Extract from ABC News
A Shark Bay bandicoot explores its new home in south-west NSW. (Supplied: Michael Daddow/Australian Wildlife Conservancy)
In short:
Twenty bandicoots have been introduced to the Mallee Cliffs National Park in south-west New South Wales.
They are the ninth endangered species brought into the sanctuary by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.
What's next?
It's hoped the bandicoots will thrive ahead of the introduction of a tenth and final species to the park.
A bandicoot variety once isolated to islands off Western Australia has been given the chance to flourish in south-west New South Wales.
The endangered Shark Bay bandicoot, otherwise known as the western-barred bandicoot, has been introduced to seven feral-predator-free areas across Australia.
The Australian Wildlife Conservancy and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service released 20 of the tiny marsupials into the Mallee Cliffs National Park, east of Mildura in October.
Mallee Cliffs National Park is a 9750-hectare area free of feral predators, making it the largest fenced sanctuary on the Australian mainland.
Moving marsupials
The Shark Bay Bandicoot is distantly related to an extinct bandicoot species that once frequented the area.
Mass fox and cat predation in the 1870s eradicated several bandicoot species in southern and eastern Australia.
The Shark Bay bandicoot was released in an area free of feral predators. (Supplied: Michael Daddow/Australian Wildlife Conservancy)
While the Shark Bay Bandicoot, Australia's smallest bandicoot variety, was not originally located in NSW, it has demonstrated an ability to cope with conditions.
A group of the marsupials was first introduced to the Sturt National Park on Barkandji country in far north-west NSW in 2021.
More of them were released into the Pilliga State Conservation Area on Gamilaroi country in north-west NSW in 2023, where there has since been a population boom.
Ecosystem engineers
The Shark Bay bandicoot frequently turns over soil using its snout and claws. (Supplied: Michael Daddow/Australian Wildlife Conservancy)
Australian Wildlife Conservancy field ecologist Hannah Nichols said bandicoots played a disproportionate role in regulating the environment around them, by turning over thousands of tonnes of soil.
"They do a lot of soil turnover and in those little burrows they make lots of seeds get trapped in there and water gets collected," she said.
"It helps with vegetation restoration and it really helps other species, like invertebrates, build up numbers back into the system.
"Bandicoots play a huge role in helping other species and getting back to a landscape that we might have seen 150-200 years ago."
Meet the new neighbours
The Shark Bay bandicoot is the ninth mammal introduced into the Mallee Cliffs National Park since 2019.
It follows successful programs to restore greater bilby, greater stick-nest rat, numbat, brush-tail bettong, red-tailed phascogale, Mitchell's hopping mouse, burrowing bettong and bridled nail-tail wallaby populations in the sanctuary.
Trevor Bauer and Rachel Ladd release a Shark Bay bandicoot. (Supplied: Michael Daddow/Australian Wildlife Conservancy)
Australian Wildlife Conservancy ecologist Rachel Ladd said it was thrilling to see the bandicoot's fate turn.
"It's always pretty amazing to be part of such a project," Dr Ladd said.
"To realise that you're making such a huge difference in that area of putting something that hasn't been there for so long back into the ecosystem where it can help restore that ecosystem.
"It's what makes all the long hours and hard work worth it just to see … these animals being released out of their bags and wandering off into this new environment that they haven't been in for so long."
Restoring balance
Fifteen of the Shark Bay bandicoots in the Mallee Cliffs National Park have tracking transmitters attached to their tails to assist with observation.
Each of the bandicoots being tracked has been given a shark themed-name, including Lemon, Tiger, Goblin, Whale, and, in a nod to Finding Nemo, Bruce.
Joe Douglas and Jessica Holding fit a bandicoot with a tracker. (Supplied: Ariana Ananda/Australian Wildlife Conservancy)
The transmitters will be removed in several weeks, once the wildlife staff are confident the have settled in.
"You get a really innate sense of what they're doing, what den sites they make, how they make their dens," Ms Nichols said.
"You really get a good sense of how much they're moving, who they might be interacting with and ultimately if they're surviving."
Long-term ambitions
One of 20 Shark Bay bandicoots is introduced to the Mallee Cliffs National Park. (Supplied: Ariana Ananda/Australian Wildlife Conservancy)
The tenth and final species planned to be introduced in the Mallee Cliffs National Park will mark a major milestone for the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and NSW national Parks and Wildlife Service.
The next species planned for reintroduction is the western quoll, which would become the apex predator in the ecosystem.
"It will be nice when that gets in there and the 10 out of 10 get achieved and we see that whole ecosystem cycle back in," Ms Nichols said.
"When we get that apex predator back in, you know everything is kind of balanced like it should be."
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