NSW predator-proof fences have been in the media: let’s compare notes for Mt Vandyke and the SW Vic Eastern Quoll Hub
Over the past couple of months, I have come across some interesting stories in the media about releases of small mammals into two new predator-proof fenced areas (free ranging enclosures) in southern NSW, that are worth sharing given some interesting parallels with NGT’s plans for our Restoration Reserve at Mt Vandyke.
In the first story, which you can read here, we learn about the successful recent translocation of a threatened native rodent, the Smoky Mouse (Pseudomys fumeus), the first of several threatened species planned to be reintroduced into the newly constructed Nungatta predator-free area in the South East Forest National Park in south-eastern NSW. By the way, to see what the Smoky Mouse looks like, please take a look at this ABC News video with some nice footage…
The Nungatta feral predator-free area is one of ten being established by the NSW state government – and as you’ll see from the map below, they vary considerably in terms of size and landscape context – which, in turn, determines the potential species that might benefit from each of them.
The Nungatta free-ranging enclosure is of particular interest to NGT because this part of NSW is most bio-climatically similar to Mt Vandyke, which is situated several hundred kilometres to the west in Victoria. Indeed, some of the small mammal species we plan to release at Mt Vandyke overlap Nungatta’s list of potential species – including the Eastern Quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus).
The Nungatta fenced area is larger than our private reserve at Mt Vandyke, but like Mt Vandyke, it is also strategically embedded within a larger National Park. So once the reintroduced mammals inside the fenced area have established, we share similar goals of seeing animals ‘leak’ into the surrounding National Park. This will help re-populate (and/or supplement) small mammal populations in the landscape outside the fence. To learn more about the concept of ‘leaky fences’, you might like to read this article I wrote a few years back for the NGT newsletter.
The other interesting NSW site that was recently in the news is Bannockburn, a 68-hectare predator-proof fence near Nowra, on part of a rural property owned by Scots College. What makes this story especially interesting is that the first species being reintroduced to this site is the Eastern Quoll – which, as mentioned above, is also near the top of our list for Mt Vandyke.
To learn about this site, please click this link, or click directly on the image below to have a read.
In addition to the Booderee National Park free-ranging enclosure, which we touched on in the NGT newsletter last year, Bannockburn is now the second fenced site in south-eastern NSW where the Eastern Quoll has been released back into its former habitat.
On that note, it is also really great to see the cooperative model we established in SW Victoria back in 2022 (with our partners Dunkeld Pastoral Co., Rhynie Pastoral, and Mirridong Food and Fibre) taking off in another location, with this new “quoll hub” in SE NSW up and running. This cooperative approach to meta-population management of the Eastern Quoll between different free-ranging enclosures is incredibly important for maintaining and enhancing the genetic integrity of the species, as we collectively attempt to provide a viable springboard for re-establishment of quolls on the mainland. This is something that no single organisation can achieve on its own!
To close, here is a little snippet of the release footage and quolls in their new habitat at Bannockburn… we are certainly looking forward to the day when it will be our turn at Mt Vandyke!
