Poo find proves marsupial rebound
AUSTRALIA: Little pellets of poo found in the far north of Western Australia have scientists hopping with excitement, after it was confirmed that they belong to an endangered species of rock wallaby believed to be extinct on the Australian mainland.
Traditional owners conducting scientific monitoring in the northern Kimberley found the tiny evidence left by the nabarlek rock wallaby, which was thought to have disappeared from the mainland in the 1970s.
About the length of a school ruler, the furry grey critter is the nation’s second-smallest rock wallaby, distinctive for its light brown, brush-tipped tail and a black stripe which runs from forehead to nose and under its eyes.
Australian Museum scientists in Sydney confirmed the find after they analysed DNA from the scat collected by Uunguu Rangers, from the Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation, in the Vansittart Bay area near Mungalalu Truscott Airbase.
Head Uunguu Ranger Neil Waina said the Wunambal Gaambera people were excited to discover nabarlek populations on the mainland.
He credited a ‘‘right-way’’ burning project, which reduced the number of damaging burnoffs across Wunambal Gaambera country, for the safe return of the species.
The nabarlek was thought to only survive on several offshore islands, where it was safe from fire, feral animals and grazing threats.
A healthy population of the nocturnal marsupials was confirmed in 2016 to be living on an island off WA, in Wunambal Gaambera Country, after wallaby scats were found by rangers.