Gregory National Park

Gregory National Park
Coordinates: 15 ° 38 ′ 2 ″  S , 131 ° 16 ′ 0 ″  E
Location:	Northern Territory , Australia
Specialty:	Victoria River , transition from the tropics to the desert
Next city:	200 kilometer (s) from Katherine
Surface:	12,882 km²
Founding:	1990

The Gregory National Park , with almost 13,000 square kilometers the second largest National Park of the Northern Territory , Australia . It is located in the transition zone between tropical and semi-arid climates.

location

The park is about 200 km southwest of Katherine . From here you can first take the Victoria Highway to the smaller part of the park, the so-called Victoria River section with access to the river of the same name, the Victoria River . Further to the west is the much larger part of the park, the so-called Bullita section . The northern part can be reached from the Victoria Highway and the Buchanan Highway , the southern part via the Buntine Highway . All tracks in the national park can only be driven with four-wheel drive vehicles.

history

Gregory's Tree

The park was named after Augustus Charles Gregory , who led the first expedition to this area in 1855/56. Near his base camp on the Victoria River, about 20 km west of Timber Creek , he carved the date July 2, 1856 into a boab tree that can still be admired today as Gregory's Tree . The park is home to Aboriginal holy sites , especially the Wardaman , Ngariman and Ngaliwurri groups who have inhabited this area for thousands of years. Traces of the first settlers who settled here around 1880 in order to raise cattle, including the old Bullita Outstation, date from modern times . In 1990 the national park was established.

Wildlife

Various rare and endangered animal and plant species can be found in the park. These are the bird species Emu , Wammentrappe , Red-capped pigeon , the New Holland owl , the purple-headed easel tail and the Gouldian finch, as well as the reptile species Mertens water monitor and Argus monitor . The fish species Leichhardt's sawfish and Scortum neili are found in the waters . The snail species Mesodontrachia fitzroyana , which is endemic to Australia, is particularly threatened .

Web links

• Official site of the park (English)
• Gregory NP at www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com (English)
• Management plan of the national park, English, pdf

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Australia Easy Read - Road and 4WD Atlas . Hema Maps, Brisbane 2007, ISBN 978-1-86500-395-5 .
2. ↑ www.expedition360.com History of Gregory National Park ( English ) Retrieved June 3, 2009.
3. ↑ Information on wildlife in the park's management plan ( Memento of the original from May 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 7.6 MB)