Warron Eastern Barred Bandicoot Newsletter

I S S U E 1 7 J U N E 2 0 1 2

S P E C I A L Fit For a Bandicoot P O I N T S O F INTEREST: Madelon Willemson

Site updates Werribee Open Range area, therefore guests will their toes or hands. It really (WORZ) has finalised its hopefully be woken by EBBs is the best way to tell the French Island feral proof fence and is now snuffling around their tents. story of EBBs and the work working hard we are all Zoo News on making the doing to save four different them. release sites T h e 3 6 for eastern breeding pens barred bandi- have been coots, rabbit slowly filled and predator with animals proof. So far for release we have elimi- into French nated almost Island and are INSIDE THIS 3000 rabbits, now filling up with baiting ISSUE: with breeding alone. Soon Kilara the hand reared female pairs for re- Fenced In 2 we will be moving onto the EBB (Photo: WORZ) lease into Woodlands His- removal of harbours and We have also hand reared a toric Park. Thanks to the burrows, which will further Island Vacation 2 male and a female EBB for species management skills of decrease numbers. It is going visitor experience. The fe- Peter Courtney, the re- to be an ongoing fight against male is doing a fantastic job search of Marissa Parrott Breeding Up a 3 rabbits on site, but it will not representing her species. and Michael Magrath and of Storm only give the released EBBs a The male however is quite course the fantastic WORZ ‘Carry-On’ Eating 3 fair chance, but also flora wild and doesn’t even allow team, we are able to breed (the native grasses the keepers into his territory, so up the numbers and at the WORZ horticultural team is he will be returned to the same time start mate selec- No Vacancies 5 planting for revegetation of breeding pool. We are hop- tion research. the native grasslands) and ing to hand rear a Man About the 5 our exotic animals (pasture few more females as Pens will no longer be eaten by the response from rabbits!). We are hoping to visitors, VIPs and slowly start releasing EBBs in students are amaz- the Australian Journey area ing. They are all in in spring 2013. This will pro- awe of the female vide great opportunities for EBB cruising around visitor encounters, as the a circle of people tents for the overnight slum- sitting on the floor, Kat Thompson (keeper) with hand ber safari are in the same stopping to snuff out reared bandicoots (Photo: WORZ) P A G E 2 Fenced In

Travis Scicchitano

now been modified to the pedestrian and vehicle new design. It was defi- gates have also been modi- nitely a challenge working fied to cater for the floppy on such a high fence but top design for better pest after a couple of trials, the security. There has been system was created, and plenty of work done on an the fence went up. So ongoing basis to keep an many thanks to all the eye on breaches from wonderful volunteer hands foxes and rabbits. that played a part. Now the time has come The new section of fence for the all important pest which excludes the old control. Parks are Gellibrand Hill site has also running an extensive rabbit The new Gellibrand been built. After contrac- and fox eradication pro- Hill fence It has been a very busy tors put in the posts, vol- gram over winter, which (Photo: T. Scicchitano) past 12 months out at unteers and Parks Victoria will enable the monitoring Woodlands Historic Park. staff busily constructed the plan to start to show a fox The volunteers have been rest of the fence. So now, free environment. Once erecting the floppy top around 7km’s of fence is this has been achieved the fence with gusto. Around up and ready for action. plan is for an EBB release 6.1km’s of the existing A few changes to existing to go ahead in late spring back paddock fence has 2012. Island Vacation Rebecca Groenewegen The recov- due to difficulties in fitting teacher from French Is- ery of the transmitters to such small land's primary school will E a s t e r n and uniquely shaped crea- be present at the release. Barred Ban- tures, the trial is finally After release, I will under- d i c o o t ready to commence this take monitoring of the shows great July 2012. Consequently, I bandicoots along with potential for have replaced Angus Wil- some volunteers. We will success in liamson as the Masters be radio-tracking the ani- recovering a student who will conduct mals at night and during critically this trial. Twenty (10 fe- the day to determine their endangered males and 10 sterile males) whereabouts as well as Australian bandicoots sourced from trapping them regularly to animal. Ex- the Hamilton Community ensure they are coping in p l o r i n g Parklands population will their new environment. At Rebecca Groenewegen French Is- be released in two groups the end of the trial the (Photo: R. Hill) land as a fox-free habitat of ten animals composed bandicoots will return to offers great possibilities for of five females and five the mainland. I am looking attaining a large, genetically males. To share the trial forward to getting this trial healthy and self-sustaining with the French Island underway and spending wild population. After ex- community, the students time on French Island. periencing many delays and their enthusiastic

