Extract from ABC News
The golden bandicoot population is booming at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary. (ABC Alice Springs: Xavier Martin)
In short:
An ecologist says a population of threatened golden bandicoots has tripled in two and a half years at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, north-west of Alice Springs.
The small, native mammal was once extinct in the area, but new population groups from interstate reintroduced in mid-2023 have been breeding quickly.
What's next?
Researchers hope the bandicoot's population continues to grow.
A population of the threatened golden bandicoot has tripled in two and a half years at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, north-west of Alice Springs.
Newhaven ecologist Tim Henderson said the small native mammal was once extinct in the area, but new population groups from interstate reintroduced in mid-2023 had been breeding quickly.
"It's been great," Dr Henderson said.
"The translation occurred during some really good rainfall years, so the conditions out here have been great and the population has really boomed.
"They're really fast-breeding animals, they have multiple young a year and they just keep producing. So it's a really good sign to see their population increase so rapidly."
The golden bandicoots are the seventh species to be reintroduced at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary. (ABC Alice Springs: Xavier Martin)
About 100 golden bandicoots were released into the sanctuary as part of a conservation program two and a half years ago, but a recent survey estimates their population is now about 300.
Dr Henderson said Newhaven was bordered by a 44-kilometre fence, which kept out predators like cats and dingoes.
"It's quite a lot of work to install and now maintain, but it creates a really, really large safe haven for these animals where they can grow and become their own population without the impacts of feral cats," he said.
"They can thrive in this natural landscape, which is normal to what it would have been 60 to 100 years ago."
Tim Henderson says the mammal weighs about 300 grams. (ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis)
Cute 'potatoes'
Golden bandicoots have a short nose, a thin, stubby tail and weigh about 300 grams.
Dr Henderson said a golden sheen to their fur gave them their name.
"They're very cute," he said.
"We like to call them potatoes sometimes, because they're similar in size to a potato and they can fit in your hand nice and comfortable like a potato, so that's sort of what their shape and size is."
Traditional custodians release the golden bandicoots into Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary in 2023. (ABC Alice Springs: Xavier Martin)
Dr Henderson said the main goal of the conservation program was to increase the golden bandicoot's genetic diversity and bring them back into their natural habitat.
"They add a lot of value to the ecosystem by doing a lot of digging in the soil, which does a lot of turnover and promotes seed growth for vegetation," he said.
"So they're really important for the landscape and we're just trying to restore that ecological process."
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