First reintroduction of the western barred bandicoot to inland Australia

Summary

The western barred bandicoot, Australia's smallest bandicoot, vanished from the mainland after European settlement and now survives naturally only on two Western Australian islands holding an estimated 2,200 to 4,400 animals; an earlier mainland reintroduction at Heirisson Prong in 1995 later went extinct due to feral cats. Arid Recovery, a fenced 123 square kilometre conservation reserve in arid South Australia with cats and foxes excluded from part of its area, attempted a reintroduction despite uncertainty over whether bandicoots from wetter island habitat could cope with sparse desert vegetation and erratic rainfall. In September 2000, 12 bandicoots were captured on Bernier Island and flown over 2,400 km to a release pen, but were recaptured and quarantined at Adelaide Zoo for seven months after concerns about a papilloma virus in the source population, before being re-released with no evidence of infection found. Radio collars caused feet entanglement injuries and were removed after a few weeks, leaving spoor counts and spotlighting as the main monitoring tools, since cage trapping proved unreliable due to competition from reintroduced burrowing bettongs. Bandicoots bred successfully immediately after release, and the population grew steadily over 17 years to exceed 500 individuals with no significant loss of genetic diversity, helped by five additional bandicoots added from Faure Island in 2009. The project rates itself highly successful, crediting effective cat and fox exclusion and sustained community fundraising support.