, including aerial support from six water bomber planes, continued the battle to contain the blaze and by Tuesday morning it was again under control though still burning freely within the containment zone. Water bombers paid special attention to tourist facilities and special habitats, including an area where endangered noisy scrub birds had been released. By Wednesday morning (14 February) the fire had burnt through around 95% of the national park.

As many of the trees and vegetation are native to the region, it is expected that the park will, to a large extent, recover in the months after the fire. By early April, Kingia australis plants were re-shooting and flowering abundantly in heavily burnt areas but the legacy of the fire will be felt for some time to come. Local populations of kangaroos and other wildlife were injured and local residents assisted in their care and recovery where possible. There has not been such a devastating fire in the region since the 1960s.

Features
The park includes a number of significant tourist features and walk trails.
 * Tree in the rock
 * Castle Rock
 * Balancing Rock
 * Gibraltar Rock
 * Devils Slide
 * Wansborough Pass
 * Millinup Pass

title: Porongurup National Park


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Purnululu National Park

The Purnululu National Park is a World Heritage Site in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. The 239723 ha national park is located approximately 300 km south of Kununurra, with Halls Creek located to the south. Declared a World Heritage Site in 2003, the park was inscribed as follows:

Purnululu National Park World Heritage Site
The World Heritage status of the region was created and negotiated in 2003, and the adopted boundary of the existing national park. Since its listing, the Government of Western Australia has reserved additional areas located adjacent to the World Heritage Area, including the Purnululu Conservation Park and the Ord River Regeneration Reserve. The site was gazetted on the Australian National Heritage List on 21 May 2007 under the.

Etymology
Purnululu is a mispronounced Djaru word for the area around Bungle Bungle out camp, which is referred to as Bullmanlulu. The correct Karjaganujaru name for the Bungle Bungle massif is Billingjal which means sand falling away.

The traditional owners of the area are the Karjaganujaru peoples.

Features
The Bungle Bungle Range, lying fully within the park, has elevations as high as 578 m above sea level. It is famous for the sandstone domes, unusual and visually striking with their striping in alternating orange and grey bands. The banding of the domes is due to differences in clay content and porosity of the sandstone layers: the orange bands consist of oxidised iron compounds in layers that dry out too quickly for cyanobacteria to multiply; the grey bands are composed of cyanobacteria growing on the surface of layers of sandstone where moisture accumulates.

Geology
The Bungle Bungle Range is one of the most extensive and impressive occurrences of sandstone tower (or cone) karst terrain in the world. The Bungle Bungles were a plateau of Devonian sandstone, carved into a mass of beehive-shaped towers with regularly alternating, dark gray bands of cyanobacterial crust (single cell photosynthetic organisms). The plateau is dissected by 100 - 200 m deep, sheer-sided gorges and slot canyons. The cone-towers are steep-sided, with an abrupt break of slope at the base and have domed summits. How they were formed is not yet completely understood. Their surface is fragile but stabilized by crusts of iron oxide and bacteria. They provide an outstanding example of land formation by dissolutional weathering of sandstone, with removal of sand grains by wind, rain and sheet wash on slopes.

Access
Access to the park by road is via Spring Creek Track, from the Great Northern Highway approximately 250 km south of Kununurra, to the track's end at the visitor centre. The track is 53 km long and is usable only in the dry season (about 1 April to 31 December) by four-wheel-drive vehicles. Safely navigating it takes approximately three hours. Access by air is less demanding; helicopter flights are available from Bellburn Airstrip in the national park, and from Warmun roadhouse. Scenic light aircraft flights are also available out of Kununurra and Lake Argyle.

title: Purnululu National Park


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Karlamilyi National Park

Karlamilyi National Park lies in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 250 km northeast of Newman and 1250 km north-northeast of Perth. Proclaimed an A Class Reserve on 13 April 1977, it is the largest national park in Western Australia.

The park was initially listed on the Register of the National Estate in 1978 as Rudall River National Park, and was noted as "significant for maintaining ongoing geomorphic and ecological processes within a tropical desert environment. It contains an entire landscape sequence which includes extensive dune fields, table lands, an entire river/creek system, alluvial formations, saline lakes and palaeodrainage lines". The name of the park was changed in 2008 to Karlamilyi National Park to acknowledge the traditional owners of the area. The park's original name was derived from the Rudall River, named by Frank Hann who was one of the first Europeans to explore the area. He named the river after another explorer and surveyor, William Frederick Rudall.

