Operation Bluetongue

Operation Bluetongue was a large-scale community based study on the roles of bluetongue lizards in the lives of South Australians. The study was conducted in conjunction with radio station, 891ABC Adelaide, in 2007.

Operation Bluetongue adopted a Citizen Science approach, where scientists disseminated information about bluetongue lizards, and people from around South Australia collected and contributed information on:

• Bluetongue distribution
• Bluetongue ecology and habitat
• Experiences with bluetongues
• Photographs of bluetongues

The public response to Operation Bluetongue was exceptional. In total, 1500 questionnaires were completed, with questionnaires returned from 237 metropolitan suburbs and 162 country towns. Within these questionnaires, 2330 bluetongue lizards were recorded, including the endangered pygmy bluetongue.

The study revealed that that the community enthusiastically engaged in data collection and were passionately fond of these lizards, that the community improved their understanding of the natural history and distribution of bluetongue lizards, that people interact with these lizards in their gardens to a much greater extent than previously appreciated, that schools and students were enthusiastic about interacting with scientists and that university scientists could work with media outlets to achieve valuable outcomes in research and education.

Click here to download the final report by Masters student Emma Vasey (pdf 1.05MB)

For more information about any of our Citizen Science projects, please contact Philip Roetman.