The chuditch (Dasyurus geoffroii)– also know as the western quoll – is another of those small-to-medium-sized mammals that only occurs in Australia, but has been almost completely wiped out during the past 200 years. Their natural distribution has been reduced by more than 90 per cent since European settlement and its last remaining natural strongholds are a handful of isolated populations south of Perth. 

A few limited translocations earlier this century saw the chuditch reintroduced to South Australia, although it remains endangered there. And the species continues to be either extinct or presumed extinct in the Northern Territory, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.

After a decade of planning, in 2023 Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) carried out the first of five planned translocations to Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary, 350km north-east of Perth, of animals caught from remnant wild chuditch populations near Perth. It was the start of an ambitious plan that might one day lead to the species being re-established across much of its former range.

Related: A guide to all six species of quoll

‘A huge program’

Mammal reintroductions have been a key feature of management for the Mt Gibson sanctuary and crucial to this has been the property’s large predator-free enclosure. Almost 8000ha of the property’s most intact habitat has been protected within a 43km x 1.82m specially designed feral-proof fence.

In 2015 AWC began reintroducing to the property 10 mammal species that had been extinct in the area for many years, including nine species that are also threatened at the national level. It started with the greater bilby in 2016, and has since seen populations of numbat, woylie, Shark Bay bandicoot, red-tailed phascogale, greater stick-nest rat, banded hare-wallaby and the WA subspecies of the brushtail possum become established within the safety of Mt Gibson’s feral predator–free enclosure. 

“It’s been a huge program. But it’s been worth it,” says Isabel ‘Issie’ Connell, a field ecologist and senior guide at the Mt Gibson sanctuary. “This is the first place in the world to reintroduce so many species into one area.” 

Not only have these reintroduced populations begun to flourish safely away from the foxes and cats that have decimated their numbers, but the environment has also begun to visibly respond positively to the presence of the animals. 

“Something that many people may not be aware of is how important these animals are in the ecosystem and in the landscape,” Issie says. She points out that, as a result, the condition of the soil inside the fence is remarkably better than it is outside. “That’s because of the work done by the animals we’ve reintroduced there,” she says.

The extensive scratching and digging – while looking for food and making burrows – by the mammal species so far introduced behind the fence turns over huge quantities of soil every day. “The reason this is so important,” Issie says, “is that every time a little dig is done, it’s breaking up the topsoil and pulling down nutrients. When it rains the water doesn’t just run off, it actually penetrates the ground, and this can really have quite a quick effect on the quality of the habitat.”

The return of the chuditch to Mt Gibson began in 2023 with the same sort of intensive planning that had been undertaken for the other species, but with one important difference: The other mammals are mostly herbivorous, but the chuditch is a carnivore that eats large invertebrates, reptiles and small mammals. For now it has been decided to establish the translocated chuditch populations outside the predator-proof fence, to give the protected herbivores within more time to become established before being exposed to another native predator. (Natural populations of goannas, snakes and birds of prey all presently hunt for food behind the fence.) 

The other issue facing chuditch is that, being a carnivore, the species requires a much larger home range than other herbivores – a male chuditch can range across at least 1500ha and females need up to 400ha for hunting prey and searching for mates. 

As a result, an intensive effort went into making a huge area outside the fence as free of feral predators as possible for the chuditch translocations. “To be able to release outside the fence, we had to get cats and foxes down to a reasonable level,” says Georgie Anderson, who was until recently the senior field ecologist at Mt Gibson. Foxes are now rarely seen on the sanctuary or the surrounding area, but feral cats are an ongoing problem. 

“Cats are a big thing for us and incredibly difficult to manage, because different approaches work for different cats,” Georgie says. “So we do a whole suite of different controls.” Feral cat suppression is an ongoing part of management right across the property, and it was stepped up about 18 months before the first chuditch translocation, in the area where they were being released. 

“Across Mt Gibson we trap for cats. We also aerial- and ground-bait with Eradicat® [a commercial product that uses 1080 poison]. But we’ve also been trialling the Felixer grooming trap for the past year.” A Felixer is a device that uses a camera-based artificial intelligence system to attract feral cats, recognise them and spray them with 1080, which they then ingest when they groom.

Related: “A diabolical problem needing radical answers”: when cats are not so cute

Breeding underway

The fifth and final translocation of wild chuditch went ahead at Mt Gibson in May 2024, releasing 18 animals caught at Dryandra Woodland National Park, 180km south-east of Perth. In the 12 months prior to the release, more than 20 feral cats were removed from the area using a combination of Felixers and traps. As with the other releases, a mix of male and female chuditch were chosen and released at selected locations outside the fence, after first resting up for vet checks and a good feed at Perth’s Chuditch Hotel, a purpose-built facility operated by Native Animal Rescue.

Some of the released animals were fitted with radio-tracking collars, and data from these revealed some animals dispersed far and wide shortly after release, even as far as neighbouring properties. These data, along with field sightings, trapping of the translocated animals and evidence from camera traps, demonstrated that the program overall has so far been successful in establishing a chuditch population back at Mt Gibson.

“We’ve shown that we’ve got really high survivorship, with a couple of mortalities from predation. But some of those predation events have been by native animals, including by a bird of prey,” Georgie says. “There were a couple of mortalities that were likely to be cat or fox. But it was low enough that we think the majority are doing okay.”

Perhaps, however, the best indicators of the population’s health are signs of breeding and there has been clear evidence of that, with six new individuals detected either in traps or on camera in recent months.

Please help save the chuditch

You can help Australian Wildlife Conservancy continue its chuditch translocation program, vital to the ongoing survival of the species, by contributing funds to Australian Geographic Society’s Australia’s Most Endangered campaign.

Donate here.

