thumb|right|Malleefowl
thumb|right|Malleefowl mound
thumb|right|Western blue-tongue lizard
The Mallee Cliffs National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Sunraysia region, in the south-west of New South Wales, Australia. The national park is situated approximately west of Sydney and east of the Murray River city of Mildura, Victoria.
The Mallee Cliffs National Park is managed to protect the sand plain and sand dune land systems and ecological communities known colloquially as Mallee Country. Emphasis is placed on its value as a wildlife conservation area and it was established primarily to protect the habitat of the malleefowl.
History
The park was established in 1977,
Access
The park is closed to the public as part of an ongoing policy to protect malleefowl and other threatened animals, and to assist in meeting other conservation objectives.
Fauna
The park lies within the Southern NSW Mallee Important Bird Area, identified by BirdLife International as supporting a significant population of the vulnerable malleefowl. The park is the only reserve in New South Wales with malleefowl habitat. The malleefowl is found in arid areas only where the mallee grows. The males build a nest for the eggs by digging a large pit in winter and filling it with leaves and grass over the next four months. The female lays one egg per day for several days in the spring. The male then covers the resulting mound with sand. As the compost heap rots it generates heat. The male keeps watch over the mound, and tests the temperature of the mound with his tongue, adding or removing sand. When the chick hatches, it digs its way out, and once they emerge at the top of the mound are renowned for standing stationary at the top for up to twenty minutes before racing/staggering off into the bush. The chicks hatch with feathers and are immediately independent, never needing any parental care. Malleefowl grow to a length of around .
Several species of small birds are found in the area, as well as emus. Mammals include a significant population of western grey kangaroos as well as pygmy possums and the little pied bat and greater long-eared bat which use older trees as nesting hollows. The mallee spinifex of the park is the main habitat for the western blue-tongue and southern spinifex slender blue-tongue lizards.
In 2020, the endangered numbat was re-introduced to the Mallee Cliffs. Future releases will help bring the population to an expected maximum of 270 numbats within the national park.
thumb|600px|Map of Mallee Cliffs National Park
See also
- Protected areas of New South Wales