Latest news with #RonCarberry
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Watch endangered marsupials return to Australian bushland after 62 years
The University of Sydney and conservation organization Aussie Ark recently released 15 endangered eastern quolls (Dasyurus viverrinus) into a controlled bushland environment. The medium-sized, bushy-tailed, white-spotted nocturnal marsupials were set off into a preserve on the Scots College's Bannockburn property near Nowra on along the southern coast of New South Wales, Australia. Jerrinja tribal leader Ron Carberry conducted a Welcome to Country as the animals examined their new home. A Welcome to Country is delivered by Traditional Owners or Indigenous peoples who have been given permission from Traditional Owners as a way to welcome visitors to their Country. Carberry reflected on a time not so long ago when his ancestors roamed with this 'magic little animal.' Carberry added: 'What is happening today is a magnificent moment. It's about healing Country.' The release marked a first step in rewilding a species that disappeared from Australia's mainland more than 60 years ago. Today, eastern quolls are primarily found in the eastern part of the island of Tasmania, and in farmlands, open grasslands, dry forests, woodlands, coastal scrub, and alpine heathland. Quolls are 'opportunistic hunters that take live prey such as insects, small mammals, birds and reptiles, and scavenge,' according to Australia's Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water. They are considered extinct on the Australian mainland primarily due to disease, poisoning, and predation by foxes. Reintroduced populations like this one are being established at sites where introduced predators are managed. Aussie Ark has already established the 400-hectare Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary. Ten of the eastern quolls released at this new site at Bannockburn were born and bred at the sanctuary. Thomas Newsome from the University of Sydney's Global Ecology Lab said that the team will prioritize long-term scientific research to better understand how to successfully rewild the species. They plan on using very-high frequency (VHF) radio and global positioning system (GPS) tail transmitters, a camera observation network of 54 camera traps, and quarterly cage trapping to collect data and monitor the quolls. 'This long-term research project provides us with a wonderful opportunity not only to establish a meta-population of eastern quolls on mainland Australia but also deep-dive into the ecology of the species,' Newsome said in a statement. 'We need to better understand the quolls' role in an ecosystem from which it has been absent from for almost 70 years.' 'The release is another powerful step toward one day rewilding the eastern quoll to the mainland of Australia,' Aussie Ark Operations Manager Dean Reid added. 'It follows last year's historic release of our Eastern Quolls into Booderee Botanical Gardens, when Federal Minister for the Environment Tanya Plibersek personally released one of our quolls.' The site will join the SE NSW Eastern Quoll Hub. This network of sanctuaries is participating in a genetic metapopulation management plan. The goal of this plan is to ensure the long-term genetic and demographic health of eastern quoll populations in areas where they are protected from predators.
Perth Now
23-04-2025
- Science
- Perth Now
Century-long drought over as quolls thrive again
Previously extinct eastern quolls are scavenging and scouting the Australian mainland in numbers not seen for more than 60 years. Researchers on Wednesday said 15 of the cat-sized marsupials were "thriving" after being released into a new feral-free mainland sanctuary on the NSW south coast. It follows the reintroduction of 19 quolls to a sanctuary in Jervis Bay in April 2024 and other sites in northern NSW, Victoria and the ACT. Jerrinja traditional owner Ron Carberry sees the reintroduction of the quolls into a 68-hectare feral-proof site near Nowra as a magnificent step for the region. "These little quolls haven't been on our country for 104 years. It's about healing it," he said. "They play a part in the food chain - without them, our country has been disturbed. We live and breathe with them." About the size of a small domestic cat, the furry, white-spotted critters were once widespread across southeastern mainland Australia before the population was decimated by farming and feral animals. It was last sighted on the mainland in 1963. While quolls have survived on fox-free Tasmania, the population there has plummeted to about 10,000. The marsupials control the food chain, eating both invertebrates and vertebrates while carrying nutrients important to ecosystems, say researchers involved in the mainland rewilding project. The new group has been living inside the fenced-off site on private school Scots College's rural property since January. The land donated by the college has radio, GPS and camera transmitters allowing researchers from conservation group Aussie Ark and the University of Sydney, as well as students, to see how the species interact in the wild. The hope remains of relocating the quolls beyond the fence. But there is no timeline for that, with pet cats and feral animals killing an average of five million native animals every day in Australia, according to federal environment department figures. Scots College property manager Duncan McMaster said this project will restore environmental balance in the region where quolls were once a common sight. "We're very passionate about this," he told AAP. "For students, it gives them an understanding of the importance of these animals in the landscape. "We have this magnificent property in the Shoalhaven which is in a very environmentally sensitive area with river frontage, oyster beds and farmers. Researchers will continue to monitor the quolls with cage trapping every three months, collecting data to see how they interact in their new environment.