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Numbats have been a feature of the AWC’s species recovery operations since the organisation’s early days. In 2002, when it acquired the property Yookamurra, in SA, and Scotia, in NSW, both sites had small numbat populations protected by predator-proof fences. Since then, the fences have grown and so too have the numbat populations at those properties. In fact, Scotia’s numbat numbers have been so healthy that in 2016–22 the property provided 73 animals to create or supplement populations at other AWC properties. These include the huge 1305sq.km Mt Gibson, north-east of Perth, that received 20 animals in 2016–18, and Mallee Cliffs National Park, in NSW, where in 2020–21 AWC released 30 numbats into a 9500ha fenced area – Australia’s biggest feral-free enclosure. Mallee Cliffs is managed in a joint partnership between AWC and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

“We’ve been able to continue to expand the number of reserves that numbats are at, as well as the number of populations and the extent of those populations,” explains Dr Jennifer Pierson, the senior ecologist with AWC’s national science team. “So [the species has] been spread across more of its former distribution, and that’s really critical to recovering the species.”

A unique marsupial

One of the first of many unusual things about the numbat is that it comes out into the open during the day: it’s one of very few strictly diurnal – day-active – native Australian mammal species. Most are either nocturnal or, in a lifestyle described as “crepuscular”, they venture out only in the dim light of dawn or dusk. It’s highly unusual to see small Aussie marsupials venture out in the open during daylight hours as the numbat does.

That’s because its behaviour is closely tied to the activity of termites, on which it feeds almost exclusively. As the day warms up, termites will move from underground nests to travel along “termite highways” near the soil’s surface, and that’s when numbats emerge from the safety of overnight dens and sleeping chambers to feed.

The numbat’s appearance and behaviour also set it apart. No other Australian marsupial looks like or could be mistaken for a numbat. It’s a stunning-looking mammal – red-grey fur with black and white bands, a long bushy tail and pointy ears. Those stripes are a form of camouflage known as disruptive colouration. They can make it stand out when it’s motionless, but, in the same way a zebra’s stripes incongruously equip it with an effective way of hiding on the African savannah, when a numbat moves, its markings can quickly make it disappear into the background.

Numbat movements are also remarkable, like those of a wind-up toy, or a figurine in a stop-go animation. Numbats’ main natural predators are birds of prey, which rely heavily on visual contact with their target when hunting. Those jerky movements displayed by numbats when they are out in the open, together with their colouration, are thought to be particularly confusing to visual predators like hawks and falcons.

The pattern of stripes is unique to each numbat, making it possible to identify individual animals. Recent research by Sian Thorne, from the University of Western Australia, used patterns of stripes to assess the size of the species’ remnant populations in WA. AWC is trialling the method in fenced areas. Since feral predators have been brought under control in the area with baiting programs undertaken independently of AWC, those remnant populations have also been doing well – in fact, better than thought.

“In terms of the remnant pops, we thought there was less than 1000 and now we think there’s probably closer to 2000, and potentially more,” Jennifer says. There’s perhaps another 500 safely surviving on AWC properties.

Related: The plight of the numbat

Widening the management focus

While simply increasing the size and spread of the numbat population has been an AWC priority to date, the organisation is now widening its management focus. “We’re very optimistic that numbat numbers are doing really well and so the two areas we are now focusing on in terms of management are genetic management of the population and the potential impacts of climate change,” Jennifer says. The individuals at the various sites – from WA to NSW – are being managed as one large population by the various bodies involved in numbat conservation. Because all the new sub-populations originated from the two tiny remnant populations, the genetics of all groups are being monitored to ensure inbreeding doesn’t occur.

“There are two things we are doing in terms of climate change, and one is – in conjunction with the genetic management – managing the population’s adaptive capacity,” Jennifer says. So establishing populations across the species’ former range will ensure individuals are exposed to a variety of conditions. In that way, natural selection will keep strong the species’ adaptive capacity – which is its ability to respond to changing environmental conditions.

But AWC has also just begun a large study looking at the “activity budgets” of numbats under different thermal conditions, which will show how numbats cope in drier and hotter conditions.

“We did a very big project this year at Mt Gibson, where we put high-tech collars on individuals so we could track their activity,” Jennifer says, explaining that multiple sensors on the collars revealed how and where an animal was moving around the environment. These data will indicate whether an animal can still forage enough when it’s hot to ensure it gets its necessary quota of termites.

“We got lucky, in a way – Mt Gibson had some incredible heatwaves this summer,” Jennifer says. “So we have an extraordinary amount of data under extreme heat conditions, tracking these animals through the season to see how they changed their activity budgets.”

The results will help scientists understand if and how they’ll need to alter their management as the effects of climate change continue to hit.

Help us help numbats

You can help AWC’s efforts to keep this beautiful little creature as a critical part of the Australian landscape by contributing funds to our Australia’s Most Endangered campaign.

Donate here.

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The greater bilby is the largest member of the bandicoot family. It shares the same short forelimbs and powerful hind legs as bandicoots. But it has some distinctive differences, such as those large, translucent pink ears and a spectacular long tail with a thick band of black-coloured fur along half its length and a pure white feathery end with a mysterious horny spur. At the time of European settlement, the two species of bilby were found across 70 per cent of the mainland and believed to number in the millions. Now, the lesser bilby is extinct, and the greater bilby is found in just 20 per cent of its former range with less than 10,000 estimated to be remaining in the wild. The greater bilby is now classified as vulnerable nationally, but is locally extinct in NSW.

Conservation efforts have focused on creating feral-free sanctuaries. Among the first of these was AWC’s Yookamurra Wildlife Sanctuary in SA. This 1000ha enclosure was originally established in 1988 by AGS Lifetime of Conservation awardee John Wamsley OAM. This brilliant mathematician and fearless advocate for native animals developed a fencing system that protected smaller animals, such as bilbies and numbats, by keeping out ferals while allowing the passage of larger native species.

Today, Yookamurra is one of more than 30 sanctuaries and partnership sites where AWC works. John’s revolutionary fence technology has evolved too, allowing the establishment of vast, fenced, predator-free zones across the continent. Currently about 10 per cent of the surviving bilby population is protected within an AWC facility. These sanctuaries – Yookamurra (SA), Scotia (New South Wales), Mt Gibson (Western Australia) and Newhaven (NT), as well as two NSW government partnership projects, in the Pilliga and Mallee Cliffs National Park, all occur where bilbies once thrived but have become locally extinct.

