An aerial survey of large vertebrate fauna was undertaken in the Mann River district of central Arnhem Land in September 2000. 'The survey covered 3936 km^ of the eastern and central part of the Arnhem Plateau and 1944 km^ on the adjacent low¬ land. A total of 747 individual animals from eight species were observed during the survey. Of these, four species were native (antilopine wallaroo, black wallaroo, emu and euro) and four were feral (Ituffalo, cattle, horse and pig). The majority of sight¬ ings (92%) were of feral animals, of which 78% were buffalo. The distribution of feral animals was largely similar to that of previous surveys with a high concentration in the upper Mann River and McCaw Creek regions. Sightings of native species were scattered throughout the survey area. The uncorrected density estimates (km'^ + SE) for species observed in this aerial survey were: buffalo 0.74 + 0.08; cattle 0.10 ± 0.04; horse 0.009 ± 0.008; pig 0.007 + 0.003; black wallaroo 0.02 ± 0.006; and emu 0.006 + 0.003. Intnxhiction.\rnhem Land is a large area of Northern Australia that is owned and managed by Aboriginal people, .\rnhem Land covers over 95,000 km^in the north-east of the North¬ ern Territory and encompasses an array of habitats from coastal and inland water systems, to monsoon forest, open woodland and the escarpment of the Arnhem Pla¬ teau (Cole 1978). The area is home to a large number of feral animals such as buffalo {Buba/us bubalii), cattle (Bos laurus), horses (Equus caballus) and pigs {Sussenfd) that were introduced to the Northern Territory in the late 1800's (Chaloupka 1982). WTiile some feral animals arc utilised as a food resource by Aboriginal communities (Altman 1987), they can also cause significant environmental damage and are a potential disease threat when densities are high (Bayliss ;md Yeomans 1989a). The continued monitoring of feral vertebrate populations in Arnhem Land is important to ensure that densities are maintained at appropriate levels.
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