Eastern quolls born on Australian mainland for the first time in 50 years
FOR THE FIRST time in half a century, eastern quolls have successfully bred on the Australian mainland.
Pouch young were discovered in three female quolls that had been reintroduced to Booderee National Park, in New South Wales in March this year as a part of a large scale attempt to bring the quolls back to the mainland.
The project saw 20 eastern quolls transported from Tasmania, where they were bred, and reintroduced to the NSW south coast.
These little carnivores once occupied a huge area from Melbourne to Brisbane, but until this recent reintroduction, could only be found in Tasmania in small numbers.
The good news follows on from the devastating discovery in June that 70 per cent of the reintroduced quolls had been killed by natural predators, foxes and vehicles.
According to researchers, that the quolls have successfully bred on the mainland is good news for the project.
“We’ve proven the quolls can find food, shelter and breed,” ANU researcher Natasha Robinson said. “We’ve also shown a capacity to make changes to improve the quolls survival rate…”
