Extract from ABC News
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For decades a tiny, elusive wallaby species was thought to be extinct — until a surprise discovery on a small island in, of all places, New Zealand.
It turns out a governor of South Australia who was redeployed across the ditch in the 1860s took with him a collection of parma wallabies that he deposited on Kawau Island, north of Auckland.
About 100 years later, conservationist Peter Pigott caught wind of the colony through a friend and flew over to see the tiny mammals for himself.
"It was quite emotional," he said.
"It was thought to be extinct, and [I thought] this may be the only chance I'll have in my lifetime — and the only person ever in Australia — to save a wallaby from extinction."
Peter Pigott has cared for the population at his Blue Mountains property for more than half a century. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)
At that moment he committed to dedicating his life to see the parma wallaby thrive.
"I said 'I will buy more land at Mount Wilson [in the Blue Mountains], I will fence it, I will build dams and we'll see if we can breed it back so that it survives'," Mr Pigott said.
His daughter Heidi Pigott Irwin joined him on the "adventure" to Kawau Island.
"It's like everything just lined up, when everything's right in the universe,"Ms Pigott Irwin said.
"This property became available and dad said 'that's it, we're buying it,' and he got all his friends to come and put this 12-foot fence right around the whole place."
Very little is still known about the parma wallaby. (Supplied: WWF Australia)
Thirty-six parma wallabies were trapped by the family on the island and flown back to the home-made four-and-a-half-hectare predator-free zone at Mr Pigott's property in the Blue Mountains.
For more than half a century the population has thrived and grew to about 300 individuals at its peak.
Peter Pigott feeding the wallabies inside the fenced reserve. (Supplied: WWF Australia)
'Rescue Mission'
Meanwhile, small groups of wallabies that survived predation were also found along the east coast of Australia.
The NSW Invasive Species Council is now conducting a rescue mission of its own to save the wallabies that have come under threat from foxes and cats.
Rewilding manager Rob Brewster said the species was rare because of its size, which fell within a critical weight range for mammals of 35 grams to 5.5 kilograms.
"That's basically the snack size for a fox and a cat," he said.
NSW Invasive Species Council's Rob Brewster setting traps at the Mount Wilson property. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)
The wider effort comes at a time as Mr Pigott nears 90 years of age and looks to hand over the stewardship of his population to organisations that run dedicated feral-free sanctuaries.
"Peter has been looking after [the wallabies] for 50 years and he just can't continue that any longer," Mr Brewster said.
"Really that was always his intention. This wasn't the end game behind a small four-hectare fence. He always wanted to see them back out in broader landscapes."
The team has moved more than 50 wallabies to predator-free areas including the Bannockburn Rewilding Sanctuary in Jervis Bay and the Ngambaa Nature Reserve on the Mid North Coast.
The team has translocated the wallabies across a series of visits to Mr Pigott's reserve. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)
'Scattered' populations
Mr Brewster said the rescue efforts were vital to secure the future of the vulnerable species.
"We know very little about the parma wallaby," he said.
"We know that up and down the NSW coast there are scattered small populations of parmas, but if we look in most places they aren't there anymore.
Rob Brewster and Peter Pigott worked together to rehome the wallabies to larger feral-free zones in NSW. (Supplied: WWF Australia)
"Estimates of between 10,000 and 50,000 in the wild have been thrown around but really [that is] based on very little."
He said none of the wildlife organisations were under the illusion that moving species to predator-free areas was the real solution.
The population at Peter Pigott's reserve reached about 300 individuals at its peak. (Supplied: WWF Australia)
The NSW Invasive Species Council has set a target that no Australian animal was threatened by extinction from foxes and cats by 2050.
"We've got to get beyond the fence," he said.
"We need the government to look at this program with a 30-year lens and say how do we come up with innovative strategies that are going to push around cats and foxes in the landscape like never before."
Letting go
Ms Pigott Irwin said translocating the wallabies to larger environments where they could thrive without predation was always her father's goal.
Heidi Pigott Irwin said she was so grateful for the translocation project she had "goosebumps" talking about it. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)
"This is very exciting for us. It marks a big time in the parma wallaby story with dad," she said.
"It is a very important letting-go process that must be done."
Mr Pigott said he hoped the story of the tiny mammal inspired others to step up for threatened species.
"Other animals will be on the brink of extinction and people will be able to come in and say, 'well, Pete Piggott said it can be done, so we'll do it'."
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