Brushtail Possums reintroduced outside the feral predator-free fence at Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary in May last year have survived the release and are already growing their population.
Forty-nine Brushtail Possums were reintroduced to the sanctuary in the northern edge of the WA Wheatbelt after being absent from the landscape since the 20th century. Twenty-three of those individuals made history as the first species to be released outside the sanctuary's 7,800-hectare feral predator-free fenced area. The release followed an intensive, ongoing baiting and monitoring program targeting feral cats, which was implemented to give the possums the best chance at survival outside the fence.
Jane Palmer/AWC Nine months later, the possums are surviving well beyond the fence and are even travelling vast distances, dispersing across the sanctuary. Recently, AWC's ecologist team began recapturing the possums to remove their tracking collars and found two females outside the fence, one of which was carrying a pouch young!
Given the success of the Brushtail Possum reintroduction and release, ecologists are now considering further reintroductions outside the feral predator-free fence.
Jane Palmer/AWC "When you release a species inside a fence, you know there is a good chance that they will be fine, but releasing them outside the fence was a bit of an unknown," explained Georgia Volck, Australian Wildlife Conservancy Senior Field Ecologist. "In saying that, we are very pleased with how well the Brushtail Possums are doing 6 months after release, they have settled in and are dispersing across the wider 131,800-hectare sanctuary."
Reintroductions at Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary commenced in 2015 with the ambitious goal of returning 10 locally extinct mammal species to the landscape. So far, nine species have been released into the safe haven, including the Greater Bilby, Numbat, Woylie and Brushtail Possum.
Brad Leue/AWC AWC has submitted a translocation proposal to the Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) for the reintroduction of the Chuditch to Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary. The team is aiming to conduct the translocations in 2022.
