Once classified as extinct in the wild, these tiny marsupials are running free on three islands
By Bianca Hall
Thirty-six years ago, eastern barred bandicoots were a species on the brink of extinction.
Officially classified as “extinct in the wild”, the last known colony of wild bandicoots – numbering about 150 – was clinging to life among abandoned vehicles in a rubbish tip in Hamilton in Victoria’s south-west.
A breeding program has brought bandicoots back from the brink.Credit: Eddie Jim
The diminutive marsupials thrive in grasslands and are vulnerable to land clearing and predation by feral foxes and cats.
Against the odds, a recovery team was formed with an ambitious goal: to bring bandicoots back from the brink. In 1989, rescue workers scooped the last known wild Victorian population out of the tip and into protective custody, to form a captive breeding program run by Zoos Victoria.
But repeated attempts to reintroduce captive-bred bandicoots into Victoria failed, as feral foxes ruthlessly picked them off.
Ten years ago, the team turned their sights to Churchill Island, a tiny and wild habitat off Phillip Island.
Bandicoots now proliferate on Churchill Island, 10 years after the successful program began.Credit: Eddie Jim
Free from feral foxes, cats and rabbits, it is home to a dizzying array of native wildlife – from Cape Barren geese to swamp wallabies, squadrons of pelicans and brush-tailed possums.
Today, it’s also home to a thriving population of about 150 adult and countless young bandicoots. This week, dozens were visible after dusk; mothers leading their young searching for grubs and beetles.
The program has been so successful that mobs of eastern-barred bandicoots have also been relocated to Phillip Island, after it was declared free of foxes in 2017, and French Island.
“I’ve actually got them running around in my own front yard,” Phillip Island Nature Parks senior scientist Duncan Sutherland said.
Senior scientist Dr Duncan Sutherland, spotlighting for bandicoots on Churchill Island.Credit: Eddie Jim
“They’ve gone from extinction in the wild to endangered and no longer needing a breeding program. I don’t know of any other species in the world we can say that about.”
This weekend marks the 10-year anniversary of the relocation program on Churchill Island.
“Each year they’ve travelled further afield on Phillip Island and in recent months we have had
more sightings in populated areas, which is reassuring for our conservation efforts,” Sutherland said.
“It is a tremendous outcome for a species that had once been deemed extinct in the wild. But we cannot be complacent. Feral and domestic cats still pose a significant risk for these bandicoots through predation and by spreading the disease toxoplasmosis.”
An eastern barred bandicoot on Phillip Island.
New research by the University of Melbourne and Phillip Island Nature Parks shows bandicoots are particularly vulnerable to toxoplasmosis, a disease spread by parasites carried by domestic and feral cats.
The research showed that on Phillip and French islands, where domestic and feral cats are present, most, if not all, bandicoots infected with the disease died within two to three weeks of infection.
This showed the importance of keeping cats contained around the clock, Sutherland said.
Ongoing efforts are under way to eradicate feral cats on both Phillip and French islands.
“It’s really nice to show people what’s possible and see what it’s like when we don’t have foxes as the dominant driver of the system,” he said.
“You show kids this, and they’re just blown away that these guys can just be running around everywhere.”
The translocation program has been co-ordinated between Phillip Island Nature Parks, the Odonata Foundation, Zoos Victoria, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Parks Victoria, the University of Melbourne, the National Trust of Australia and Conservation Volunteers Australia.
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