Extract from ABC News
The Kangaroo Island dunnart is small but mighty, even drawing blood from researchers when caught. (Supplied: Kangaroo Island Landscape Board)
In short:
Artificial habitats are helping the Kangaroo Island dunnart recover from the 2019/20 bushfires.
More than 90 per cent of its habitat was destroyed in the fires, leaving them exposed to predators.
What's next?
Researchers say the artificial habitats could be replicated elsewhere, to safeguard animal populations from bushfires and other threats.
Artificial habitats are giving the Kangaroo Island dunnart a chance at recovery after bushfires left them largely homeless.
The 2019-20 bushfires tore through almost half of the island, destroying more than 90 per cent of the dunnart's habitat, which included things like yucca skirts, logs, and ground cover.
Without a place to call home, the endangered dunnart was at risk.
"When you lose that much habitat ... they lose the cover that they rely on to survive, which really leaves them exposed to predators and extreme conditions," Kangaroo Island Landscape Board biodiversity project officer Hannah Byrne-Willey said.
Six years on, human-made habitats are helping the tiny marsupial recover.
Without a clear picture of the dunnart population before the fire, researchers are now able to monitor the species more closely. (Supplied: Kangaroo Island Landscape Board)
After fire stripped the land, the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board took matters into its own hands.
"We scoop out a small nest, fill it with leaf litter, and then we cover it with a sheet of corrugated iron, essentially," Ms Byrne-Willey said.
"These are just really simple structures that are providing shelter, breeding and nesting habitat, as well as protection."
Hannah Byrne-Willey says the dunnarts have a "fairly big personality". (Supplied: Kangaroo Island Landscape Board)
Dunnarts welcomed home
Where natural habitat was available, the artificial options went largely unused.
But the dunnarts in burnt areas found the alternative more than acceptable.
"This really shows how threatened species can be helped in such a practical way after a major disturbance," Ms Byrne-Willey said.
The KI dunnart was considered endangered before the 2019-20 bushfires. (Supplied: Australian Wildlife Conservancy)
Highlighted as a case study in the national platform Adapt Land&Sea this month, the landscape board hopes its dunnart habitats will inspire implementation by others.
"This method could be adapted to other species, potentially is scalable and applicable to a number of different scenarios ... You don't need to wait until after a catastrophic bushfire to deploy them," Ms Byrne-Willey said.
"They're intended to withstand a bushfire, which means they're able to provide immediate shelter to vulnerable species post-fire.
"We know that climate change is causing more frequent and catastrophic weather events."
A small animal with a big personality
On top of the crucial conservation work, the habitats have another benefit: getting researchers up close to the dunnarts.
"Dunnarts have been notoriously difficult to trap ...These refuges have just been a game changer,"Ms Byrne-Willey said.
By placing temporary borders around the artificial habitats, landscape officers are able to assess the dunnarts for research. (Supplied: Kangaroo Island Landscape Board)
"We believe they improve animal welfare outcomes because animals aren't sitting exposed in traps to weather, to predators.
"We can just lift these refuges ad hoc and then we can also re-release the animals straight back under the shelter."
The dunnarts do not always appreciate being found, and they make their displeasure known.
The Kangaroo Island dunnart was left exposed to predators after bushfires burnt more than 90 per cent of its habitat. (Supplied: Kangaroo Island Landscape Board)
"They will bite and they have quite loose skin, so they can try and wriggle away," Ms Byrne-Willey said.
"They do have a fairly big personality for such a small animal."
In his previous bushfire recovery work, Matt Heard from the conservation program Bounceback was the first person to hold a KI dunnart after the bushfires.
He said things have been looking up since then.
Researchers carried out quick measurements and observations of the feisty dunnarts before letting them go. (Supplied: Kangaroo Island Landscape Board)
"We're certainly far less concerned about the security of that population," Mr Heard said.
"It had roughly 93 per cent of its habitat burnt in those fires, but it has been recorded in more locations since the fires than prior to the fires.
"It still needs that protection, but the fires didn't have the same impact that we thought that they would on that species."
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