2 Mar 2017

QUOKKA POPULATIONS BOUNCING BACK AFTER FIRES THANKS TO YOUR GENEROSITY

When bushfires tore through vital quokka habitat in Western Australia’s southern forests in February 2015 we asked for your help, and you delivered in spades.

Now we want to give you an update on how our smiley furry friends are recovering.  

In the aftermath of the fires, that destroyed over 98,000 hectares, we searched the fire zone for survivors and made a grim discovery. Of the more than 500 quokkas originally thought to be living in the region, only 39 could now be accounted for.

WWF-Australia’s southwest WA Species Conservation Manager, Merril Halley, uses radio tracking devices to locate quokkas in the southwest forests of Western Australia. January, 2016
© WWF-Australia

These survivors were cut off from each other, clinging to isolated pockets of habitat. They also had little vegetation to hide in, making them more vulnerable than ever to feral predators.

Things weren’t looking good and we realised the first step in helping the few quokkas remaining was to keep track of them and their movements so we’d know what they needed.

To do this we asked for donations to purchase radio collars and sensor cameras.

Armed with 30 radio collars and 30 motion sensor cameras we started observing the animals and also checking for introduced predators numbers.

Five individual quokkas are now collared and our cameras are picking up the behaviours of the group, and have even spotted some babies!

Watch the video to find out more: