Ferries McDonald Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in the gazetted locality of Monarto South about south-west of Murray Bridge. It covers an area of 845 hectares and provides a habitat for a range of native and endangered species. It is one of a number of protected patches of remnant mallee bushland within the region. Conservation organisations are now attempting to restore and connect these patches of the fragmented Murray plains in an attempt to heighten the prospects of various rare and endangered species. Ferries McDonald Conservation Park is open to the public. Walking trails and bird watching opportunities are the main attractions for visitors. History Much of the land surrounding the current park was cleared years ago for agriculture, but a few rocky outcrops, not suitable for farming practices, preserved fragments of the original vegetation. Robert Sweet McDonald, a private landowner, donated a tract of such land as an example of mallee scrubland and its typical inhabitants. The original land was later added to. Ecology Ferries McDonald Conservation Park is part of what once was a vast area of mallee bushland during pre-industrial times. Located on the Murray plains, a variety of native shrubs make up the majority of the ‘open scrub’ habitat that supports a range of native species including the Red, Western Grey and Euro Kangaroos, Emus and a variety of native bird populations. Bird species include the White-plumed honeyeater, Yellow Plumed Honeyeater, Fairy wrens, thornbills, robins, lorikeets, Galahs, Mallee Ringnecks and Red Wattlebirds. Smaller terrestrial species such as the Bilby and Bush Stone-curlew however are now missing due to extensive fox and feral cat predation. Among the variety of insect life are tenebrionid beetles, and the park is also home to Australasian ground spiders. Malleefowl A focus within the park has been the protection of the Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata), a native bird species that originally inhabited much of the natural mallee environment. Malleefowl are easy prey for common predators such as foxes and feral cats and are now only found at a handful of sites across Australia, including Ferries McDonald (CP). Malleefowl are listed as vulnerable nationally but are critically endangered in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Ferries McDonald Conservation Park is home to a small population of Malleefowl that is closely monitored by the National Malleefowl Recovery Team (NMRT) and the Department of Environment and Natural