Bilbies are “ecosystem engineers”. “It’s a phrase we use to describe a species that changes the environment it’s in, just by the fact it’s there,” explains Alexandra Ross, AWC Acting Regional Ecologist working at Yookamurra. “The bilby digs holes to live in, but also to find seeds, roots and other foods. These holes collect other things like leaves and debris and bits of seeds. And when rain falls into these holes, it turns them into mulch pots, much like you’d make if you were going to plant something at home.”

Bilbies are known to each move several tonnes of topsoil a year, and they play a critical role in desert ecosystems. The differences between bilby habitat within sanctuary fence lines and beyond them can be dramatic, and those differences explain why it’s vital to reintroduce bilbies to places they occurred naturally. So many other species – both flora and fauna – benefit from their presence.

Maintaining genetic diversity among populations of any species living within enclosures is a grand logistical challenge and animals are carefully selected by AWC staff to create founding populations in new sanctuaries. In 2022, 32 bilby “founders” were introduced to the organisation’s Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary near Alice Springs, NT. A 9450ha portion of this 2615sq.km former cattle property – located on the traditional lands of the Ngalia-Warlpiri/Luritja people – was declared predator-free in 2019, marking the start of one of Australia’s most ambitious rewilding projects. The 32 founders came from Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, NSW, and another 34 came from the Queensland government’s sanctuary at Currawinya National Park, which was built with funds raised by the national Save the Bilby Fund. Within a year, evidence of juvenile bilbies was detected in Newhaven, while across all AWC properties the overall estimated bilby population in March 2023 was at least 3315, more than double the 2022 estimate of 1480, and almost triple the 2021 figure of 1230. Bilbies are prolific breeders, and if conditions are right and predators controlled, they can bounce back quickly.

It’s good news for this engaging and iconic creature, and for a whole raft of other embattled species whose survival is inextricably linked to that of the greater bilby. It takes breathtaking courage, ambition and lots of money to tackle Australia’s crashing biodiversity on such a towering scale. But if you can bring just one species back from the brink, it might just bring a whole raft of creatures back with it.

Related: Help bilbies to bounce back

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Please help us to help them by donating to our bilby fundraiser today. Your money will go towards the national conservation program run by Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), which is already delivering encouraging results.

This fundraiser kicks off Australian Geographic Society’s rebranded public fundraising campaigns, Australia’s Most Endangered, created in line with our commitment to seek greater impact on nature’s most urgent concerns.

AWC will use the money to fund breeding programs aimed at improving genetic diversity, to build and maintain fenced sanctuaries and for feral-pest and fire-management strategies to restore the ecosystems that bilbies need for survival.

It’s an expensive business to bring a species back from the brink of extinction, and every dollar you give counts.

Please make a tax deductible donation today. Donate here.

Related: Rescuing an emblem

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Each partner will become the beneficiary of all funds contributed through this program for a period of one year. In this way we hope to create real impact and measurable conservation outcomes for the vital funds that you – our readers and supporters – so generously donate to us. All of these drives will highlight the plight of a new species with every new edition of your AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC magazine.

Our first partner is Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), a national operation that’s a global leader in conservation with its science-informed land-management partnership model. Through a large and growing network of sanctuaries located across the continent, AWC aims to protect species and the ecosystems they depend on. The organisation engages in fire management, feral-animal control, weed eradication and translocations of threatened species into fenced, feral-free sanctuaries.

AWC doesn’t just seek to protect existing biodiversity, but to improve it, and has grown to become Australia’s largest non-government conservation organisation. During the coming year, the AGS will identify six native species on which to focus our fundraising activities and direct those funds towards AWC’s conservation efforts.

Because we are close to Easter, we kick off the new program with the gorgeous greater bilby.

We’re grateful for your ongoing generous support of our fundraisers, and will continue to ensure the money is used to the greatest effect to help our precious wildlife.

Related: Rescuing an emblem

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The Australian Geographic Society is supporting a project, being run by not-for-profit group Conservation Partners at Artemis station on the Cape York Peninsula, to protect 20 nests from predators during the May–July breeding season.

Your donations will be used to buy, install and maintain small electric fences around the bases of termite mounds where the parrots nest.

Monitoring in 2022 showed that nestlings in unprotected nests were killed by predators, while chicks in nests protected with the fences survived.

Because the parrots lay five eggs per nest, protecting 20 nests could more than double the golden-shouldered parrot population on Artemis station, where only 50–70 parrots remain. 

Please make a tax deductible donation today. Donate here.

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By creating a wildlife corridor across NSW’s Northern Rivers region, Bangalow Koalas is connecting vital koala habitat, allowing koalas to move safely as they feed, reducing the main risks of disease, dog attack and vehicle strike. It’s also about planting hope – for koalas, for the planet and, in the face of climate change, for the mental health and wellbeing of our younger generations.

To reach the 500,000 target, there are still 162,000 ‘hope trees’ to plant, and Bangalow Koalas needs help to do it. That’s why the Australian Geographic Society has selected the organisation’s trees-for-hope quest as its latest fundraising recipient. 

All funds raised will be used to prepare, plant and maintain trees over the next three years in strategic locations as part of this essential wildlife corridor. Let’s support change for koalas and help Bangalow Koalas reach its target.

Please make a tax deductible donation today. Donate here.

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They also use their semi-prehensile tails to collect and transport grasses and bark, which they use to build nests.

The eastern bettong was driven to extinction on the mainland for almost 100 years by foxes, feral cats and hunting by early pastoralists. But it’s been successfully reintroduced at Wildbark, a nature reserve near Canberra run by conservation not-for-profit Odonata.

Donations will support the use of individual animals from Wildbark to re-establish eastern bettong populations throughout Victoria and New South Wales.

Please make a tax deductible donation today. Donate here.

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Land clearing, dams and drought destroy habitat, leaving the amphibious mammals with nowhere to go.

Little is known about which specific waterways the species inhabits, including whether declines or local extinctions have occurred.

By recording where platypuses live, we can understand more about this incredible creature, and help prevent further declines.

The Australian Conservation Foundation’s (ACF) platy-project aims to prioritise the biggest platypus data gaps, and community involvement is key in tackling these.

