A Record Number of Baby Quolls Born in Australian Sanctuary

Eastern Quoll

Edited by Michelle Ho

Ever since the early 1960s the eastern quoll population in Australia has been rapidly declining as a result of poisoning, land clearing, and so on, with their extinction occurring sometime in 1963 on the country’s mainland. Luckily, in Tasmania there were some left remaining in the wild - allowing for wildlife sanctuaries to work on repopulation later on. 

Eastern quolls are completely unique to Australia, and had been a part of its landscape for millions of years prior to their decline. They are categorized as marsupials and are carnivorous animals (who are most closely related to the Tasmanian devil). 

The population that had remained in Tasmania fell into the hands of the Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary, which takes up over 1,000 acres of land. Under the guidance of Aussie Ark’s breeding program (an animal preservation project), the eastern quoll population has grown to 250 individuals since 2017, with 63 of those joeys being born this year. This has been the record number of quolls born under the effort so far, showing the progress these animals can make on their own.

Having been described as a ‘modern Jurassic Park’ by the program manager, the quolls have been closely monitored throughout the process. The joeys were born within a specific enclosure in the sanctuary, allowing for them to be quickly cared for if anything happened to them (as marsupials tend to be born extremely underdeveloped). They also performed periodic pouch checks on the mothers, as to not fully disturb their experience with rearing the young. Overall, this has left an exciting outlook on the future of these animals and their ecosystems through the eyes of conservationists.

In a statement made on the Aussie Ark’s website, supervisor Tyler Gralton, who oversaw the pouch checks, said “This is what our work is all about, this is the ultimate reward for all the years of care, to open pouch after pouch and see so many joeys is a sight I’ll never forget.”

Bibliography

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUARhEVfqTU&t=1s

• https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/a-baby-boom-for-cutest-animal-not-seen-in-australia-for-decades-feels-like-a-modern-jurassic-park/

• https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-11/eastern-quoll-joeys-born-barrington-wildlife-sanctuary/101637656