Kroombit Tops National Park

Kroombit Tops National Park
Queensland
IUCN category II (national park)
Kroombit Tops National Park
Nearest town or city Biloela
Coordinates 24°24′03″S 150°57′30″E / 24.40083°S 150.95833°E / -24.40083; 150.95833Coordinates: 24°24′03″S 150°57′30″E / 24.40083°S 150.95833°E / -24.40083; 150.95833
Established 1974
Area 74.6 km2 (28.8 sq mi)
Managing authorities Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
Website Kroombit Tops National Park
See also Protected areas of Queensland

Kroombit Tops is a national park in Central Queensland, Australia. Located between Monto and Calliope in The Boyne Valley, it is 399 km northwest of Brisbane. Cania Gorge National Park is located approximately 25 km to the south.

In February 1945, an American Liberator Bomber, "Beautiful Betsy", crashed into what is now Kroombit Tops National Park.[1] The wreckage was discovered on 2 August 1994.[1]

Recreational activities conducted in the park include birdwatching, off road driving and bushwalking.[2] Camping is permitted.

Fauna

The park provides refuge for the Kroombit tinker frog which has only been found within the park.[2] The species is so rare that estimates of their number only range in the hundreds.[3] In 2013, a new species of marsupial, the silver-headed antechinus, was described that is found only in the national park.[4]

A small population of brumbies roam the park that sometimes have to be mustered to reduce their numbers.[5]

Crash site

On 2 August 1994, the wreckage of a United States Army Air Forces Consolidated B-24D Liberator, Beautiful Betsy, was discovered in the park. The aircraft had gone missing in stormy weather on 26 February 1945 while on a "Fat Cat" run from Darwin to Brisbane - transporting men and supplies as part of a regular flight.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Dunn, Peter. "CRASH OF A B-24D LIBERATOR "BEAUTIFUL BETSY" KROOMBIT TOPS FOREST NEAR BILOELA ON 26 FEBRUARY 1945". www.ozatwar.com. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Kroombit Tops National Park". Tourism Queensland. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  3. ↑ Jacquie Mackay (17 February 2009). "Search for the Kroombit tinkerfrog". ABC Capricornia. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  4. ↑ "A new dasyurid marsupial from Kroombit Tops, south-east Queensland, Australia". Zootaxa. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3746.2.1. OCLC 49030618. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  5. ↑ "Minister denies Kroombit brumby shoot plans". ABC News Online. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 22 January 2003. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  6. ↑ Michael V. Nelmes Tocumwal to Tarakan : Australians and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator Belconnen. Banner Books, 1994.
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