Your donation will help ACF sustain and grow this critical program and hopefully increase our chance of spotting a healthy platypus in the wild.

Please make a tax deductible donation today. Donate here.

Related: Platypus

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Once common throughout New South Wales and Victoria, this stunning amphibian has been heavily impacted by coastal development.

It’s estimated that just 40 locations now exist where the frog continues to live in the wild, but these sites are under constant threat of land-clearing and development.

At Conservation Ark – a dedicated reptile and amphibian facility in the grounds of Aussie Ark’s sister organisation, the Australian Reptile Park – the species is thriving.

You can help support this insurance population against extinction.

Please make a tax deductible donation today. Donate here.

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Huge numbers of turtle eggs and hatchlings are eaten by fish and birds, providing the important fundamental nutrition driving many marine food webs.

By cropping leaves and distributing seeds, turtles are crucial to the health of seagrass beds, which in turn support countless other oceanic species.

Turtles also increase the productivity of coral reefs by grazing on algae that might otherwise prevent coral poly growth… and we all know how important coral reefs are.

Your funds will particularly help the STF to rescue turtles that become stranded due to pollution, boat strikes and plastic ingestion.

You can make a difference. Please make a tax deductible donation today. Donate here.

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The species has become critically endangered due to habitat loss, fragmented subpopulations, bushfires, decline of its food (the bogong moth), impacts of climate change, and predation from ferals.

After 10 years of planning and construction, a new breeding centre at Secret Creek Sanctuary in Lithgow, New South Wales, opened in September 2022 with 14 possums released into their new enclosures.

They’ve now had eight possum babies.

You can help the Burramys Project to protect this beautiful tiny creature against the effects of climate change.

You can make a difference. Please make a tax deductible donation today. Donate here.

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It was previously thought to be extinct, until a tiny population was discovered in 1994 at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Western Australia.

Because of its sensitive nature and extremely restricted diet of native truffles, Gilbert’s potoroos don’t do well in captivity. So the creation of safe haven populations is the only way to increase their numbers.

They’re threatened by fire, feral predators, inadequate gene flow between the populations and climate change.

Your donation will help the Gilbert’s Potoroo Action Group support critical recovery actions undertaken by scientists and volunteers to help this species survive.

You can make a difference. Please make a tax deductible donation today. Donate.

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The main threat they face stems from the fragmentation of their habitat. 

This is compounded by the loss of trees with suitable hollows for nesting and the loss of food sources in the flowering mid-storey shrubs. Barbed wire fences and uncontrolled domestic and wild cats have also contributed to their endangered status. Squirrel gliders were devastated by the 2020 bushfires too. Aussie Ark will build back squirrel glider populations with a holistic approach including nesting boxes, food source tree planting and feral management/exclusion.

Make a difference. Please make a tax deductible donation today.

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The discovery of a small population in western Victoria drastically changed the trajectory of the species. From that wild population, many hundreds have been bred in captivity and released into predator-free ecosystems, including Odonata’s keystone sanctuary, Mount Rothwell.

Thanks to the work of Odonata and their volunteers and partners, the bandicoot’s status was changed in 2021 in Victoria from extinct in the wild to endangered. Your donation will help efforts to breed and strengthen populations so more animals can be released into predator-free zones, and so that one day they can thrive beyond the fence once more.

Donate below.

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Odonata’s sanctuary, Mount Rothwell, is home to a population of southern brush-tailed rock wallabies and it was here that other evacuated populations were moved to. A philanthropist has now offered the embattled species another lifeline with a 600ha property near Avenel in Victoria. 

Renamed Widgewah Conservation Reserve, this sanctuary is being managed by Odonata in preparation to welcome its first rock-wallabies from Mount Rothwell in 2022 with 90ha set aside to support 200 animals. This is a significant step in supporting this species. However, by spreading populations across several productive wildlife sanctuaries there is a strong support system in place that will hopefully allow this species to grow and flourish.

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With support from the Rottnest Foundation, The Rottnest Island Environment team monitor the Island’s quokka population to help detect changes, which may signal the need for management actions. However, the size of the island makes it challenging to monitor large parts of the quokkas’ habitat.

Your support will help purchase remote cameras, which will enable the continuous 24/7 monitoring of large areas of the Island, helping to ensure quokkas are protected and visitors to the island can still enjoy these magic encounters.

Donate now.

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Aussie Ark aims to proactively protect this species from extinction before the last of the remnant populations disappear. Founding individuals of rufous bettong will be placed into individual captive facilities – large enclosures spread across all Aussie Ark’s sanctuaries. The project will see the re-wilding of rufous bettongs amongst NSW, creating a robust insurance population for the endangered species. The end goal is always to keep any species surviving in the wild – this is the long-term vision of Aussie Ark.

Donate now.

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The work at the Forktree Project involves re-establishing tens of thousands of native trees, shrubs and grasses, which will in turn bring back native animals, insects and birds as well as sequester tens of thousands of tonnes of carbon. A native seed nursery and rare seed orchard are also being established.

Importantly, the Forktree Project also aims to increase responsible environmental stewardship in the community through education, inspiration and the modelling of proactive sustainable practices.

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The Numbat Task Force is monitoring the recovering population in the Dryandra Woodland in Western Australia, one of only two places where the species survives naturally, and a reintroduced population in Dragon Rocks Nature Reserve, 232km east of Dryandra.

Help us raise funds to support this crucial work. It’ll be used to buy sensor cameras and associated equipment, which can detect animals 365 days a year, and also help pay for a flight in a small aircraft to document the survival of radio-collared animals.

Donate here:

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In the hope of reducing these, University of Queensland researchers are investigating factors affecting dugong health.

Your donation will support an annual health assessment program of dugongs living near a major city (Brisbane) to: assess general health and body condition; identify factors that cause chronic stress; measure pollutants that may cause harm; pinpoint factors that may affect their ability to reproduce; and screen for emerging diseases.

Donate below:

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We’re raising funds to restore damaged habitat and for the large-scale planting of drooping she-oaks in the bird’s range on Kangaroo Island and on the Fleurieu Peninsula in SA.

