Katarapko Game Reserve

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Katarapko Game Reserve South Australia
Katarapko Game Reserve
Nearest town or city	Loxton[1]
Coordinates	34°24′58″S 140°33′10″E / 34.41612°S 140.552757°E / -34.41612; 140.552757
Established	5 March 1970 (1970-03-05)[2]
Abolished	20 June 1991[3]
Area	40.63 km2 (15.7 sq mi)[4]
Managing authorities	Department of Environment and Planning (as of 20 June 1991)

Katarapko Game Reserve was a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located about 180 kilometres (110 mi) north-east of the state capital of Adelaide and on the opposite side of the Murray River to the town of Loxton. ^[1][4]

The game reserve consisted of the following land both on

The boundaries of the game reserve were varied in the years 1973, 1979, 1983 and 1985 by the addition of land from the floodplain to the west and to the north of Katarapko Island, and from the high ground to the west of the island.[9]^{[10][11][12][5]: Figure 3}

In 1984, a draft management plan was offered for public comment. However, this document did not proceed because of “significant public opposition” to proposals for “roads, a visitor centre and a staff residence” located within the game reserve. The proposed works were not included in the management plan for the game reserve’s successor, the Murray River National Park, which published in 1994 for the additional reason of cost due to the “present stringent economic climate.”^{[13][5]: foreword}

On 20 June 1991, the game reserve was abolished, and all of its land holding was constituted under the

In 1980, the game reserve was described as follows:[4]

Katarapko Game Reserve is the largest conservation reserve along the River Murray in South Australia. It is an important area for the management and conservation of

waterfowl

, particularly native game species such as ducks. The reserve is open for a limited duck shooting season and is a popular recreation area, particularly for fishing.

Katarapko Game Reserve is situated on Katarapko Island in the River Murray and an adjacent area of river floodplain, opposite the town of Loxton. It has a number of natural backwaters which are lined with very large and attractive red gums. River box (

ox-bow lakes

) occur in the central eastern portion of the Island.

A portion is managed as an evaporation basin, which can lead to artificially high water levels and these levels are now controlled, to prevent death of gums by drowning. Some waterfowl crops have been planted in a small area of the reserve.