Twenty years of captive breeding and re- introduction of the eastern barred bandicoot in Victoria, Australia

Summary

The eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunnii), reduced by introduced red foxes and the loss of 99.9% of its Victorian grassland habitat to as few as 150-300 individuals by 1989 and declared extinct in the wild by 2008, has been the subject of a 20-year captive-breeding program coordinated by Zoos Victoria, the Victorian government and university researchers, beginning with roughly 40 wild-caught founders in 1988 that produced 1,078 young over two decades. Reintroductions were attempted at eight sites from 1989 onward, including two fenced sites that initially succeeded but later went extinct from drought, fox incursions and overgrazing by kangaroos and rabbits, and five unfenced sites protected only by fox control, all of which failed quickly except a sheep farm population that persisted 17 years before becoming undetectable. Only two sites, the fully fenced Mt. Rothwell reserve and an upgraded, fox-cleared Hamilton Community Parklands, currently support at-capacity populations, prompting a since-imposed ban on further releases into any site that cannot be kept fox-free; a first island trial began on fox-free French Island in 2012. Genetic analysis of the captive program found a small but steady loss of genetic diversity despite its scale, prompting research into mate-choice management and a proposed meta-population breeding plan. Post-release monitoring has been complicated by bandicoots' poor tolerance of radio collars, limiting tracking to short-duration tail-mounted transmitters. The project rates itself partially successful, attributing early site failures to foxes, overgrazing and drought, while crediting sustained fox-free management as the key factor behind its two enduring populations.