Safeguard a Bandicoot from Extinction

Welcome Friends in Conservation,

This report starts on a different note – click here to view some interesting footage taken while I was on my morning patrol of the fence enclosing our precious bandicoots.  It’s that time of the year again when male Eastern Grey Kangaroos will fight for breeding rights within their mob – and as you can see in the video, it’s quite a battle.  I was going about my business trying to do a morning patrol around the fence perimeter, but these two boys were not interested in my schedule, and I had to wait until the battle was over to continue my patrol.  We always talk about kangaroos in our safety assessment before we can start any work, ...you can now understand why!  These two were around six foot tall and can certainly pack a punch and a mighty kick!  So I was more than happy to wait for them to go about their business!

Now back to our bandicoots.  We have just completed our spring monitoring for this year, and with the daylight hours increasing since the September equinox, the bandicoots have lost precious darkness (approx. 2-3 hrs) in which to forage, making it harder for them to be trapped. This time last year we recorded 57 individuals. This year we were hoping to record around 80 individuals – so I am very happy to share the positive news of recording 110 individuals on site this Spring. It has been a dry winter with low rainfall, so there was some concern we wouldn’t achieve these results, as the grasslands have reduced more than expected.  But the Eastern Bared Bandicoot is very adaptive - as proven by these amazing numbers, passing of all their health checks and consistent overall great body condition.

These ‘hot of the press’ results also revealed a very healthy female population with more females being caught than in our past two sessions combined.  Twelve of the female Eastern Barred Bandicoot’s caught revealed a total of 23 pouch young, and another 24 showed signs of recent pouch evacuation, meaning many new young are independently exploring life in Woodlands.  We are proud to report that 50 ‘cleanskins’ were caught, all of which have been bred and born on site at Woodlands.  The recent purchase of new microchip supplies has already been depleted – being put to good use in chipping our cleanskins.  The new scanner is already being used, efficiently extracting new data and enabling us to extract vital research information promptly.  The new microchips and scanner have only been made possible through the generous donations that we have received from our committed and loyal donors (click here to see the release of a newly chipped Eastern Bared Bandicoot).

Conservation Volunteers Australia’s innovative Eastern Bared Bandicoot program will continue through the busy summer months ahead.  With the dryer than normal winter and spring in Victoria, and a hot summer ahead – maintaining the grasslands will become essential in ensuring the bandicoots can continue to thrive in a ‘perfect’ habitat.  This maintenance of the grasslands will undoubtedly impact on the results of our next monitoring session in April 2016.

Please enjoy these results, but we still have a way to go before reaching ‘full capacity’ in our Eastern Barred Bandicoot number at Woodlands.  We are certainly tracking and continuing to grow in the right direction, all due to your commitment to bringing the Eastern Bared Bandicoot back from extinction. 

Once again – thank you to everyone who helps to make this program successful, including our valuable volunteers, members of the Eastern Bared Bandicoot Recovery Team, everyone involved from Conservation Volunteers Australia and Parks Victoria, but most especially our generous donors who make the program sustainable.

Travis Scicchitano, Woodlands Project Officer. 

Links:

• Conservation Volunteers Website
• Wild Futures - Eastern Barred Bandicoot Information

Dear Friends in Conservation,

We are delighted to report positive news on the pesky fox front – the old rickety fence has done its job – and we have been fox free for the past twelve months.  The fence might not look as nice as some of the newer models around, but it’s doing the job!  The addition of the floppy top, combined with regular fence patrols, is working effectively – and we are moving ahead.  The floppy top fence is designed so as an excluded animal attempts to climb the overhang, it bends down and the animal will let go and fall to the ground. The floppy top then springs back to the original position, ready for another assault (view diagram).  So well done to all the volunteers, who assist in the regular fence checks and repairs..

Travis Scicchitano, Woodlands Project Officer said “Records continue to be broken at Woodlands Historic Park as Eastern Barred Bandicoot numbers continue to surge. Here’s a snapshot.  In November 2014, we recorded 57 bandicoots, 86 were recorded in March 2015, and an amazing 114 bandicoots were recorded in July this year – that’s a 100% increase!  Even more exciting is the 46 new bandicoots, that had never been caught before – so breeding is continuing at a healthy rate as they try to fill their protected area.”  As we continue to share the marvellous success of our bandicoots, we have to applaud the ladies, with recent pouch inspections revealing an astounding 94% of them showing recent signs of having released pouch young.  This is shown by elongated teats and lactating teats in the pouch, meaning young bandicoots have recently vacated the pouch, old enough to search and set up their own territories.

We have some encouraging news following up on our high possum trap interference.  Twenty new traps were built with new door inserts to make it more difficult for possums to enter, but still allow bandicoots to freely enter for a tasty reward.  The twenty new traps were placed in a section that had recorded the highest amount of possum interference.  In just one row of nine traps, past results showed an average capture of up to seven possums and two closed traps due to possum ‘playfulness’.  With the trap modifications in place, the capture rates in this same row, was reduced to just one possum per day.  This is such a great start. Seeing the traps in action over four days has given us vital feedback to make a few more tweaks to improve the design even more.  Adding to the success of the modified traps was the capture and ability to monitor bandicoots in this zone; previously an extremely rare occurrence, even though evidence of bandicoot activity was visible. We have a very special treat for our donors, a sneak peak at two Eastern Barred Bandicoots being released after completion of their vital health checks (view Video 1) (view Video 2).

So thank you to all our supporters and your life giving donations, that are improving our monitoring techniques and making it easier and less stressful on the bandicoots.  But we still need your help as more modifications are required.  The new trap designs have changed the way our trap covers work.  The waterproof covers are vital for our trap functionality and most importantly, in keeping our bandicoots warm and protected.  Your generous donations will help purchase new covers for all the new traps once ready.  We are also at the stage that microchipping and monitoring the bandicoots is essential to ensure genetic security.  We desperately need to purchase more microchips, as well as a new microchip scanner.  The newer scanners process and upload the data directly to the database, facilitating real time information and eliminating all chances of human data entry errors.  So please keep giving, as it only improves the quality of the project and the longevity of the bandicoot’s ongoing survival.

Once again great work everyone involved from Conservation Volunteers Australia, Parks Victoria, volunteers, members of the Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team and our sponsors, who have assisted with making this possible.

Links:

• Find out more on our website