Related: Black cockatoo chicks hatch among burnt habitat

Your donation will help Conservation Volunteers Australia to propagate seedlings and revegetate critical sites on the mainland to create ‘stepping stone’ areas that will encourage flocks to move freely between remaining stands of she-oak.

Donate now.

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The AG Society is raising funds for the purchase of individual trackers so young devils can be monitored after they disappear into the landscape. Already more than 300 devils born in captivity have been raised in this way to foster natural behaviour, helping ensure they maintain the skills needed to survive in the wild.

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But due to the fires there hasn’t been enough natural food available.

Related: A guide to Australia’s possums and gliders

The New South Wales threatened species officers and volunteers have been delivering food and water weekly for the possums since the fires.

Your help is needed to support these food drops continuing into winter, and to provide long-term solutions for the species’ survival such as replanting mountain plum pines, a vital natural food resource.

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You can help by supporting Aussie Ark in its new project. The Ark is launching the first and largest koala sanctuary in the world. The project aims to alter the declining trajectory of koalas in NSW by protecting up to 7 per cent of the wild population through exclusion fencing.

Donate here:

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A victim of the bushfires, this divine yellow-beliied glider was recently brought into RSPCA Queensland’s Wacol Wildlife Hospital.

Usually elusive and hard to spot in the wild, this poor little lady was found stuck in a barbed wire fence. The team removed the fence from her patagium (wing membrane) and she has been placed on medication and is now living with a wildlife carer for rehab before she can be released.

She’s one of countless animals that have found themselves being cared for at Wacol in Brisbane and the RSPCA Queensland’s other wildlife hospital, at Eumundi.

Koalas Mia and her son Kevin were rescued from a bushfire-affected area near Lake Perserverance, Queensland, by wildlife carer Judi Gray, with the help of a cherry picker provided by Toowoomba Regional Council. They’re both recovering well, as is Michael, 5, who was rescued from fires near Toowoomba in late November. He received third degree burns to all four of his paw pads and to his nose. He was extremely dehydrated and malnourished.

According to RSPCA Queensland CEO Darren Maier, “drought compounded with bushfires has had a detrimental impact on our wildlife. We’re seeing an average of 80-82 new native animals through our Wildlife Hospitals every day. While we fight to save our wildlife, we need your help to ensure they have a future.”

Your donations to the Australian Geographic Bushfire Appeal are helping wildlife like Mia, Kevin and Michael, through RSPCA Queensland.

You can donate to RSPCA Queensland here.

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“The Society hopes these funds can help alleviate some of the heartache being suffered by the many Australians affected by these extreme bushfires, and provide support to the many people working hard to help,” said the Chair of the Australian Geographic Society, David Haslingden.

Australian Geographic’s Managing Director, Ms Jo Runciman, said that in addition to the $50,000 being committed directly to the appeal by the Australian Geographic Society, $1 from every purchase made at the Australian Geographic on-line store until 20 December will be donated to the appeal. “The communities of rural Australia have always been among our biggest supporters and we want to give back to those communities and to those supporting them,” she said.

Visit our store here.

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Funds raised will help support Save our Species to protect the glossy black-cockatoo into the future.

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MAKE A DIFFERENCE. PLEASE DONATE TODAY.

Funds raised will help support the AWC to protect the Gouldian finch into the future.

Donate now.

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MAKE A DIFFERENCE. PLEASE DONATE TODAY.

Funds raised will help support the Friends of the Brush-Tailed Rock-Wallaby to protect rock-wallabies into the future.

Donate now.

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Population surveys have been and are continuing to be conducted by the NSW Government, as the engaging little reptile is listed as ‘data deficient’ under the Saving our Species program – meaning not enough is known about them.

Plans are underway and facilities under construction for a breeding program of an insurance population at the Australian Reptile Park, in partnership with Aussie Ark. The program is very similar to that at Taronga Zoo and Symbio Wildlife Park for the turtles’ ‘cousin’, the Bellinger River snapping turtle.

The Manning River Turtle Conservation Group is working with Save Our Species Program, the Australian Reptile Park and Aussie Ark, and other stakeholders, to help save the Manning River helmeted turtle.

Please donate today to support efforts to conserve this important species.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The Manning River helmeted turtle is a ‘living fossil’ – the species is around 55 million years old.
• The Manning River helmeted turtle is a ‘bum breather’ – it has the ability to breathe through blood vessels in its cloaca (anus).
• It is a very shy turtle and spends much of the winter underwater.
• The Manning River helmeted turtle is widely considered Australia’s most beautiful turtle, and much sought after by turtle enthusiasts.
• The biggest threats to these turtles are predation by foxes, illegal poaching, habitat degradation and disease.

WHERE DO THEY LIVE?

The turtle is extremely rare. It is found only in one place in the world – in the upper and middle catchments of the Manning River on the Mid North Coast of NSW.

It prefers clear, fast-flowing waters that are upstream, with a rocky or sandy substrate (riverbed). It likes to hide in pools 2–3 metres deep.

It feeds mainly on small invertebrates that live at the bottom of the river, along with aquatic vegetation.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The Manning River Turtle Conservation Group has been working to raise awareness and educate the local community on the little-known turtle.

The group’s future plans to help save the turtle include potential citizen-science projects, such as Waterwatch.

To find nesting sites, the group is investigating employing sniffer dogs trained to sniff out turtle eggs to find the nests – a technique that is being used to help similarly endangered turtle species. Once nests are found, ideally motion-sensor cameras would be installed to monitor the nests. In addition, the group would like to supply nest protection kits to landholders with nesting sites.

Please donate today. Funds raised will help support the Manning River Turtle Conservation Group’s work in the conservation of the Manning River helmeted turtle.

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Found in forests in eastern mainland Australia and Tasmania, it faces many threats that have caused its numbers to decline significantly. Challenges include fragmentation and degradation of habitat; competition from introduced predators such as cats and foxes; and deliberate poisoning, shooting and trapping.

Donate here.

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Vast areas have been cleared of the lizards’ native grassland habitat, where it uses spider and insect holes to hide from temperature extremes. Donate now to help save this exquisite reptile. As part of a conservation program partnership with the NSW Saving our Species program and similar work in the ACT, your funds will be used to provide artificial spider tubes, which will help rebuild the dragon’s wild population.

