Drovers Cave National Park
Encyclopedia
Drovers Cave National Park is a national park
in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia
(Australia
), 201 kilometres (124.9 mi) northwest of Perth
. The nearest town is Jurien Bay
6 kilometres (3.7 mi) to the west.
The area is composed of limestone
and numerous cave
s are known to exist within the park boundaries. Many of the caves are locked with screens to keep visitors out in the interest of public safety
and to prevent vandalism
.
Some of the other caves found within the park include Hastings, Moora, Old river and Mystery caves. Hastings cave is known to contain fossil
s.
Drovers Cave was well known to early explorers and stockmen; the location of the site near to the Canning Stock Route
meant it was often visited by drovers, hence the name. The first known visit to the cave was a drover
who signed the cave wall in 1886. Many more visits occurred between 1930 and 1940. The cave was surveyed in 1973 and gazetted as part of the National Park the same year.
Native flora within the park includes shrub banksia
, One-sided Bottlebrush
and Parrot Bush. Fauna includes Emu
s, Honey Possum
s, Western Pygmy Possum
s, Short-beaked Echidna
s, Western Grey Kangaroo
s, Australian Bustard
s and many reptile
s.
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
(Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
), 201 kilometres (124.9 mi) northwest of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. The nearest town is Jurien Bay
Jurien Bay, Western Australia
-Demographics:At the ABS 2006 census, Jurien Bay had a population of 1,175, which represented over one-third of the total population of the Shire of Dandaragan...
6 kilometres (3.7 mi) to the west.
The area is composed of limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and numerous cave
Cave
A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...
s are known to exist within the park boundaries. Many of the caves are locked with screens to keep visitors out in the interest of public safety
Public Safety
Public safety involves the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety of the general public from significant danger, injury/harm, or damage, such as crimes or disasters .-See also:* By nation...
and to prevent vandalism
Vandalism
Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
.
Some of the other caves found within the park include Hastings, Moora, Old river and Mystery caves. Hastings cave is known to contain fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s.
Drovers Cave was well known to early explorers and stockmen; the location of the site near to the Canning Stock Route
Canning Stock Route
The Canning Stock Route is one of the toughest and most remote tracks in the world. It runs to Halls Creek from Wiluna, both in Western Australia. With a total distance of around it is also the longest historic stock route in the world...
meant it was often visited by drovers, hence the name. The first known visit to the cave was a drover
Drover (Australian)
A drover in Australia is a person, typically an experienced stockman, who moves livestock, usually sheep or cattle, "on the hoof" over long distances. Reasons for droving may include: delivering animals to a new owner's property, taking animals to market, or moving animals during a drought in...
who signed the cave wall in 1886. Many more visits occurred between 1930 and 1940. The cave was surveyed in 1973 and gazetted as part of the National Park the same year.
Native flora within the park includes shrub banksia
Banksia
Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones" and heads. When it comes to size, banksias range from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up...
, One-sided Bottlebrush
Calothamnus quadrifidus
Calothamnus quadrifidus is a shrub from the south-west of Western Australia. Its common name is the One-sided Bottlebrush which alludes to the arrangement of the stamens of its inflorescence which line up on one side of the stem....
and Parrot Bush. Fauna includes Emu
Emu
The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...
s, Honey Possum
Honey Possum
The honey possum or tait, its Native Australian name or noolbenger is a tiny Australian marsupial weighing just seven to eleven grams for the male, and eight to sixteen grams for the female—about half the weight of a mouse. Their physical size ranges from a body length of between 6.5 –...
s, Western Pygmy Possum
Southwestern Pygmy Possum
The southwestern pygmy possum , commonly known as the western pygmy possum or the mundarda, is a small marsupial found in Australia...
s, Short-beaked Echidna
Short-beaked Echidna
The short-beaked echidna , also known as the spiny anteater because of its diet of ants and termites, is one of four living species of echidna and the only member of the genus Tachyglossus...
s, Western Grey Kangaroo
Western Grey Kangaroo
The Western Grey Kangaroo is a large and very common kangaroo or macropod, found across almost the entire southern part of Australia, from just south of Shark Bay to coastal South Australia, western Victoria, and the entire Murray-Darling Basin in New South Wales and Queensland...
s, Australian Bustard
Australian Bustard
The Australian Bustard, Ardeotis australis, is a large ground bird of grassland, woodland and open agricultural country across northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is also commonly referred to in Central Australia as the Bush Turkey, particularly by Aboriginal people.The male is up to ...
s and many reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
s.