Celebrating sightings of the rare Spot-tailed Quoll

Two Victorian Government grants, Nature Fund and Icon Species Funding Program, with co-investment from the Rendere Environmental Trust and support from Biodiversity Legacy, form the basis for a multi-partnership approach to the recovery of two nationally endangered species: the Spot-tailed Quoll and the Southern Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby (EPBC & FFG listed).

Found in the remote East Gippsland wilderness in the rugged Snowy River catchment, the secretive quoll and the rare rock-wallaby are best surveyed using remote cameras. Wildlife Unlimited, a major partner, is leading recovery efforts alongside the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and Parks Victoria.

It is worthy of celebration when a Spot-tailed Quoll is captured on camera!!! This is a rare event due to low population numbers and large home range sizes (can be up to 2,000 ha for males), combined with the difficulty of deploying cameras in their refuge habitat of complex cliffs and rugged and steep terrain.

Cameras deployed to monitor a population of Southern Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby in Little River Gorge in the Snowy River National Park have captured this curious quoll investigating hay nets of lucerne set up to lure rock-wallabies to the cameras. This is a fantastic start to survey efforts now underway as part of Wildlife Unlimited’s Spot-tailed Quoll Recovery Program.

The secretive quoll investigating the hay nets used for luring the rare Rock-wallaby. Images with thanks to the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Change.