Extract from ABC News
A total of 83 quolls have been released as part of the conservation project (Supplied: Brad Leue/Australian Wildlife Conservancy )
In short:
A sixth and final cohort of threatened western quolls have been released at Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary, in Western Australia.
This is the end of phase-one of a decade long Mammal Restoration Project.
What's next?
Ecologists will continue to monitor movements and breeding of the released quoll population.
Wildlife conservation groups hope the final release of dozens of endangered marsupials in a wildlife sanctuary in country Western Australia marks the next step in the species' recovery.
The western quoll, also known as the chuditch, is Australia's largest endemic carnivorous mammal, and had disappeared from the local area before the recovery project began.
An ecologist releases a quoll into the sanctuary in 2023 as part of the Mammal Restoration program. (Supplied: Brad Leue/Australian Wildlife Conservancy)
The 10-year project has seen multiple groups of quolls moved to the Mount Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary, 350km north west of Perth.
Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) ecologist Louis O’Neill said it was part of an Australia-first project to reintroduce 10 "locally extinct" species back into the Wheatbelt.
A 7,838-hectare feral-free fenced area was created for the sanctuary (Supplied: Wayne Lawler/Australian Wildlife Conservancy )
Animals have been gradually placed in a predator-proof site since 2016, and quolls have also been introduced outside of the fence since last May.
"We're not only conserving and protecting small populations and isolated populations in protected areas, but actually reintroducing mammals into the whole wider ecosystem," Dr O’Neill said.
He said the invasion of feral foxes and cats, as well as human impact, greatly reduced native wildlife populations.
The project included the release of 10 species, including the brush-tailed bettong. (Supplied: Jane Palmer/Australian Wildlife Conservancy )
Dr O'Neill explained the project aimed to build up self-sustaining, genetically diverse mammal populations to restore the ecosystem.
The 83 quolls have been moved from five sites around Perth, regional Western Australia and a breeding program in New South Wales.
New parents show program success
The sixth and final cohort came from Taronga Western Plains Zoo and spent three day in Perth being photographed before being taken to Mt Gibson.
The quolls come from multiple locations to ensure genetic diversity. (Supplied: Brad Leue/Australian Wildlife Conservancy)
Dr O’Neill said this allowed researchers to create a recognition system to identify and monitor individual quolls by their spot pattern.
He said only half of the released quolls had radio trackers so it helped scientists learn how they moved and dispersed.
Only half of the released quolls have a radio tracking collar (Supplied: Brad Leue/Australian Wildlife Conservancy)
"Having cameras set up throughout the whole sanctuary — the almost 132,000 hectares — means we can identify where these quolls are going just from their image," Dr O’Neill said.
"So it makes life a bit easier for us and means we don't have to disturb them as much by trying to catch them to check individual identity tags."
Spot recognition also helped AWC identify eight new babies born in the sanctuary.
Individual quolls are monitored by their spot pattern on cameras throughout the sanctuary (Supplied: Australian Wildlife Conservancy )
Dr O’Neill said the babies, named after biscuits including Jam drop and Florentine, were a sign of the program’s success.
"It’s absolutely the dream for us," he said.
"These quolls are thriving and breeding successfully, so we're hitting all of the success criteria to date."
AWC regional ecologist Amanda Bourne said the release of the final 12 quolls on Friday was a significant milestone.
"It is the culmination of nearly 15 years of planning, preparation and conservation translocations in what has become an extremely impactful million-dollar-a-year conservation program," she said.
The quolls will continue be monitored from cameras on the ground and in the sky (Supplied: Brad Leue/Australian Wildlife Conservacy )
Dr Bourne said, while phase-one of the Mt Gibson Mammal Restoration Project was now completed, there would be constant upkeep.
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