Grant for 'extinct' quoll survey

Quoll. photo: Scott Burnett

WPSQ has received a grant from Beaudesert Shire Council to investigate the extent of endangered Spotted-tail quoll populations (considered locally extinct until 2005) in the north Beaudesert area where large areas of native vegetation (and potential quoll habitat) are under threat from development sanctioned by the SEQ Regional Plan.

The grant submission was submitted at the request of community groups in the North Beaudesert area where native bushland is possibly going to be replaced with housing estates, enterprise precincts and linear service infrastructure.

The grant from Beaudesert Shire Council is for $5500.

Dr Scott Burnett, Wildlife projects officer with WPSQ, welcomed the grant and its long-term implications.

'We hope that it will act as a catalyst in adjacent areas, and that it can provide some information to better manage this area which is under intense pressure from the SEQ Regional Plan. No-one knew there were quolls there when the plan was drafted,' he said.

About the project

The funding will be used to run a quoll survey in the North Beaudesert area using live-trapping and hair-tubing.
The survey will also rely on community information and a community survey is already underway. Quoll survey form available here.
The project relies heavily on local volunteer input.

Quolls around Beaudesert

The current existence of endangered Spotted-tailed quolls in the North Beaudesert area has only been confirmed since June 2005. Before Mrs Ivell Whyte, a Munruben resident, picked up two dead road kill quolls in the area, they had been assumed to be extinct since 1956 in Greater Brisbane. A subsequent informal community survey confirmed the species' existence.

About Spotted-tail quolls

The Spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It is the largest surviving marsupial carnivore on mainland Australia and plays an integral role in ecosystem processes. Like most top order carnivores, the species is also particularly prone to localised extinction due to habitat disturbance, direct persecution and indirect effects.

Spotted-tailed quolls are classed as Vulnerable, Threatened or Endangered in all mainland Australian states in which they occur: South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. The species is classed as Vulnerable in south-east Queensland under the provisions of the Queensland Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Act 1992. The Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, lists the species as endangered.

Threats to quolls

Quolls are vulnerable to the effects of urbanisation and development. Threats to quolls include:

loss and fragmentation of habitat
dogs
roads and traffic
hostile human interaction when quolls forage for food scraps and raid poultry yards.

For more information on Wildlife Queensland's activities, contact us by email or call +61 7 3221 0194.

Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland

May 2006