WARRON I S S U E 1 7 P A G E 3 Breeding Up a Storm Marissa Parrott & Peter Courtney The EBB captive breeding pro- predator proof fenced areas at gram continues to be highly WORZ. In anticipation of the successful! We have bred extra holding capacity and to many animals at ensure we have animals to Zoo in particular; with further release at these sites during future breeding plans at Seren- the best times for release, dip Sanctuary and Mooramong spring, we have set 11 pairs and a long term breeding pair together. Six pairs have been at . There placed together at WORZ have been a number of rein- using genetic relatedness fol- troductions to the wild and lowed by mate choice selec- moves to partner institutions tion for five pairings and one in the past year. We are hold- pairing based on genetic relat- ing adult male and female ban- edness alone. All the pairings EBB in transportation box dicoots for release and will be at Melbourne were based on (Photo: M. Parrott) wishing them bon voyage in genetic relatedness. We are the coming months as they hoping that we will have an examination of reproduc- start an exciting new adven- around twenty juveniles for tive behaviours using state-of- ture on French Island. Once release at the end of Septem- the-art infrared remote moni- those animals are on their ber! toring systems and the first of way, we will have more room There is a variety of exciting a series of mate choice re- at , plus 36 captive research underway. search trials (mentioned new enclosures at Werribee Projects include trials to de- above) to investigate female Open Range Zoo (WORZ), to termine the optimum way to and male mate preferences breed more young bandicoots attach radio-transmitters so and if their choices may im- for coming releases at Wood- we can monitor the bandi- prove breeding success and lands Historic Park and in new coots after release to the wild, the quality of young produced. ‘Carry-On’ Eating Annette Rypalski Mt Rothwell’s EBBs Unfortunately, have recently had the rabbits being some testing times. social animals that The abundant rainfall live in large family received from the groups and being previous year’s sum- twice the size, mer has brought on had become too an amazing, lush na- overbearing for tive grass cover the shy solitary across the landscape, bandicoot in the therefore providing past year. ideal conditions for In the last few not only the Eastern EBB at Mt Rothwell months we have Barred Bandicoot but (Photo: A. Rypalski) noticed the rabbits seem to be also the European Rabbit. P A G E 4 (Continued from page 3) how resilient our little an extremely difficult chal- responding to the inte- Eastern Barred Bandicoots lenge by going up against grated management meth- really are, we are very one of ’s most ods being used with fewer fortunate to watch Victo- threatening exotic pest the ria’s largest self-sustainable rabbit. Having shown great wild population, which has resilience against the chal- the ability to intermingle lenges brought upon them, and compete with various and coming out on top, other species. So when Mt brings hope to the hard Rothwell staff member work we are all doing on Kwai Chang-Kum came site. The work is com- across not only one bandi- pletely justified when you coot but several feeding see a large healthy female on a fresh wallaby carcass with bright white stripes it had us confused. We across her back with two have not found any re- little mouse sized juveniles cords of carnivorous ban- with those same distinct EBB eating a wallaby dicoots, so this is one bright white stripes at (Photo: K. Chang-Kum) rabbits sighted and more sighting that still has us foot, racing to keep up carcasses found. It seems stumped and we can only with mum, learning the rabbits are preyed on by put it down to their op- tricks to survive in front of our healthy raptor popula- portunistic behaviour. our very own eyes. It’s so tions, with help from our Then only a few months unfortunate that not eve- Eastern Quolls later we observed another ryone has the privilege of With a clean record of bandicoot regurgitating its seeing this across the Vic- absolutely no fox or cat food and re-ingesting it to torian landscape any more, breaches since the feral- which we assume was to but with Recovery Team proof fence went up in ensure all the nutrients are support and our important 2002, the battle against absorbed and gut flora is conservation effort, there exotic pests is now in the maintained. This behaviour is new hope for the spe- natives’ favour. While rap- is quite common in herbi- cies. tors hit rabbits hard from vores such as kan- the sky’s, quolls are dis- garoos and koalas covering their bunkers but apparently not underground and an army so commonly seen of very dedicated staff and in an omnivorous volunteers is doing an ex- bandicoot. There is cellent job fumigating, re- still so much to moving warrens, maintain- learn about these ing the feral proof fence elusive little crea- and keeping the weeds at tures and good to bay. Eastern Barred Bandi- have our team coot sightings are return- doing our best to ing to the figures recorded provide the best a year and a half ago when conditions possible populations were esti- for them to thrive. mated in excess of 300 Mt Rothwell is a and once again they are 450 ha property becoming a common spe- and holds a popula- cies when spotlighting. tion of approxi- mately 250 bandi- In the mean-time, we are EBB at Mt Rothwell quickly discovering exactly coots that have (Photo: A. Rypalski) recently recovered from

