Saving the Eastern Barred Bandicoot

Australia has an appalling extinction record. Many of our unique species are teetering on the brink of extinction due to threats, such as introduced species and habitat destruction.

Catastrophic events, like the bushfires that ravaged much of Australia earlier this year, push many species even closer towards extinction.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. In Victoria, the Eastern Barred Bandicoot is the first species to be successfully re-established, after being listed as extinct in the wild. This is a massive achievement and gives a glimmer of hope that the same can be achieved for other threatened species.

The recovery effort

Weighing in at under a kilo, Eastern Barred Bandicoots are solitary, nocturnal and will eat pretty much any bug they find, as well as some bulbs and fruit.

They were once found across the Volcanic Plains of south west Victoria, but over 99% of this habitat has now been destroyed, mostly converted to farmland. Eastern Barred Bandicoots are an amazing, resilient species and can adapt to farmland; what they can’t tolerate is any level of predation by the introduced red fox.

The recovery effort to save the Eastern Barred Bandicoot from extinction began in 1988 when the last wild population in Hamilton, south west Victoria, was hurtling towards extinction.

The task to save the Eastern Barred Bandicoot seemed relatively simple: control the foxes, save the bandicoots. But controlling a widespread, introduced super predator, like foxes, is no easy feat, and is why, 32 years on, we are only just making the much-needed leaps into saving the mainland Eastern Barred Bandicoot.

I joined the Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team as a University of Melbourne PhD student in 2005, when there was thought to be just 100 bandicoots left in Victoria.

That was the year I met my first Eastern Barred Bandicoot at Woodlands Historic Park. I didn’t know it at the time, but that would be the last bandicoot I saw at Woodlands until 2013. I spent almost a year looking for bandicoots at Woodlands. I found some foraging digs early on, but never saw a bandicoot, and then their digs disappeared.

Heartbreak and hope

Witnessing the local extinction of Eastern Barred Bandicoots at Woodlands was heartbreaking. Sadly, these losses are part of working with threatened species.

On the flip side of this, and a career highlight, was releasing Eastern Barred Bandicoots onto French Island in 2019, with the French Island Community. This project took 12 years to come to fruition and is a key project in saving Eastern Barred Bandicoots.

These highs and lows are what drive me to continue my work with threatened species.

The success we are now experiencing with Eastern Barred Bandicoots is due to a number of reasons: Eastern Barred Bandicoots are a relatively easy species to reintroduce, they have broad habitat and diet requirements, so the only thing we really need to worry about is foxes.

On the mainland, reserves are surrounded with predator-exclusion fencing to keep foxes out, but more recently Eastern Barred Bandicoots have been released onto fox-free islands. We now have three fenced reserves on the mainland (Woodlands Historic Park, Hamilton Community Parklands and Mt Rothwell) and three islands (Churchill, Phillip and French) where Eastern Barred Bandicoots can be found. Having geographically separate populations is important, because if something happens to one site, like a catastrophic fire or fox incursion, then populations at other sites should be unaffected.

Outside the box

Thinking outside of the box, being bold, trying new things and not being afraid to fail is important in threatened species recovery.

An Eastern Barred Bandicoot project that ticks all these boxes is the Guardian Dog Project, which aims to train Maremma dogs as bandicoot bodyguards. If successful, this will mean that we can release Eastern Barred Bandicoots on the mainland, outside of reserves surrounded by predator-exclusion fences, and using these specially trained dogs to keep foxes at bay.

The captive insurance and breeding program that has been managed by Zoos Victoria since 1991 has also been instrumental in saving the Eastern Barred Bandicoot. Zoos Victoria has bred over 960 bandicoots. The program is now starting to wind down, due to the increasing numbers in the wild. Things are finally looking good for Eastern Barred Bandicoots.

Looking to the future

When I think back to where we were 15 years ago when I joined the Recovery Team, and when many people thought the mainland Eastern Barred Bandicoot was doomed, I can’t help but smile. We still have a long way to go before we can say the Eastern Barred Bandicoot is no longer at risk of extinction, but that goal is in sight because of the hard work and dedication of many people and their long-term investments.

As mainland Eastern Barred Bandicoot populations continue to grow, one day we may no longer need to keep a close eye on how well they are doing, as they will be widespread and abundant across islands and mainland sites. It’s a future I look forward to seeing.

When it comes to fighting extinction, we all have a part to play. It can be as simple as choosing renewable energy, blowing bubbles instead of balloons or keeping your cat inside.

Check out Zoos Victoria Conservation Campaigns. And whilst we are all spending more time apart from each other, find ways to connect with nature, marvel at its wonders and enjoy the health benefits it brings. Together, we can save species from extinction and protect our wild places for generations to come.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not." (Dr Seuss)

The Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team has members from (in alphabetical order) Conservation Volunteers Australia, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Mt Rothwell Biodiversity Interpretation Centre, National Trust of Australia, Parks Victoria, Phillip Island Nature Parks, the University of Melbourne, Tiverton Property Partnering and Zoos Victoria.

You can read more about Amy’s journey to a career conservation here.