Rare marsupial returns to wild for first time in nearly 50 years
A SPECIES of spotted marsupial devastated by foxes has been returned to the wild in mainland Australia for the first time in almost 50 years in a landmark conservation success story.
The eastern quoll – a furry carnivore about the size of a cat – disappeared from the mainland in the Sixties but clung on in the island state of Tasmania.
They have now been re-introduced to their native environment on the country’s east coast, after a 15-yearlong project to bring feral predators in one area under control.
Twenty of the creatures were released into the Booderee National Park, south of Sydney, this week.
“This is the first time in Australia that a carnivore extinct on the mainland has been re-introduced to the wild,” said Darren Grover, WWF Australia’s head of living ecosystems.
“Most of the carnivores lost from the mainland are gone forever; it’s not possible to bring them back, so this is a rare opportunity.
“For thousands of years eastern quolls played a part in the ecosystem as primarily insect-eaters. It will be fascinating to see what happens when they return to that role at Booderee.”
Natasha Robinson, an Australian National University researcher, said the quolls, which tend to live alone, had been fitted with GPS collars so their progress could be closely monitored.
Large numbers of eastern quolls were killed in the 1900s by disease and their population was further devastated as foxes spread across south-eastern Australia. They were last regularly seen in the Sixties in the Sydney region.