UNSW conservation scientists are aiming to train threatened species to recognise and survive feral predators after focusing on feral cat control using cutting edge technology.
Quolls, bettongs and bilbies have returned to the wilds of Sturt National Park in NSW after an absence of 100 years, as part of a conservation project to translocate them 'beyond the fence' of a protected, feral-free area.
The project in Sturt National Park is a collaboration between the Wild Deserts Project Partnership and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, with Wild Deserts Partnership including UNSW's Centre for Ecosystem Science, Ecological Horizons, and Taronga Conservation Society Australia.
These nationally threatened species - including the western quoll Dasyurus geoffroii, burrowing bettong Bettongia lesueur and greater bilby Macrotis lagotis - became extinct in the wild in NSW about a hundred years ago, mainly because of ecosystem changes caused by rabbits and predation by feral cats and foxes.
