Southern Brown Bandicoot survey updates and an unexpected Wombat sighting!
We had a fabulous turn-out for our Bandicoot diggings workshop held at Mt Burr Swamp education facility. It’s so good to see the community come together, eager to learn about and be active in the protect local threatened species. If you’d like to go back over that post read all about it here.
Surveys to count diggings are ongoing, and we can report that Caroline Forest areas were completed by a volunteer visiting from Canada, Madeleine Kurtz. Madeliene stayed at our Kurrawonga property and went out to count diggings, but didn’t find any in the two native forest reserves in Caroline Forest. These reserves are connected by a biodiversity corridor along a ridge with bracken and local native revegetation (planted by local students from Glenburnie Primary School). Despite these efforts, the Southern Brown Bandicoot (SBB) numbers have clearly declined sharply from the 2016 survey, where they were recorded in both Dry Creek and Honeysuckle NFRs. Interestingly, the population in these reserves has been in low numbers since records began in 1990s. Analysing previous data indicates low occupancy in 1999, 2007 & 2016. In 2016, only recent and old diggings were recorded; there were no fresh diggings at all. In 2026, we can now report that zero diggings were found. This result goes against the Regional Action Plan’s priority-setting, which aims to maintain a population of SBBs in at least two patches in Caroline Forest (Haywood, 2016). Conservation organisations will need to put their heads together on this one to try and reverse the trend. Thankfully, although the Mt Burr Range is yet to be surveyed to a level where any comparison can be made between years, so far diggings are being recorded, but we still have a way to go. If anyone wishes to participate, please make contact with us, we’d love you to join us.
During our training workshop in NGT’s Mount Burr Swamp, we set up three motion-sensor cameras to try and capture images of our target marsupial. They were placed close to the ground, pointing downward, to maximize the chance of a small animal moving in front of the camera. We were very successful, capturing >100 images of SBBs rummaging around in the undergrowth! Several individuals were seen, and their different sizes indicate successful breeding, which is great news.
But you might be surprised by what else we found. A total of ten different animals were photographed, including four birds and six mammals. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, a red fox was captured on all three cameras, along with an Emu, both kinds of wallabies, House Mouse, and, wait for it, a Common Wombat. When did someone last see a Common Wombat in the Mt Burr Range? This species was once well known from the southern Mt Burr Range but has not been sighted for several generations. In fact, all of the native forest reserve management plans in this district have no records or commentary about the Common Wombat at all, and they were written in the late 1990s-early 2000s. However, a recent observation (by Rob Gordon, as noted on iNaturalist) was of a Common Wombat, just south of Mt Burr township in September 2023, which is the first confirmed record for many years. So, is this the same animal, or are they truly making a comeback?
And, lastly, the Limestone Coast Landscape Board are running a parallel project within the Glencoe township community, focused on sightings, pest control and positive actions for the community to undertake for Southern Brown Bandicoots. Vanessa Freebairn and I spoke on the ABC SE morning show, and you can listen to the interview Radio interview (listen at 2:38:50).
This project is supported by Burrandies Aboriginal Corporation, Responsible Wood and OneFortyOne.
In partnership with the Limestone Coast Landscape Board.
