Locally-Extinct Golden Bandicoots Reintroduced Into NSW

Image: Judy Dunlop / ABC News

Ten Locally-Extinct Species Have Been Reintroduced Into NSW!

One of Australia’s biggest rewilding projects has hit another milestone. Across the state, the NSW Government is establishing a network of predator-free habitats, which has just introduced its tenth locally-extinct species! In total, there are eight predator-free areas across the state. In June, fourty golden bandicoots arrived in Sturt National Park — after being previously unseen for more than a century.

“This is a major milestone in our work to turn back the tide of extinctions in this state,” said Minister for Environment, James Griffin.“It’s incredible that just three years after the NSW Government reintroduced the first mammal in this project, we already have 10 species that were previously extinct in NSW returned to national parks,” said Mr Griffin.

Image: Tom Hunt / Wild Deserts

Native Species Returning To Their Former Habitat

Sturt National Park is one of the largest predator-free areas (2,000 hectares) in the NSW Government’s broader 65,000 hectare rewilding network. Establishing these predator-free areas is paramount in the protection of more than 50 threatened species. 

So far across NSW, 10 of the 13 species proposed for reintroduction have been successfully reintroduced: the greater bilby, bridled nail-tail wallaby, numbat, brush-tailed bettong, crest-tailed mulgara, greater stick nest rat, red-tailed phascogale, Shark Bay bandicoot, and the golden bandicoot!

In Sturt National Park, the golden bandicoot marks the fourth locally-extinct species to be reintroduced into the area. Threats from feral cats and foxes resulted in golden bandicoots becoming extinct across 95% of their former habitat!

Image: Tom Hunt / Wild Deserts

Golden Bandicoots Are ‘Ecosystem Engineers’

Thanks to Wild Deserts — a partnership between UNSW and Ecological Horizons — the 40 golden bandicoots were safely translocated from the central West Australian desert, into their new home: Sturt National Park. It’s hoped that the predator-free area will home more than 900 golden bandicoots!

“The return of this species into these deserts is so important ecologically because the golden bandicoots dig and turn over the soil where leaves and nutrients collect and support the food web,” said Wild Deserts Project Leader, Professor Richard Kingsford. Golden bandicoots are what's called ‘ecosystem engineers’ — which means that they help to maintain the health of the desert ecosystem. So, "the release of golden bandicoots is also good news for a range of other species that benefit from having bandicoots back in the environment,” said Mr Griffin.