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BECAUSE THESE iconic Aussie mammals often live near our most populated areas, platypuses face increasing pressure from the destruction and degradation of aquatic habitats. Threats include land clearing, altered flow regimes, illegal use of yabby traps, pollution and construction of dams and weirs.

There is growing evidence of population declines and even localised extinctions, but platypuses are difficult to study in the wild and so we have little hard data on population trends. The Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland’s PlatypusWatch aims to rectify this. Your donations will be used to research south-eastern Queensland populations to identify declines and threats and strengthen conservation initiatives.

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Protecting nesting sites and controlling foxes to reduce predation is critical to give the turtles a chance to build up a strong population.

The Murray is home to three freshwater turtle species: the Macquarie (or Murray River) turtle, the eastern long-necked turtle and the broad-shelled turtle.

Funds raised will support the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife conduct the largest river study of turtles in Australia.

Genetic analysis, ecological techniques, local indigenous knowledge and a citizen science project will be used to obtain the most comprehensive data possible.

Enter our competition for the chance to win a copy of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos.

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The AG Society is supporting efforts to rescue the species by raising funds for ECOCEAN, Australia’s only not-for-profit research organisation dedicated to conserving the whale shark.

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Thanks to the work of Zoos Victoria, there are currently four reintroduced populations protected by predator-barrier fences. The zoo’s Guardian Dog program aims to ensure the survival of these and future populations; it will trial whether bandicoots, protected by trained Maremma guardian dogs, can form self-sustaining populations in areas not enclosed by fences.

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Named for the straw-coloured fur that surrounds their eyes, like spectacles, these large mammalian fruit bats play an important role in the forest ecosystem.

Threats to the spectacled flying fox include habitat loss, camp disturbance during breeding season, cyclones, tick paralysis, a condition known as cleft palate syndrome and human-made obstacles such as powerlines. Please consider donating to help support the Cairns and Far North Environment Centre in their efforts to protect and secure a future for this keystone species.

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Breeding annually, females are capable of raising six joeys; success relies heavily on the availability of suitable denning sites, which can be hollow logs, rock piles or burrows.

Conservation group Devil Ark now plans to breed a population of eastern quolls at Barrington Tops in NSW, with the aim of re-establishing a population on mainland Australia.

Please donate now to help us fund the necessary enclosures!

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This nocturnal ground dweller was thought to be extinct for many decades until it was rediscovered in western Queensland in 2013. Conservation charity Bush Heritage Australia has created a reserve to protect the population, the location of which remains a closely guarded secret.

Second chances like this don’t come along very often, so please consider donating to our appeal, which will help Bush Heritage secure the protected area and manage the land on which the night parrot is found, to best ensure it lives to see another day.

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Globally, blue whales were reduced to 3 per cent of their original population size through whaling. Today, there are thought to be 10,000–25,000 blue whales worldwide, 1500 of them being the pygmy blues around Australia.

Populations are increasing, but the recovery is slower than for many other whales, such as humpbacks.

Donations will support the Centre for Whale Research and Blue Whale Study, funding satellite tagging and aerial surveys in order to ensure the future of the blue whale.

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Despite this, sea lions often die as pups, and other threats include pollution, disease, entanglement in fishing gear and illegal shooting.

Donations will support the Wilderness Society and the Great Australian Bight Alliance work to increase awareness about the dangers to the species.

Funds will also support the monitoring work of Dr Simon Goldsworthy at SARDI, via the Nature Foundation SA.

VIDEO: Watch playful Australian sea lions. CREDIT: Darren Jew/Australian Geographic

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THE WORLD’S RAREST marsupial, Gilbert’s potoroo, suffered a devastating blow after a fire ripped through Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve in south-west Western Australia late last year, killing 15–20 animals. Only five adults survived.

The reserve holds the last-known natural population of the species, thought to be extinct before  rediscovery in 1994. Before the fires, the total population was estimated at 60 across three locations. Please donate now to help the Gilbert’s Potoroo Action Group with their determined efforts to save this species.

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READ MORE:

• Back from the dead: Gilbert’s potoroo
• Fires send Gilbert’s potoroo back to the brink
• After the fires: Gilbert’s potoroo update
• Rare video of potoroo mother captured

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The numbat was once found across southern Australia, but there are now fewer than 1000 in the wild and it is restricted to isolated pockets of south-western Western Australia, and predator-free sanctuaries in NSW and South Australia.

Australia has lost the majority of its small mammals, and it would be a tragedy to lose the iconic numbat, which is WA’s faunal emblem.

The numbat’s greatest threats are feral cats and foxes. Donate now to help Project Numbat fund research and predator-control programs and monitor the species’ progress.

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• GALLERY: Australia’s tiny tigers
• VIDEO: The numbats’ last stand
• Captive numbats turned wild
• Australia’s animal emblems

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HELP ONE OF our rarest marine mammals – the protected Australian snubfin dolphin. It’s thought there could be fewer than 10,000 adults of this highly sociable marine creature left, mostly in small populations along Australia’s northern coastline. To ensure the future of this unique species, which was only identified in 2005, we need to understand more about its natural history and protect its habitat from increasing human impact.

Your donation will provide much-needed funds for two crucial research and conservation projects: a study by Southern Cross University’s Capricorn Cetaceans Project and the campaign by the Mackay Conservation Group to save snubfin and seagrass habitat along the central Great Barrier Reef.

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• Australia’s bizarre spitting snubfin dolphin
• Coastal boom threat to Australian river dolphin
• Dolphin mums need help from their friends
• Snubfin dolphins face extinction

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At one time, most of Australia was home to at least one of our four species of quoll. In the past few hundred years, however, the little carnivores have been reduced to fragmented populations on the edges of the mainland and Tasmania.

Northern and spotted-tailed quolls are today endangered, while the western quoll is listed as vulnerable. By donating, you’ll be helping the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), which is training northern quolls to avoid eating toxic cane toads.

