Western quolls and brushtail possums thrive in national park a decade after reintroduction

The Guardian

25-05-2025

Western quolls (Idnya) and brushtail possums (Virlda), once locally extinct, are flourishing in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges national park 10 years after their reintroduction.
'They're pretty funny. We go spotlighting at night … you can spotlight at the campsite there and see them running around, looking for bits of food,' National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) reintroduction ecologist Talitha Moyle said.
'They can be quite inquisitive, but they can also be shy … some can be bold, it depends on their personality.'
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In March, NPWS rangers and volunteers caught, scanned and released 135 western quolls and 30 brushtail possums over five nights.
The Idnya and Virlda are culturally significant to the Adnyamathanha people of the greater Flinders Ranges area.
The quolls lived in the area for centuries, and over about 80% of the continent before European settlement. They were last seen in the Flinders Ranges in the 1880s and are extinct everywhere except part of Western Australia.
'They're a carnivorous marsupial. They scavenge carrion, they eat insects, birds, eggs, reptiles, baby rabbits … any opportunistic things if they can get it and it's the right size to grab,' Moyle said.
'The females are about 800g to 1.2kg and the boys are up to 2.5kg – like a small native cat.'
The possums used to be common but are thought to have become extinct in the 1940s, according to the Landscape SA arid lands board.
While some consider them a pest in urban areas, their populations are only considered stable in two regions outside Adelaide.
The Bounceback program and the Foundation for Australia's Most Endangered Species (Fame) reintroduced the quolls in 2014 and the possums in 2015.
They are now breeding in 'safer havens' in the national park, areas where feral animals have been reduced.
Through Bounceback, Fame and the environment and water department have established three havens, each about 500 sq km, for endangered species in the state's far north.
The Fame chief executive, Tracy McNamara, said it took 'bold action' to return the animals to the Flinders. And she pointed out that it has been done without the need for a fence.
Moyle said while fencing could be useful, it was good to have them back in the wild by managing cats, foxes, and grazing pressure.
Upcoming SA projects included protecting threatened plants, bilbies, Bassian thrushes and red-tailed phascogales – tiny, carnivorous marsupials.
The state environment minister, Susan Close, said the Bounceback program was SA's longest-running, landscape-scale biodiversity program, helping people learn more about the species being reintroduced.
'The western quoll has shown it can be adaptable to harsh conditions if other factors such as boosting biodiversity and feral control are in place,' she said.
There are various projects across the country to reintroduce quolls.
Last year, the Wild Deserts project saw 20 burrowing bettongs and 20 western quolls released into Sturt national park, in New South Wales, as part of a project to reintroduce seven locally extinct mammals.
The Wild Deserts principal ecologist, Dr Rebecca West, said it was 'like time-travelling … going back to what it would have been like 200 years ago if you set up camp in the Strzelecki desert'.
In 2016, Australian National University researchers reintroduced the eastern quoll to the mainland after 50 years' absence. In 2022, 50 eastern quolls were released in the Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary in the Great Dividing Range.
Eastern quolls were also released to boost the Tasmanian population in March.
Moyle said visitors to the Ikara-Flinders national park might be able to see a western quoll in the wild near Wilpena.
'If you are incredibly lucky, your camping trip might go to the next level in terms of spotting endangered wildlife,' she said. 'The key is to be quiet and to use a torch.'