March 26,
2019, University
of Western Australia
A native
marsupial population that was successfully relocated to a pocket of urban
bushland in the northern suburb of Craigie is now helping to regenerate the
bush.
Dr.
Leonie Valentine, a research fellow with UWA's School of Biological Sciences,
is leading the research project to monitor and assess the quenda, a species of
bandicoot endemic to south-western WA. Quenda numbers have historically
declined due to habitat
loss and
predation by feral and domestic animals.
Dr.
Valentine said the project involved working with WA's Department of
Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions to relocate 43 quenda in 2013 after
the City of Joondalup installed a predator-proof fence around Craigie bushland in
2010. Funding was provided by the National Environmental Science Programme:
Threatened Species Recovery Hub.
"We've
been monitoring the quenda to assess their health and measure the population
and what we've found is that from the original 43 individuals, the numbers have
grown and we've identified an extra 120 quenda. They're all in excellent health
and they seem to be breeding well," she said.
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