{"id":917781,"date":"2026-10-06T04:48:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T04:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/917781\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T04:48:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T04:48:22","slug":"northern-quolls-moved-to-north-queensland-refuge-as-population-dwindles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/917781\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern quolls moved to north Queensland refuge as population dwindles"},"content":{"rendered":"

A team of ecologists is capturing and relocating female northern quolls to a north Queensland safe haven to create an insurance population as numbers of the endangered marsupial dwindle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once abundant across Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia, the northern quoll is struggling.<\/p>\n

John Kanowski, chief science officer with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, said the species had “collapsed from most of its range” due to feral cats and wildlife.<\/p>\n

“We’ve caused so much damage to the environment in the last 150 years,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The loss of these small to medium sized mammals is a thing that’s happened right across the continent.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The animals were fitted with radio collars before being released, so they can be located and monitored.\u00a0 (Supplied: Brad Leue, Australian Wildlife Conservancy)<\/p>\n

A predator itself, the northern quoll also has a taste for invasive cane toads, which produce a poison that can be deadly.<\/p>\n

In a bid to build up the population, the Australian Wildlife Conservancy is translocating northern quolls to a 950-hectare fenced haven on its property near Paluma, north of Townsville.<\/p>\n

Mr Kanowski said there are historic accounts of an abundance of the animal in the area.<\/p>\n

“If this reintroduction is successful, it will be the only population of the northern quoll on the mainland where there’s no feral cats,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Dr<\/p>\n

Dr John Kanowski says northern quolls are particularly vulnerable to other threats when their population numbers have been weakened by feral cats. (ABC News: Baz\u00a0Ruddick)<\/p>\n

Mr Kanowski said when feral cats are present, population density is low, making the quolls vulnerable to other threats.<\/p>\n

Females prioritised<\/p>\n

Senior field ecologist Felicity L’Hotellier said female northern quolls with young are being targeted for relocation to help boost numbers.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Senior field ecologist Felicity L’Hotellier says she is hopeful they will be able to establish a robust population of northern quolls in the Mount Zero-Taravale sanctuary. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)<\/p>\n

She said while males tended to disperse, females with young were more likely stay put.<\/p>\n

“In the coming months they’ll be denning their young,” she said.<\/p>\n

“If they’ve got joeys, they’re probably less likely to move further distances.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Female northern quolls with pouched joeys were targeted for the translocation. (Supplied: Brad Leue, Australian Wildlife Conservancy\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Female northern quolls typically live longer than the males in the species, which often live for just one breeding season.<\/p>\n

“Further into the project when we bring in some more boys, if there’s girls around, hopefully that will help keep the boys local as well,” she said.<\/p>\n

A key predator<\/p>\n

While the northern quoll is the smallest of Australia’s four quoll species, it is often considered the most aggressive.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ecologist Ben Stepkovitch says the traps are baited and checked multiple times throughout the night.\u00a0 (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)<\/p>\n

Ecologist Ben Stepkovitch said northern quolls are “under-appreciated”.<\/p>\n

“I love working with them because they are so cryptic and not well known, and people don’t realise what a ferocious predator they really are,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Historically the endangered northern quoll’s habitat extended from south-east Queensland, across the Northern Territory to the Kimberley in Western Australia.\u00a0 (Courtesy of Wild Pacific Media)<\/p>\n

“A lot of people look at them and think they’re a nice, cute, spotty animal but they’re a carnivore.”<\/p>\n

He said finding the species in the wild can be tricky, particularly in the rocky and bushy landscapes they often live in.<\/p>\n

Building a robust population<\/p>\n

Ms L’Hotellier said as a predator species, quolls have an important role providing balance in the ecosystem.<\/p>\n

“All these species have evolved together. There’s a balance and it’s about restoring that balance,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The predator-proof fence at the Mt Zero-Taravale sanctuary is designed to boost the population.\u00a0 (Supplied: Sally Gray, Australian Wildlife Conservancy)<\/p>\n

“It’s not just because they’re cute and fluffy, but they are an important part of the landscape.”<\/p>\n

The Mount Zero-Taravale haven’s fence keeps invasive predators out, but will allow quolls to escape from the enclosure and naturally repopulate the area.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Northern quolls were caught at Cape Cleveland south of Townsville, which was one of four sites selected for genetic diversity. (Supplied: Brad Leie, Australian Wildlife Conservancy)<\/p>\n

Mr Kanowski said it is hoped when a thriving population is established there, the quolls will naturally disperse throughout the broader landscape.<\/p>\n

“We’re hoping that by 2050 they’ve repopulated the entire Seaview Ranges, which is the ranges between Townsville and Ingham,” he said.<\/p>\n

Ms L’Hotellier said she looks forward to the day when it is possible to “run into” northern quolls organically.<\/p>\n

“When I have northern quolls popping down to the homestead and sniffing around our chook pen, that’ll be a sign that this has been successful,” she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A team of ecologists is capturing and relocating female northern quolls to a north Queensland safe haven to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":917782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,51850,2929,8174,20558,52687,95351,485928,256225,128,338],"class_list":["post-917781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-wildlife-conservancy","tag-conservation","tag-ecology","tag-endangered-species","tag-marsupials","tag-northern-quoll","tag-paluma","tag-quoll","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}