Plants
A large proportion of Lincoln National Park is covered with a mixture of mallee eucalypts, some species of which are restricted to southern Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island (Coffin Bay mallee, eucalyptus albopurpurea), and the Port Lincoln mallee eucalyptus conglobata conglobata subspecies occurs on the southern tip of Eyre Peninsula.
The coastal dunes which mainly occur along the southern coast are characterised by a closed heath dominated by coastal beared heath (Leucopogon parviflorus), wattle species and a variety of other low coastal shrubs.
The other main vegetation type that represents a distinctive community in its own right, but which has been extensively modified by grazing and farming land uses, is the drooping sheoak woodlands. This community occurs primarily inland and is comprised of a diverse variety of understorey shrubs and grasses. The shoeak woodlands are the focus of habitat restoration activity by volunteers and rangers.
Animals
Lincoln National Park and Memory Cove Wilderness Protection Area protect the coastal vegetation of the lower Eyre Peninsula and provide a safe refuge for rare wildlife including Rosenberg's goanna, echidna, western whipbird, malleefowl and hooded plover. More than 130 species of birds are known to visit the area making it ideal for birdwatching.
The brush-tailed bettong, a small member of the kangaroo family was once common in this area. The clearing of habitat and preditation by foxes and cats forced this rabbit sized animal into extinction in South Australia. With the help of volunteers, park management has brought the parks fox and cat population back in check and brush-tailed bettong has now been reintroduced into the area.
You can see the Australian sea lions and long-nosed fur seals that haul up on the coast to rest after lengthy fishing trips at sea, and the bottle-nose and common dolphins are frequently seen close to the shore. The once rare Rosenberg's goanna population is recovering in Lincoln National Park thanks to the Rangers intensive fox baiting program.
The Friends of Southern Eyre Peninsula Parks have produced a brochure listing all the birds known to occur within the Lincoln National Park, this brochures are available for a small fee from the Port Lincoln Visitor Information Centre and the Port Lincoln Natural Resource Centre.
Have you seen a goanna on the Eyre Peninsula?
Visitors can record their goanna sightings and photographs to help understand the recovery of goannas in this region.
Have you seen a goanna?
Whales
There has been 29 different types of whales recorded in South Australia. The most common are the southern right whale, humpback whale, sperm whale, blue whale and orca whale (killer whale). Of these you are most likely to spot a southern right whale along the South Australian coast.
Every year, between May to October, southern right whales gather along the southern coastline of Australia to mate and calve, before returning to sub-Antarctic waters to feed.
The southern right whale is a large whale which can grow up to 17.5 metres and weigh over 80 tons. The vast majority of southern right whales are black in colour with distinctive white patterns on their heads that are calluses formed by small crustaceans known as 'whale lice'. The patterns are visible at birth and are unique to each whale allowing researchers to identify individual whales.
Flora and fauna species lists
To download flora (plants) and fauna (animals) species lists for this park, use the 'Create Simple Species List' tab under 'Flora Tools' or 'Fauna Tools' in NatureMaps.
