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 Zoo 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 Victoria 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 Melbourne 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 Kyabram Fauna Park. 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 Melbourne Zoo, 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 Australia’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.