Throughout 2017 Planet Ark reported on multiple native animals - including koalas, phascogales and marbled frogmouths - being found after being assumed locally extinct, and as of late December another recent native find is the crest-tailed mulgara. The small carnivorous marsupial is related to the Tasmanian devil and while smaller than their more famous cousins they prey on similar creatures including rodents and small birds. Unfortunately that appetite doesn’t protect them from larger introduced predators - or the effects of rabbits on vegetation - and it’s for this reason that the mulgara was thought extinct in New South Wales. The mulgara’s rediscovery comes as part of a project by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) which aims to reclaim desertous parts of Sturt National Park from predators including cats and foxes. UNSW scientist Reece Pedler had the following to say. “Next year (2018) we are due to begin introduced predator and rabbit eradication from a large area, which will no doubt help the mulgara.” To keep the trend of reappearing animals going, UNSW’s Wild Deserts project also aims to reintroduce the greater bilby, western barred bandicoot, golden bandicoot, greater stick-nest rat, burrowing bettong, and the western quoll. Hopefully projects such as these, and continued work by Landcare and Bushcare groups, will ensure that 2018 is an even better year for Australian flora and fauna.

Positive Actions

Participate in a local National Tree Day event to help revegetate habitats for native wildlife Join your local Landcare or Bushcare group Keep your cat inside to keep native animals safe

Sources

ABC News Bush Heritage Australia UNSW Newsroom Wild Deserts

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Positive Environment News has been compiled using publicly available information. Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.