Operation in Aussie forest to capture one of the world’s rarest mammals
Only around 400 northern hairy-nosed wombats survive. And until now they've been found at just two locations in the wild.
Efforts are underway to relocate some of the world's rarest land mammals to a new home to safeguard the species from extinction. Critically endangered northern hairy-nosed wombats are being trapped and hauled 620km to a forest that's not accessible to the public, so a new colony can be established.
Known to be the largest burrowing mammal in the world, it's proven no match to the destruction caused by the arrival of European settlers, and only around 400 remain. Its eucalypt woodland was cleared by pastoralists in the 19th and 20th centuries, and it has struggled to compete with livestock and other introduced species.
Photos supplied to Yahoo News by the Queensland Department of Environment (DESI) highlight the trapping operation which is underway at Epping Forest National Park, 855km northwest of Brisbane. Fifty-three traps are set and then moved every day to stop wombats becoming wary of them.
How many wombats are being relocated?
The captured animals are then taken to new habitat at Powrunna State Forest, a 2,800 hectare site in the state’s southwest where a new population is being established. Fifteen were taken to the site earlier in the year and there’s been excitement because some of the females have been observed carrying young in their pouch.
The immediate plan is to capture 10 more females and five males to establish a viable population at Powrunna. But rangers hope to move 60 over the next three years.
“This second translocation of wombats is another significant step in the ongoing efforts to safeguard this critically endangered species,” DESI’s Principal Conservation Officer Dave Harper said.
“Whenever we capture a wombat, there is much excitement because all the effort, the planning and hard work that has gone into this project is paying off.”
Why do the wombats need to be moved?
The plan is necessary because until now they’ve been confined to just two locations in the world – Epping Forest and Richard Underwood Nature Refuge, near the town of St George. This makes them particularly vulnerable to extinction. The translocation is a slow process and a fourth site isn’t expected to be created until 2041.
In the 1980s, the population at Epping dropped to just 35 individuals, and there’s now thought to be 300 at the site. Its hoped ongoing conservation efforts will give the species a chance at surviving long into the future.
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