Epping_Forest_National_Park
Epping Forest National Park
Protected area in Queensland, Australia
Epping Forest is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 855 km northwest of Brisbane. The park is a scientific national park so it is not open to the public. Only scientists, rangers and volunteers may visit the park. The park lies within the Brigalow Belt North bioregion.[1] It is within the Drummond Basin geological basin and the Belyando River water catchment area.[1] The park was established to protect a species of wombat, the northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii) that is the world’s largest burrowing herbivore.[2]
Restricted access is used to ensure Epping Forest remains very much undisturbed as it is the sole remaining natural habitat of the endangered Northern hairy-nosed wombat.[3] The last census of the animal, undertaken in 2007, estimated there was a population of about 138 of the species.[1] In the 1970s the population was estimated to have reached a low of somewhere between 20 and 30 wombats.
Most of the park is eucalypt woodland with patches of sandy soils that are used by the wombats for burrowing.[1]
The wildlife in the park consists of 251 species of animals and 103 species of plants.[4]
The elevation of the terrain in Epping Forest Park is 230 metres.[5]