You’ll also be supporting the Foundation for Australia’s Most Endangered species (FAME); this conservation group helped to re-establish mainland populations of eastern quoll, using animals from Tasmania, after the species became extinct across much of the continent in the 1960s (see AG 82). FAME is now reintroducing western quolls to 
the Flinders Ranges National Park, in South Australia.   

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• Saving the tiger quoll
• Baby tiger quoll births a boon for the species
• Eastern quolls given a second chance
• Locally extinct quoll found in the Grampians

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LEADBEATER’S POSSUM WAS classified by the federal government as critically endangered in April 2015.

In response, the AG Society is raising funds for Zoos Victoria and Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum (FLP) to support the conservation of this iconic Victorian species. Zoos Victoria will continue two decades of survey work and further develop a captive-breeding program to protect the  limited genetics of the possum’s lowland population at Yellingbo Conservation Reserve, east of Melbourne.

FLP will install and monitor nest boxes and support habitat revegetation as part of a range of conservation responses. Community support is fundamental to securing the Leadbeater’s possum’s recovery, and plays a part in both programs.  

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• Leadbeater’s possum on the brink of extinction
• Leadbeater’s possum given critically endangered status

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THE GREY NURSE SHARK was once maligned as a man-eater along Australia’s east coast. During the 1960s and ’70s it was massively targeted by hunters, which was followed by a rapid population decline. This resulted in its listing in 1984 as a protected species, making it the first shark to be protected anywhere in the world. 

Now known to be harmless unless provoked, grey nurse populations are still in decline, with the ‘critically endangered’ east coast population numbering 1500 animals or fewer. Threats include accidental bycatch by fishers, potential snagging in shark nets and illegal shark finning. Help us to help them! Your donations will go towards research and conservation work by the Sea Life Trust and Reef Check Australia.

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OCCASSIONALLY SPOTTED flying overhead in groups, Australia’s vivacious black cockatoos can appear as if they haven’t a care in the world.

However, populations in Western Australia and South Australia are experiencing harsh declines due to habitat loss. There are three species under threat in WA; Baudin’s cockatoo, Carnaby’s cockatoo and the forest red-tailed black cockatoo.

The south-eastern red-tailed black cockatoo in SA is also now considered endangered. Our fundraiser will support the expert bird rehabilitation programs at Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre, as well as the crucial research carried out by the South-Eastern Red-tailed Black Cockatoo Recovery Project.

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Brush-tailed rock-wallabies were once common on outcrops of the Great Dividing Range, from eastern Victoria to southern Queensland, and even onto the western plains. Today, they are in decline and colonies are sparsely distributed.


In 2008 the total population was estimated at 30,000. Their primary habitat is north-eastern NSW, where 80 per cent of the population is found, much of it in New England region. 
An estimated 17 per cent are in Queensland, and a tiny proportion in Victoria. Hunting, predation by foxes, dogs and cats, and competition with goats and rabbits for food and habitat, are some of the causes of the decline.

With the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife we are raising funds for captive breeding programs in New England and for reintroduction into the Shoalhaven area, south of Sydney.

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Only seven species of sea turtle inhabit the world’s oceans. Five are listed internationally as endangered or critically endangered. These marine species currently face multiple threats – rising sea temperatures, entanglement in nets, plastic, oil spills, being hit by ships and the confusing effects of artificial lights, which disorient hatchlings.

It can take up to 30 years for turtles to reach sexual maturity, and many species take a long time to recover from these adverse impacts. Funds you donate will go towards helping Sea Turtle Foundation scientists working on tracking, climate change and nesting and migration.

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Populations of the charming little southern brown bandicoot have been suffering from habitat fragmentation and loss, and predation by feral animals across the south-eastern states. Today, they are in a state of worrying decline.

The good news is that they have a gestation period of less than 15 days and breed in litters of up to six. This quick reproductive turn-around means the chances of a bounce-back are, in theory, good.

One of the biggest causes of habitat loss is the spread of urbanisation. Our fundraiser will go towards Deakin University ecologist Sarah Maclagan’s work (see left) looking into possible management practices for bandicoots carving out lives on the outer edges of our big cities.

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WOMBATS ARE ONE of our most recognisable native animals and over the next two months the AG Society will need your help to raise funds for a number of important wombat research projects across the country. From the southern hairy-nosed to the common wombat, these iconic marsupials are worth protecting.

DID YOU KNOW
– Wombats are one of the world’s largest burrowing animals – they have powerful limbs and short broad feet, perfect for digging.
– They actually have a very small tail hidden by their thick fur.
– Wombats also live in large burrows, sometimes up to 30m long.

WOMBAT RESEARCH
The AG Society fundraiser will generate funds for a number of different research projects. The project being undertaken by Dr Elisa Sparrow of Zoos South Australia will trial the use of dingo scent as a deterrent to keep southern hairy-nosed wombats away from farmers’ properties.

These wombats live in large warren systems mainly on agricultural properties throughout southern parts of South Australia and their extensive digging behaviour can cause conflict with landholders.

Another project being undertaken at the Australian National University by Georgeanna Story will look into the impact of roads on wombat populations and assess the role of drainage culverts in reducing roadkill.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Your donation will allow scientists to work on projects that tackle the problems facing wild wombat populations, such as habitat division and destruction by roads and houses, changing climates and the challenge of coexistence between agriculture and wombats.

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The number of giant cuttlefish that descend on South Australia’s Spencer Gulf to breed en masse is in worrying decline – the most recent estimate clocked a 93 per cent decrease. Donate in store or through our website to help us support the work of scientists investigating this mysterious disappearance.

DID YOU KNOW?
 -Giant Australian cuttlefish have blue blood, three hearts and a donut-shaped brain.

-The males can reach 1m in length and weigh up to 16kg; that’s about the size of a small dog.

-They can change colour, shape and texture to imitate things around them, such as rocks, sand or seaweed.

