Spotted the Hypotenuse?

Conservationists have found a new ally in their fight to save the St. Marys ADI site – the rare, red-spotted hypotenuse.

Great flocks of hypotenuses were once as common in Europe as the currawong is in eastern Australia. They were much admired for their beautiful appearance, their supersonic song and their triangular wings.

Indeed, the wings so inspired the great Pythagoras when he discovered the secrets of the triangle that it was he, not Archimedes, who cried, "Eureka!".

The hypotenuse's principle diet was the leaf of the bay tree but, as we shall see, the hypotenuse proved to be diet-adaptable.

People couldn't hear the supersonic call but it drove dogs mad, so shepherds and goatherds grew bay trees in the meadows where their flocks pastured. Thus, by attracting the birds, they kept the wolves "at bay".

After being extinct in Europe for more than a century this most resilient bird is now reported to be alive and well at the ADI site.

Ornithologists believe it came to Australia with the early settlers and found safe haven in St. Marys where it bred in seclusion.

If the sightings are confirmed the World Heritage Committee will immediately ban all development of the site.