Island ark saves bandicoots

Broadcast: 16/10/2009


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MELINDA JAMES - Presenter: History suggests most Australian animals that become endangered are on a slippery slope to extinction.

And it's a slide the small golden bandicoots were on. But an ambitious program on some remote Northern Territory islands has brought them back from the brink.

Katrina bolton reports.

KATRINA BOLTON - Reporter: The tiny golden bandicoot has a precarious foothold on life. It was thought to be on the verge of extinction. But then here on Marchinbar Island, 650 kilometres north east of Darwin, the creatures were rediscovered. It sparked a 15-year rescue mission.

CAROL PALMER - NT Govt Scientist: It's actually a logistic nightmare. We're a long way from anywhere. There are crocs near the camp, there are sharks in the water, you know, we're in the Northern Territory.

KATRINA BOLTON: For the last few years they've trying to catch about 20 golden bandicoots - half boys, half girls - and transfer them to nearby Guluwurru Island.

CAROL PALMER: We put out a, almost a sort of grid formation of traps. We bait them up every night and then very early in the morning we go and check the traps.

KATRINA BOLTON: The plan is to create backup populations on other islands, so a cyclone or feral animal can't wipe out the golden bandicoot which has special cultural significance for local Aboriginal people.

DAMIEN CLAYTON - Gumurr Marthakal Ranger: They still do traditional dances about them, in funerals in stuff like that. They use the fur in sacred poles and stuff like that. Lot of the old people know those stories.

KATRINA BOLTON: The heat and the distance makes catching bandicoots mighty hard work.

MATTHEW ATU - Gumurr Marthakal Ranger: So, first bandicoot for the day, ands there's more, more, more to catch bandicoot and locate them to their new home.

KATRINA BOLTON: The rangers are also on the look out for anything that could bring disease to the island.

MATTHEW ATU: Debris from foreign fishing boats. Later, I'll burn it.

KATRINA BOLTON: But mostly it's a race against the sun so the animals in the traps don't cook.

CAROL PALMER: It's really hot, it's definitely humid. The animals can overheat and really you just really want to look after these little animals because they are endangered.

KATRINA BOLTON: And the northern quolls on Marchinbar Island are attracted to the honey in the traps too. Unfortunately, the quolls also like to eat any golden bandicoots they find in a cage.

DAMIEN CLAYTON - Gumurr Marthakal Ranger: And they can actually get into the cage, and start pecking at them. Yeh, they just grab hold of em and then pull them through the through the cage. Doesn't happen very often but it's good to get them out of here and to the next bar.

KATRINA BOLTON: The animals are bagged and bundled off to camp for processing. The golden bandicoots are weighed and thoroughly examined to check if they're pregnant. The scientists also tag them so they can be tracked over time.

CAROL PALMER: Every bandicoot we catch gets this tag. This is so we know who is who, each one now has an individual number. And we also just take a little genetic sample, a little nip of skin from the ear and we can sort of track who's bred with who from the translocated population.

KATRINA BOLTON: It's crucial information. But the real test is whether the relocated animals on Guluwurru are healthy and breeding in their new home. And team has travelled there to find out.

CAROL PALMER: So this is one that we released last year, she's got young so we know that she's breeding. It makes us feel really really confident that the population here on Guluwurru is doing really well.

KATRINA BOLTON: Given this success the rangers and scientists are moving ahead with project's final stage. Taking another 20 animals from Marchinbar to a third island, Raragala, to the south. For the scientists it's a rare happy ending to more than a decade of work.

CAROL PALMER: So to finally get here is, yeah, really quite a sense of achievement. I'm surprised actually that it feels as good as it does because it is just such a hard, it's a really really hard gig, that's the bottom line.

DAMIEN CLAYTON: Yeah it feels great, it's working, it's all not for nothing. It's working and hopefully we actually save a species and the boys are really excited about that so, yeah, it's good.

CAROL PALMER: In the end it's going to be the rangers kids. Kids potentially that will be managing all of this country. So I think what we've started is something that will go on for many many generations.