The area is traditionally Martu country, called Karlamilyi. There are two Aboriginal communities within the park: Parnngurr (Cotton Creek) and Punmu (Lake Dora). The park is situated across the boundary between the Little Sandy Desert and the Great Sandy Desert and includes the catchment area of the Rudall River. It is best accessed from the Rudall River Road, which connects the Talawana Track in the south, and the Telfer Mine Road in the north. There are no ranger facilities within the park. Fuel, groceries, emergency medical facilities, camping gear, caravan parking and laundry are available at Parnngurr.

title: Karlamilyi National Park


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Scott National Park

Scott National Park is a national park in the South West region of Western Australia, 265 km south of Perth.

It is based on the catchment area of the Scott River and the eastern bank of the Blackwood River, and occurs in part on the Scott Coastal Plain. It has a population of honey possum in the park.

It has had reviews of its flora and fauna due to the proximity of mining exploration and activity.

title: Scott National Park


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User talk:Roan

Hello there, welcome to the 'pedia! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. If you need any questions answered about the project then check out Help or add a question to the Village pump. Cheers! -- Montréalais

Hello Roan, I saw your contribution to ideology and wonderered whether it would be fair to add that while the word may have been neutral when used in the eighteenth century, it acquired pejorative connotations with the advent of marxism. -- Alan Peakall 13:23 Dec 6, 2002 (UTC)

 * yes, we can work something out. Be sure to note that it was not due to marxism that it acquired a pejoratice connotation, but due to the rejection of marxism in the west, and also the rejection of the Nazi / fascist ideology. Maybe a link to the cold war... Lets have further discussions in the talk page of ideology. roan

Dutch Wikipedia symposium in Rotterdam (27/11/2004)
Hi,

As a personal initiative I want to mention to you http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Symposium/Najaar_2004

There have been some voices that Dutch-speaking Belgian wikipedians might be underrepresented at that venue, so I took the liberty to post this message on the talk page of all people I found on Wikipedians/Belgium.

If this doesn't apply to you (e.g. while French-speaking, or not interested in Dutch wikipedia,...) simply ignore this message.

--Francis Schonken 09:41, 22 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Wikinations
Hello Roan ! You are Belgian and you like to contribute to Wikipedia, like me ? Then you may like to contribute to Wikinations.be too: it is a wiki site that collaboratively builds a citizen guide of Belgium (in French for the moment. You could start the Dutch version !). I just started this project, and, seeing your political interest, I thought that you might be interested. So, see you soon over there ? (Sorry for the disturbance if you are not interested) Pcarbonn 09:28, 11 Nov 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:Roan


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Serpentine National Park

The Serpentine National Park is a national park located on the Darling Scarp, approximately 55 km southeast of Perth in Western Australia. The depth of the falls has been undetermined, and is shrouded with conspiracy and enigmatism.

Features and location
The 4387 ha national park's main feature and most popular tourist destination is the Serpentine Falls, a series of waterfalls in the upper reaches of Serpentine River. Serpentine falls are located at 32°22′05″S 116°00′40″E. Other attractions include Serpentine Dam and the smaller Pipehead Dam. The park overlaps the North Dandalup Important Bird Area.

The Park was expanded on several occasions to the north of the Serpentine River, including recently in the mid and late 2000s. This included land which was formerly managed by the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale as State Forest and Regional Parks, and land under the management of the Water Corporation. Gooralong Camping and Day Use Area was closed in the mid-2000s in conjunction with this acquisition. The park was proclaimed as a National Park in 1957.

Flora and fauna
In spring the park is abundant with wildflowers. Common species found here include spider orchids, greenhoods and triggerplants. Giant sundew, dryandras and grevilleas are other common species found in this area.

title: Serpentine National Park


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Shannon National Park

Shannon National Park is a national park on the south coast of Western Australia, 302 km south of Perth and 55 km southeast of Manjimup. It was declared a national park in 1988. The park covers the entire Shannon River basin. It is part of the larger Walpole Wilderness Area that was established in 2004, an international biodiversity hotspot.

