Monitoring Phascogales

I recently spent a fascinating few days traipsing though the bush with a team of ecologists from Bush Heritage Australia, an independent not-for-profit organisation that buys and manages land, and also partners with Aboriginal people, to conserve our magnificent landscapes and irreplaceable native species forever.

The team were monitoring the endangered Red-tailed Phascogales, a tiny carnivorous marsupial once found across most of southern Australia. The population of these beautiful creatures has declined due to land clearing and introduced predators. Surviving populations are mostly restricted to remnants of native vegetation throughout WA’s wheatbelt region. This monitoring programme began when 30 animals were translocated from several wild populations to the Kojonup Reserve on Noogar country with nesting boxes set up across the reserve for their use. A decade on the studies are showing encouraging results.

If you’d like to know more about Bush Heritage Australia and their important projects, check out their website.