{"id":396324,"date":"2026-04-17T03:08:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T03:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/396324\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T03:08:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T03:08:18","slug":"endangered-southern-brown-bandicoots-bounce-back-at-brown-hill-creek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/396324\/","title":{"rendered":"Endangered southern brown bandicoots bounce back at Brown Hill Creek"},"content":{"rendered":"

A colony of South Australia’s last remaining bandicoot species is bouncing back just 6 kilometres from Adelaide amid hopes they can be connected with other populations.<\/p>\n

An endangered southern brown bandicoot was first spotted in Brownhill Creek Recreation Park about six years ago, prompting Conservation Volunteers Australia to erect cameras to count them.<\/p>\n

That resulted in the construction of a grazing enclosure led by the Friends of Brownhill Creek, inside which blackberry bushes and weeds were removed and native plants allowed to grow without being grazed by kangaroos and feral deer.<\/p>\n

\"Bandicoot<\/p>\n

Gates and signs have been erected in the area to remind people to keep their dogs on a lead. (891ABC Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton)<\/p>\n

Adelaide University surveys undertaken on the Brownhill Creek population using cameras and microchipping have since found it to be a breeding colony of about half a dozen animals.<\/p>\n

“It’s a small area, and a small subpopulation, but it seems to be stable,” said School of Biological Sciences senior research fellow Jasmin Packer.<\/p>\n

“Definitely over time the native [vegetation] is getting stronger and denser and the bandicoots do use that as a big refuge, so they will go into that area and go into one of the bandicoot bungalows, so it’s kind of an extra safe space for them.”<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

The bungalows, which allow bandicoots to shelter safely from feral predators like foxes and cats, can be made out of old pallets and sticks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The park’s bandicoots have also benefited from pest blackberry bush cover, which in areas of the Adelaide Hills and foothills have replaced old habitats of native raspberry and bracken.<\/p>\n

“The blackberry is being managed very gently and gradually removed as the natives are growing back,” Dr Packer said.<\/p>\n

“Bit by bit we’ll get more native habitat for the bandicoots, but if there’s no other habitat, that blackberry is a critical habitat for this endangered species.”<\/p>\n

\"clump<\/p>\n

Blackberry bushes are a damaging pest in Australia but afford some protection to marsupials like bandicoots. (891ABC Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton)<\/p>\n

The ongoing work, which includes volunteers from the Friends of Brownhill Creek, the Brownhill Creek Association, National Parks and Wildlife staff, Adelaide University personnel and other conservationists, is being led by Dr Packer and The Bee Hub founder, Dr Rossi von der Borch, under the title of Bandi Bush Care, or the Bandi Bunch. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Last bandicoots in SA<\/p>\n

Prior to European settlement, there were eight different species of bandicoots in South Australia, but the southern brown bandicoot is the last remaining.<\/p>\n

It is considered endangered but a new colony was also sighted for the first time in 35 years at Kuitpo Forest in 2018<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The enclosure offers protection from some predators, but its chief goal is to prevent animals eating native vegetation. (891ABC Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton)<\/p>\n

At Upper Sturt, where the closest colony to the Brown Hill Creek bandicoots resides, there have been concerns about the population being poisoned by pindone-laced carrots put out for feral rabbits<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At Tim Robson’s Bandicoot Springs, where he experienced a reduction in sightings during 2024, he said the animals had since “had babies”.<\/p>\n

Dr Packer also conducted a recent survey in that area and Mr Robson said she had found plenty.<\/p>\n

“You can safely say they’re back,” he said.<\/p>\n

Superhighway in the hills<\/p>\n

The main cause of bandicoot decline in South Australia has been habitat loss and falling quality, and the disconnection of habitats due to human developments.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jasmin Packer prepares to release a bandicoot with Maddie and Georgia Linsenmeier in Scott Creek Conservation Park. (Supplied: Emma Linsenmeier)<\/p>\n

This has led to the launch of the Bandicoot Superhighway Project through the Mt Lofty Ranges to better interconnect remaining habitat, increase it, and raise awareness about a marsupial that can sometimes be mistaken for an introduced rat.<\/p>\n

It also aims to undertake weed control, fence off remnant vegetation from grazing, and trial the establishment of new subpopulations.<\/p>\n

Ron Bellchambers is a community engagement and project officer for the Brownhill Creek Association.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Little conical holes, known as bandicoot digs, are a telltale sign of their presence. (891ABC Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton)<\/p>\n

He said the presence of endangered southern brown bandicoots, and endangered grey box grassy woodland habitat, had “raised the profile of the park”.<\/p>\n

“That’s really put the park on another level and it’s given us even greater purpose in terms of protection for endangered species,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Our southern brown bandicoot population, even though it’s small, is a really critical colony because if there’s a catastrophic bushfire through the Adelaide Hills, our colony could be one of the colonies that survives because of its location.<\/p>\n

“What we’re really keen to do is link our breeding colony with the Adelaide Hills colony.”<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Ron Bellchambers inspects a revegetation site. (891ABC Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton)<\/p>\n

As part of the Bandicoot Superhighway \u2014 “a wonderful initiative with landholders and national parks” \u2014 he said the next step was to provide habitat as a corridor to link them in.<\/p>\n

“There is an open area here that the bandicoots can’t traverse, and we want to fill it in with native vegetation so the bandicoots can move right up into the Upper Sturt part of Brown Hill Creek,” Mr Bellchambers said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve already started negotiations with private landowners to improve habitat on their properties to provide that linkage, so that’s really the next stage.”<\/p>\n

\"View<\/p>\n

A view over Brown Hill Creek towards the Mt Lofty Ranges and the Bandicoot Superhighway. (891ABC Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A colony of South Australia’s last remaining bandicoot species is bouncing back just 6 kilometres from Adelaide amid…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[188110,188108,3946,242,188109,85,46,188107,188112,141,188106,188111],"class_list":{"0":"post-396324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-bandicoot-springs","9":"tag-brownhill-creek-recreation-park","10":"tag-endangered-species","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-friends-of-brown-hill-creek","13":"tag-il","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-jasmine-packer","16":"tag-ron-bellchambers","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-southern-brown-bandicoot","19":"tag-tim-robson"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}