{"id":237423,"date":"2026-01-10T06:58:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T06:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/237423\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T06:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T06:58:13","slug":"trail-camera-captures-rare-footage-of-animal-who-hasnt-been-seen-in-80-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/237423\/","title":{"rendered":"Trail Camera Captures Rare Footage Of Animal Who Hasn&#8217;t Been Seen In 80 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-element-index=\"0\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.australianwildlife.org\/en-us\/sanctuaries\/piccaninny-plains\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Piccaninny Plains Wildlife Sanctuary<\/a> in Far North Queensland, Australia, is home to many beloved local animals, including hawks, possums and echidnas, who spend their days roaming the protected woodlands and grassland.<\/p>\n<p data-element-index=\"1\">But there\u2019s one species that\u2019s been eerily vacant on the preserve. That is, until just recently, when animal scientists caught one scurrying past a hidden camera.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768028291_29_scale;webp=auto;jpeg_quality=60.jpg\"  alt=\"quoll on trail camera \" width=\"792\" height=\"440\" style=\"display:block;height:auto;aspect-ratio:792 \/ 440\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>Australian Wildlife Conservancy<\/p>\n<p data-element-index=\"0\">The shocking visitor was a northern quoll, a small Australian marsupial known for their white spots and long tails, currently listed as endangered by the <a href=\"https:\/\/iucn.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">International Union for Conservation of Nature<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768028291_882_scale;webp=auto;jpeg_quality=60.jpg\"  alt=\"quoll on trail camera\" width=\"792\" height=\"482\" style=\"display:block;height:auto;aspect-ratio:792 \/ 482\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>Australian Wildlife Conservancy<\/p>\n<p data-element-index=\"0\">According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.australianwildlife.org\/en-us?srsltid=AfmBOortueFaVzpOMj0FP449YAsA-zJjyuoc7pXJg6xuPyA1nu6Ov9EK\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Australian Wildlife Conservancy<\/a> (AWC), which jointly owns the sanctuary with The Tony &amp; Lisette Lewis Foundation, these charming animals once thrived across northern Australia. Sadly, their numbers dwindled over the years due to factors including feral predators and habitat loss.<\/p>\n<p data-element-index=\"1\">For over eight decades, northern quolls appeared to have vanished from the sanctuary altogether. But late last year, sanctuary manager Nick Stock had a hunch they might be back.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768028292_388_scale;webp=auto;jpeg_quality=60.jpg\"  alt=\"northern quoll \" width=\"792\" height=\"518\" style=\"display:block;height:auto;aspect-ratio:792 \/ 518\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>Brad Leue<\/p>\n<p data-element-index=\"0\">Stock placed a single camera in the wilderness. Within days, a quoll scurried by.<\/p>\n<p data-element-index=\"1\">\u201cIt was a fantastic surprise!\u201dAWC wildlife ecologist Dr. Helena Stokes said in a press release. \u201cAfter years of no sightings, to finally confirm a northern quoll on the sanctuary is hugely uplifting for our team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-element-index=\"2\">According to Stokes, seeing a northern quoll in the area is a very encouraging sign that recent conservation efforts are working. It\u2019s also a positive trend for the environment as a whole, which will benefit as a result.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768028292_769_scale;webp=auto;jpeg_quality=60.jpg\"  alt=\"northern quoll \" width=\"792\" height=\"521\" style=\"display:block;height:auto;aspect-ratio:792 \/ 521\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>Brad Leue<\/p>\n<p data-element-index=\"0\">\u201c[A]s a predator, the northern quoll helps regulate the populations of small mammals, playing an important role in balancing ecosystems,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/fnpw.org.au\/news\/latest-news\/saving-the-northern-quoll\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife writes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-element-index=\"1\">AWC plans to extend their survey efforts this year in hopes they might continue to find endangered animals.<\/p>\n<p data-element-index=\"2\">\u201cEvery rediscovery matters,\u201d Stock said in the press release. \u201cJust when we were close to giving up hope, this little quoll reminds us why we keep searching, and why protecting these landscapes at scale is essential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To help other animals like northern quolls, <a href=\"https:\/\/4agc.com\/donation_pages\/1f46fb82-7143-429c-abc3-819c5f3fd668\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">you can donate to the Australian Wildlife Conservancy<\/a>.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedodo.com\/daily-dodo\/rare-animal-rescued-from-traffickers-undergoes-risky-procedure-to-save-her-life\" data-vars-href=\"https:\/\/www.thedodo.com\/daily-dodo\/rare-animal-rescued-from-traffickers-undergoes-risky-procedure-to-save-her-life\" data-vars-ga-action=\"related link\" data-vars-ga-label=\"daily-dodo\/rare-animal-rescued-from-traffickers-undergoes-risky-procedure-to-save-her-life\" data-vars- rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766105049_409_flatten;crop;webp=auto;jpeg_quality=60.jpg\" alt=\"Rare Animal Rescued From Traffickers Undergoes Risky Procedure To Save Her Life\" width=\"116\" height=\"156\" style=\"display:block;height:auto;aspect-ratio:116 \/ 156\" loading=\"eager\"\/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedodo.com\/daily-dodo\/rare-animal-rescued-from-traffickers-undergoes-risky-procedure-to-save-her-life\" data-vars-href=\"https:\/\/www.thedodo.com\/daily-dodo\/rare-animal-rescued-from-traffickers-undergoes-risky-procedure-to-save-her-life\" data-vars-ga-action=\"related link\" data-vars-ga-label=\"daily-dodo\/rare-animal-rescued-from-traffickers-undergoes-risky-procedure-to-save-her-life\" data-vars- rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rare Animal Rescued From Traffickers Undergoes Risky Procedure To Save Her LifeAgainst all odds, she kept fighting. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Piccaninny Plains Wildlife Sanctuary in Far North Queensland, Australia, is home to many beloved local animals, including&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[5822,120561,1285,246,61,60,17170,82,1284,1282,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-237423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animal-encounters","9":"tag-australia-quoll","10":"tag-daily-dodo","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-maeve-dunigan","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-standard","17":"tag-the-dodo","18":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}