UNDERSTANDING THEIR DECLINE
In the late 1990s numbers of the world’s largest cuttlefish were first noticed gathering in their tens of thousands in a remote part of the gulf – the only place in the world where this is known to have occurred. In 1999 there were an estimated 183,000, and their spectacular fights and breeding strategies captivated documentary makers, who came from all over the world to film these unusual creatures. In 2013, however, estimates suggested there were only 13,500 cuttlefish at the breeding grounds, and it’s thought that the steepest decline took place over the last 3-4 years.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The reasons for the disappearance are largely unknown, and the theories range from a natural population boom-and-bust to industrial impacts. Your donation will go to helping the research that is already underway trying to figure out why this world-famous group is disappearing. For more information see our feature on page 90 of Australian Geographic issue 120. 

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THE GREATER BILBY is listed as vulnerable or endangered in many parts of its range and is in danger of disappearing. Although threatened by habitat loss, predation and competition from introduced species, the remaining bilby populations could be protected from further declines with new measures. The Save the Bilby Fund is striving to help this unique Australian animal – help them continue their valuable work by donating in store or online.

Did you know

• Bilbies dig spiralling burrows up to 2 metres deep.
• Bilbies have a pouch for their young that opens backwards so it does not fill with dirt when burrowing.
• The Greater bilby once had a close relative, the Lesser bilby, which has since been pronounced extinct. 

Saving the bilby

One cause for hope is the National Recovery Plan established in 2006, which aims to accurately map where the greater bilby lives, as well as threats to its long-term survival. Funds raised during this campaign will go to the Save the Bilby Fund which enlists the help of conservationists and volunteers working to protect the bilby.

Make a difference

The bilby brothers, Frank Manthey and Peter McRae, started the Save the Bilby Fund in 1999. Since then, the fund has supported the National Recovery Plan and implemented novel measures to help assist dwindling bilby populations. One of their major achievements has been building the ‘bilby fence’ in Currawinya National Park, Queensland, whereby 25sq.km of habitat was fenced off to keep out feral cats and foxes. These kinds of efforts require significant ongoing funding. In order to continue their work, they urgently need your support.   

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DUGONGS ARE GENTLE marine creatures that graze on seagrass meadows in warm waters throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Currently listed as vulnerable to  extinction on the IUCN’s Red List, only about 100,000 (one-fifth of the world’s population) remain in Australian and Torres Strait Island waters. Each year, more than 60 dead dugongs wash up on Queensland beaches; the causes of about 90 per cent of these fatalities are a mystery to researchers. Help scientists discover more about dugongs and solve these mysterious deaths. Donate now to our Dugong Appeal.

Did you know…

Australia is home to at least one-fifth of the world’s dugong population. Dugongs can live for up to 70 years and may weigh up to 300kg. Folklore has it that
lonely sailors mistook dugongs for mermaids, giving rise to their order name – Sirenia.

Dugong Deaths

In 2011, following the January floods that devastated Brisbane and its surrounds, more than 200 dugongs washed up dead on Australia’s north-eastern beaches. In an average year, about 60 meet this end, for reasons that are unknown. Without a better understanding of dugong physiology, it’s impossible to know what kills them and why the population is declining. Pollution may be a cause – testing has shown that flooding sends chemicals from land into the oceans, which may be affecting dugong health.

Make a Difference

The University of Queensland dugong research team, led by Dr Janet Lanyon, are the premier dugong research team in Australia, and are fast running out of funds. Government grants are not enough; they need your help. Donate now to dugong research and save this species from an early grave.

DONATE NOW!

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Your donation will go directly to further the efforts of the Australian Geographic Society to support scientific research, assist conservation efforts and encourage the spirit of adventure.

In less than 2 minutes you can make a donation that could help an Aussie explore uncharted territory, discover new facts about our country or even save a native species from extinction.

How to donate

Click here to donate now!

Step 1: Choose your donation

Step 2: Fill in your personal details and donation amount

Step 3: Smile, knowing you have just helped conserve the environment and helped the spirit of adventure live on!

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However, these devils are in need.

Tasmanian devil numbers have fallen dramatically in the past 15 years due to an infectious disease decimating the population.

The facial lesions first began appearing in 1996. In 1997 histological examinations showed they were caused by a transmissible cancer, which was then named Devil Facial Tumour Disease.

Since then, over 85% of the devil population has been wiped out. The devil’s cantankerous nature – they bite each other’s faces during intercourse and occasionally while feeding – caused the cancer to spread with astonishing speed throughout the wild population. Causing cancerous growths in the face, this disease is always fatal and despite research, there’s currently no known cure.

DONATE NOW to the AG Society Tasmanian Devil Appeal

Tasmanian devil facts

• Named after the person who scientifically described them, the devil’s scientific name, Sarcophilus harrisii, means ‘Harris’s meat-lover’.

• Cannibalism is common among the species, rendering devils particularly susceptible to infection.

• Devils are capable of consuming up to 40 per cent of their body weight in 30 minutes.

• A devil’s yawn is normally a sign of stress or uncertainty and may be an unconscious attempt at distraction.

• These nocturnal creatures are the largest of the 61 species in the Dasyuridae family, which includes antechinuses and quolls.

DONATE NOW to the AG Society Tasmanian Devil Appeal

Hope for the future

We still have a chance to turn the situation around. Our fundraiser is proudly supporting the work of the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program, the largest single species conservation project in Australia, by directing funds to their Appeal, as well as to Devil Ark, an innovative captive breeding program located on mainland Australia.

Rebecca Cuthill, Manager of the Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal, describes the Program as one that is “guided by a vision of an enduring and ecologically functional population of Tasmanian devils living wild in Tasmania.”

In its many years of working for the devil’s cause, the program has made progress towards the goal of establishing what is known as an ‘insurance population’ – a group of breeding, healthy devils large enough to ensure that genetic diversity is not lost within the devil population.

Devil Ark is a NSW initiative located near Barrington Tops National Park participating in the strengthening of the insurance population by genetically matching individual devils to ensure maximum variability is maintained in the population. Partner organisations for these groups include the Zoo Aquarium Association, the University of Tasmania and the Devil Island Project.

These programs, and others like them, are crucial in ensuring that the Tasmanian devil does not follow the Tasmanian tiger to an early grave.

Donations to the AG Society Tasmanian Devil Appeal will go towards the rehabilitation of the Tasmanian devil population. The eventual aim is to secure an enduring population of disease-free devils living in the wild.

RELATED STORIES

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