Safeguard a Bandicoot from Extinction

This Spring update at Woodlands Historic Park’s bandicoot sanctuary brings more news regarding the weather.  

The dry has continued on with well below average rainfall. So our fury friends haven’t been digging for their food during their favourite months over winter. There has been detection of surface insects for them to feed on but it will be harder work for them to find food. This will mean that, most likely, they will reduce their breeding rates to adjust with the food quantity so they remain healthy. A very clever survival strategy.  

That brings us to our most recent monitoring event held in October. This week was full of mayhem which was weather related. After setting all the traps, a sever weather waring was forecast for incredibly high winds. This means that we can’t trap under those conditions for the bandicoots welfare. So back out we went that night and closed all the traps. Thankfully it was only for one afternoon meaning we only lost one of our three days.  

But before we could commence, out we went again to set the traps!  So much work without even being able to get any results. But it was worth it in the end. We only had a small catch over the reduced session but it yielded good results. We caught four bandicoots: two male and two female.

The good news is one had been caught previously, and the other three were caught for the first time. This is showing us that they are surviving the harsh dry conditions and still breeding. The bonus is that the two females were both carrying one pouch young each.  

A huge thanks to all the fantastic volunteers and Zoos Victoria staff who braved the early mornings and late evenings to make the monitoring go ahead under trying circumstances.

Thanks to Parks Victoria, CVA team and all the wonderful volunteers.