WARRON I S S U E 1 7 P A G E 5 No Vacancies Richard Hill Hamilton Parklands has remained fox trapping, with two groups -free over the past 12 months and coming from Melbourne in EBBs have remained common across the past 12 months through the 100 ha reserve. Trapping is car- CVA’s ‘Wild Futures’ pro- ried out quarterly for two nights and gram. In addition to assisting the results this year reiterate a trend with trapping, local CVA with the lowest numbers caught in teams have been controlling late summer, and total captures in- environmental weeds within creasing through the year with the the reserve and surveying for November trapping yielding the high- EBBs outside the fenced re- est number of captures. Capture serve. EBBs are now routinely success is high with invariably more sighted outside the reserve. Justine Smith and a volunteer weighing a Hamilton bandicoot (Photo: R. Hill) than 20 and up to 30 animals caught DSE staff patrol the fence 2-3 each night of trapping across the 120 times each week to ensure traps set. The summer drop in trap- that the fence remains intact. Foxes breeding program back into Hamil- ping success either means that total are constantly on the prowl along the ton. Interestingly in two subsequent numbers of EBBs are lower at this outside of the fence, checking for trapping events since, we have recap- time, or that they are harder to trap; weak points to get in, so this job just tured very few of these zoo animals. it’s hard to say. Nevertheless the has to be done to keep foxes out. This seems to indicate that the park- population is extremely healthy, and lands has so many bandicoots pre- In August 2011 we removed 20 EBBs total size is sitting somewhere be- sent, that it is a hard place to estab- from Hamilton to Melbourne and tween 60 and 100 animals within the lish yourself as a newcomer. All of Werribee to be used in a trial reserve. which points to the Hamilton Park- release of EBBs onto French Island. lands being a great success as an EBB Conservation Volunteers Australia Immediately following this we re- reintroduction site. Long may it last! volunteers are regular assistants at leased 20 EBBs from the captive Man About the Pens David Coutts

the four captive females al- Mooramong program over this time. ready resident in the pens. He has found that animals under 12 The male was selected by months old are difficult to capture. A Peter Courtney at Zoos Vic- range of trap types, sizes and baits toria, and has been released will be employed in an attempt to as part of a trial to determine capture sub-adult bandicoots. Mem- the most reliable method of bers of the Field Naturalists Club of capturing sub-adult Eastern Ballarat are keen to assist with the Barred Bandicoots. intensive monitoring that will be re- Sub-adult bandicoots have quired over the coming months. Camera trap photo of an EBB digging at an proved difficult to capture Capturing sub-adults is important as irrigation point during the regular monitoring the mainland population of EBBs is that has been undertaken currently housed at a number of sites While the successful predator work over a 20 year period at Mooramong. across the state; because of this continues at Mooramong, the excit- Jim O’Brien, Senior Wildlife Officer, there is a need to move animals be- ing news has been the recent intro- Department of Sustainability and En- tween sites to maintain genetic diver- duction of a male bandicoot to join vironment has managed the sity. The Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team was founded in 1989 after a continual decline was noted in the wild population. Bandicoots have since been reintroduced into eight sites but are now only know to be present at Hamilton Com- munity Parklands, Mooramong and Mount Roth- Further Information well. Eastern Barred Bandicoots are considered Madelon Willemsen [email protected] critically endangered in Victoria and the popula- Travis Scicchitano [email protected] tion is estimated to be around 200 animals. Rebecca Groenewegen [email protected] Marissa Parrott [email protected] Richard Hill [email protected] ‘Warron’ is the Kirrae Whurrong word for the Mt Rothwell www.mtrothwell.com.au Eastern Barred Bandicoot. This newsletter was named ‘Warron’ in honour of Wayne Drew after For more information on the captive program and his passing in 2001. Wayne was the ‘Bandicoot conservation of the EBB at Zoos Victoria, please Ranger’ for Woodlands Historic Park and a mem- visit us at: http://www.zoo.org.au/eastern-barred- ber of the Kirrae Whurrong people from the west- bandicoot and watch our bandicoot conservation ern district of Victoria. video starring WORZ’s beautiful hand-raised fe- male, Kilara, at: http://www.actwild.org.au/animals/ bandicoot/

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