Cute marsupial went missing from Australian wildlife sanctuary for 80 years – but thanks to a well-placed trail camera, we know it’s back

An endangered marsupial that went missing from an Australian wildlife sanctuary for 80 years has suddenly popped up again on a trail camera.

The reserve, jointly owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) and The Tony & Lisette Lewis Foundation, announced in January that it had photographed a northern quoll on the 164,850 hectares of land, despite ecologists concluding that the squirrel-like mammals had abandoned the plains.

The little critter was photographed using a motion-sensor trail camera on the eastern side of the reserve. Northern quolls once occupied northern and eastern Australia, but invasive species and habitat loss have had a damning effect on the animal’s numbers.

According to the reserve’s website, a quoll was photographed by a trail camera in the nearby Pascoe River IPA in 2017, but they haven’t been spotted within the boundaries of the AWC’s reserve for 80 years.

What is perhaps most amazing about this story is that the camera trap didn’t photograph a quoll by accident. It was little more than a hunch, after sighting a rocky outcrop from a helicopter, that prompted sanctuary manager Nick Stock to set up a camera trap. Only a few days later, Nick’s hunch was proven right.

The sanctuary quoted AWC Wildlife Ecologist, Dr Helena Stokes, as stating: “This record gives us a roadmap. We now have a clear starting point for future surveys and research.”

If you’re interested in camera traps and how they’re used in conservation, I’d implore you to watch The Wild Ones on Apple TV+, where camera trap expert Declan Burley lays hundreds of traps in a bid to film and photograph some of the world’s rarest animals.

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