A Woylie bounces through the Wheatbelt.
© Zarah Wessels
Life beyond the fence is shaping up to be full of promise for the threatened Woylie (Brush-tailed Bettong), with initial surveys showing the marsupials are faring well almost a year after being moved outside a feral predator-free exclosure in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt. Their release was part of a trial to determine whether native species can persist in the wild where feral cat populations are actively suppressed.
One-hundred and forty-seven Woylies were carefully selected for the monumental move from inside the 7,830 hectare feral predator-free fenced area at Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary, on Badimia Country. According to ecologists, almost 12 months later, the Woylies appear to be doing well in the Wheatbelt with individuals gaining weight, and even having babies.
“We saw two young individuals within the first few months of being released outside the fence,” said Aliesha Dodson, AWC Field Ecologist. “We’ve detected Woylies more than 100 times on cameras outside the fence, and they have spread across an area of 65km2 or 6,500 hectares. So, they’re surviving, exploring the habitat and really getting settled.”
“Early results from this trial are remarkable. It’s the first successful reintroduction of the species to the Wheatbelt outside a fenced area, and its further evidence that Woylies are among the native species with the potential to naturally rebuild their populations once the pressures of introduced predators, such as cats, are reduced.”
Woylies were reintroduced into the fenced area at Mt Gibson between 2015 and 2018, more than a century after feral cats and foxes wiped them out locally. Once the fenced area was cleared of those predators, 162 individuals were released and their numbers have steadily grown. The reintroduction was part of the first phase of AWC’s ambitious Mammal Restoration Project, which set out to restore 10 locally-extinct species to the sanctuary over a 10-year period, the largest wildlife restoration project of its kind at a single conservation site in Australia to date.
A decade later, with the population estimated at over 1,000 individuals, AWC ecologists began the trial to determine whether Woylies could persist outside the fenced area. Although they were the third animal released beyond the safety of the large enclosure, after Brushtail Possums (2022) and Western Quolls (2023), they were the most cat-susceptible species to be tested in this way.
“Managing the impacts of feral predators and restoring Australia’s mammals beyond safe havens is one of the greatest conservation challenges of our time, and one of the most important,” said Dr Amanda Bourne, AWC Regional Ecologist in WA. “These beyond-the-fence releases are not about abandoning fences, they are about building on their successes and using fenced areas as springboards for broader landscape-scale restoration.”
“Beyond the fence, the work is harder. It’s emotionally and physically demanding, complex and inherently risky. But these trials offer one of the few realistic pathways for restoring native mammals and their roles in ecosystems much more broadly across Australia.”
Dr Bourne continued, explaining that some species reintroduced to the fenced area at Mt Gibson, such as the Banded Hare-wallaby and Shark Bay Bandicoot, cannot persist where cats and foxes are present, even at very low numbers.
“For these animals, safe havens will remain essential for the foreseeable future,” added Dr Bourne.
AWC will continue to monitor the Woylies at Mt Gibson, both inside and outside the fenced area, and carry out cat and fox suppression activities to help support the trial releases. Depending on the results, future releases beyond the fence, potentially of additional species, may be considered.
For more information on how AWC is pushing the boundaries at Mt Gibson, click here, and for more information on the sanctuary, click here.
Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is a pragmatic, on-ground global conservation leader, conserving landscapes and providing hope for Australian wildlife. Informed by science, we deliver measurable conservation impact at scale to secure the future of our most endangered species and their habitats, including restoring degraded landscapes where necessary.
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