Babies as big as a grain of rice mark return of rare marsupial
THE first eastern quolls have been born in the wild in 50 years on the Australian mainland, with the rice grainsized pups offering hope to a species of marsupial devastated by foxes.
Eastern quolls – a furry carnivore that grows to about the size of a cat – disappeared from the mainland in the Sixties but clung on in the island state of Tasmania.
Twenty were returned to their native environment in the Booderee National Park, south of Sydney, in March to see if they could survive and thrive.
It is the first time in Australia that a carnivore extinct on the mainland has been reintroduced to the wild. The success follows a 15-year project to bring feral predators under control.
Nick Dexter, Booderee National Park natural resource manager, said babies had been confirmed in three of the females’ pouches.
“There remain challenges ahead to establish a sustainable population, but to have 30 per cent of the female quolls produce pouch young is a move in the right direction,” he said.
Quoll babies stay sheltered in the pouch for around three months while they gain weight and grow fur.
Natasha Robinson, of the Australian National University, said: “We’ve proven the quolls can find food, shelter and breed. We’ve also shown a capacity to make changes to improve the quolls survival rate.”