Eastern quolls return to the wild
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Twenty-eight captive bred eastern quolls were released in the Barrington Tops, NSW, this week.
Following another extremely successful breeding season in 2019, with the birth of 51 new babies, the release is the first of its kind at the Aussie Ark Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary, a 400-hectare fenced and feral-free sanctuary supported by Australian Geographic.
According to Tim Faulkner, founder of Aussie Ark, this “insurance population” now stands at more than 100 endangered eastern quolls.
“As a part of the Tasmanian Quoll Conservation Program (TQCP), the Aussie Ark insurance population continues to grow and protect one of Australia’s most charismatic species,” he says.
“Last year, 20 were also released in Booderee National Park on the NSW south coast.”
AG and the Aussie Ark team are extremely excited to be returning quolls to the wild, and Booderee is just the place. Booderee National Park stretches across 6379ha at Jervis Bay and is home to more than 200 species of birds, 30 species of native mammals, 37 species of reptiles, 17 species of amphibians and 180 species of native fish.
Eastern quolls once thrived up and down eastern Australia but were wiped out over half a century ago, now surviving only in Tasmania. As a predator species, eastern quolls are critical to the health of the ecosystem of which they are a part. Long-term feral pest control of cats and foxes have allowed for the re-introduction of this key species back to the wild.
You can find out more about supporting this vital work at Aussie Ark.