Sunday Island (Victoria)

The island is a private game reserve for the hunting of Hog Deer

Sunday Island is a low-lying, sandy, 16.2 km² barrier island on the coast of Victoria, Australia. It is about 8 km long by 3 km wide and rises to a maximum height of no more than 15 m asl. It lies in Corner Inlet, South Gippsland, 4 km south-west of Port Albert and 215 km south-east of Melbourne. Although the island is surrounded by the Nooramunga Marine and Coastal Park, it is private freehold property, a game reserve owned by the Para Park Cooperative.^[1] It contains an airstrip and a jetty as well as accommodation buildings for a resident manager and visiting members.

History

Sunday Island lies within the traditional lands of the Brataolong clan of the Gunai nation. European settlers arrived in the area in the early 1840s and the island has a history of being grazed since at least 1860. A pilot station operated from 1900 to 1922, while a homestead was occupied from 1918 to 1938. The island carried around 350 head of cattle, which were later replaced by up to 2200 sheep.^[2]

Para Park Cooperative

The Para Park Cooperative was established in 1965 by 200 people, most of whom were members of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia, in order to raise A$40,000 for the purchase of the island for the conservation, study and sustainable hunting of Hog Deer.^[3] The number of members is still about 200; membership is limited by a waiting list, and includes an annual work commitment for every member under 65. All accommodation on the island is limited to a small area at the eastern end, with the rest of the island left wild except for management tracks and dams. Hunting is seasonal, with quotas determined by management culling needs. Permits to hunt are restricted to members and are balloted. The cooperative has supplied Hog Deer stock to the Blond Bay State Game Reserve in East Gippsland.^[4]

The aims and objectives of the Cooperative are to:^[5]

maintain the island in perpetuity as a game management and hunting area
conserve the game animals and birds present and complement these with other suitable and desirable game species
control noxious animals and birds
carry out conservation projects that will improve the habitat and game carrying capacity of the island
provide a controlled area for wildlife research
provide and maintain facilities for the benefit of members
undertake, or assist with, projects beneficial to wildlife conservation and to the sports of hunting and shooting

Flora and fauna

Sunday Island vegetation includes stands of manna gum, coastal banksia, coastal tea tree and golden wattle, with tussock grass and bracken. The island supports swamp wallabies as well as managed populations of the introduced hog deer and fallow deer.^[2]^[3] The surrounding intertidal mudflats form an important feeding habitat for thousands of migratory waders that visit Corner Inlet each year.^[1]

References

1 2 Park Notes: Corner Inlet and Nooramunga Marine and Coastal Parks
1 2 Para Park Cooperative Game Reserve: History
1 2 Bentley, Arthur. (1978). An Introduction to the Deer of Australia. Koetong Trust Service Fund, Forests Commission, Victoria: Melbourne.
↑ Williams, Ross. (2008). Sunday Island – Conservation in Action. The Victorian Shooter Magazine 10(3): 3.
↑ Para Park Bylaws

External links

Para Park Cooperative Game Reserve Limited

Islands of Victoria, Australia

Islands off Gippsland and the Wilsons Promontory	Anser Boundary Citadel Cleft Cliffy Dannevig Gabo Great Glennie Kanowna McHugh Norman Notch Rabbit Rabbit Rock Rag Seal Shellback Tullaberga Wattle Wilsons Promontory Islands Important Bird Area Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park

Islands within Corner Inlet	Bennison Bullock Calf Clonmel Corner Cyril Dog Doughboy Drum East Scrubby Granite Horn Hunter Little Dog Little Snake Long One Tree Pelican Rescue Roberts Saint Margaret Scrubby Shag Sheep Snake Spec Sunday Corner Inlet Marine National Park

Islands within Western Port	Barrallier Chinaman Churchill Elizabeth French Joe Long Middle Spit Pelican Phillip Quail Ram Reef Seal Rocks Sandstone Schnapper Rock Tortoise Head Bank Churchill Island Marine National Park French Island Marine National Park Phillip Island Important Bird Area Phillip Island Nature Park

Islands within Port Phillip	Duck Mud Pope's Eye South Channel Fort Swan Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park

Islands within Bass Strait and the Great Australian Bight	Griffiths Lady Julia Percy Lawrence Rocks Middle

River islands	Beveridge Coode Gateway Herring Pental Raymond Rotamah The Island Ulupna

Category Commons

Coordinates: 38°42′41″S 146°37′44″E / 38.71139°S 146.62889°E / -38.71139; 146.62889

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