The area contains biologically rich wetlands and heathlands as well as old growth and regrowth karri forests. The area remained largely untouched by logging until the 1940s due to the inaccessibility of the area. A timber mill and the town of Shannon were established in the mid-1940s as a result of a timber shortage during World War II. The town once boasted over 90 homes and a hall, post office, church and nursing station. A dam was built in 1949 to guarantee water supply during the summer months.

The mill eventually closed in 1968 and the houses were sold and moved leaving the townsite empty and a campground now stands were the town once did. The area was gazetted as a national park in 1988 and is now part of the Walpole Wilderness Area.

The campgrounds contain toilets, gas barbecues, hot water showers and two huts available to campers on a first come first served basis. Entry fees apply for the park.

A 48 km unsealed road called the Great Forest Trees Drive was completed in 1996 and provides tourists with the opportunity to view many of the features of the park. There are information stops, picnic areas and walks located along the drive.

title: Shannon National Park


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Sir James Mitchell National Park

Sir James Mitchell National Park is a national park in the South West region of Western Australia, 284 km south of Perth.

title: Sir James Mitchell National Park


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Stirling Range National Park

Stirling Range National Park is a national park in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, approximately 337 km south-east of Perth.

Description
It protects the Stirling Ranges, or Koikyennuruff, a range of mountains and hills over 65 km wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranbrook eastward past Gnowangerup. Notable features include Toolbrunup, Bluff Knoll – the tallest peak in the southwestern region – and a silhouette called The Sleeping Princess which is visible from the Porongurup Range.

Popular recreational activities in the park include bushwalking, abseiling and gliding. Camping is permitted only in Moingup campsite within the park boundaries (fee applies). Other peaks which have tracks include Mt Trio, Talyuberlup Peak and Mt Magog. A premier walk known as The Stirling Ridge Walk is usually done over two days and includes Ellen Peak (the most easterly peak) and Bluff Knoll.

History
The traditional owners are the Mineng and Koreng groups of the Noongar peoples who have inhabited the region for tens of thousands of years. The Noongar know the range as Koi Kyenunu-ruff which means mist moving around the mountains. The area was important to Indigenous Australians with the surrounding lowlands providing many sources of food. The women gathered seeds, roots and fruit while men hunted kangaroos and other animals.

The first European to sight the range was Matthew Flinders in January 1802 while he was exploring the southern coast of Australia. He named the range Mount Rugged.

Ensign Dale explored the area in 1832 and climbed Toolbrunup.

Stirling Range was named by the surveyor John Septimus Roe in 1835 after the Governor of the Swan River Colony, James Stirling, even though Stirling never actually visited the area.

Sandalwood cutters established a track through the park in about 1848. European settlers arrived in the late 1800s initially around Amelup and farmed much of the surrounding areas. John Forrest climbed Toolbrunup in 1881 with Henry Samuel Ranford and made a cairn at the summit.

The boundaries of the park were first suggested by Jas Hope, the Chief Draftsperson of the Lands and Survey Department, in 1908 and approved by  Moore who was the Minister of Lands at the time.

The National Park was gazetted in 1913 and the first park ranger was appointed in 1964.

The park was listed as a National Heritage place in 2006.

In 2020, a bushfire caused by lightning devastated 40,000 hectares of park land.

In August 2022, there was a lot of snow in the park.

Environment
The area is of great biogeographic and evolutionary interest and displays one of the richest floras in the world. The park provides an important refuge for a large diversity of Australia's native plants and animals.

Flora
Despite the low soils fertility the area supports over 1,500 different flowering plant species with over 87 of the species found only in the area of the park. The park is particularly rich in banksias, eucalypts, orchids and verticordias. Ten species of mountain bells (Darwinia spp.) have been identified in the park and only one of these is found outside Stirling Range.

Five major vegetation communities are known in the park with thicket and mallee-heath at higher elevations and woodlands, wetlands and salt lake communities on the lower slopes and plains.

Fauna
The park has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports populations of endangered short-billed black cockatoos and western whipbirds, and is visited by endangered long-billed black-cockatoos.

Many native mammals are found in the park including the western pygmy possum and the western grey kangaroo.

Deeper shaded gullies support a range ancient species including land snails, trapdoor spiders and giant earthworms that date back over millions of years.

title: Stirling Range National Park