A rare marsupial known as a chuditch — or western quoll — has been spotted on a trail camera in an area of Western Australia for the first time in years, according to a report by Yahoo News. The report highlighted the crucial role of conservation efforts in protecting imperiled species, such as this rare predator, from extinction.
The species is officially classified as vulnerable by the Australian government (and near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature), but it has been considered to be locally extinct in a corridor on Australia’s southwestern coast, according to the news report.
A native to Australia, the chuditch is about the size of a cat and has white spots on its fur. Chuditch were recently spotted in pictures from a trail camera set up by a nonprofit.
As the news report detailed, the South Coast Natural Resource Management has been leading a conservation project for years that has included rehabilitating land that the chuditch uses for habitat and eradicating cats and foxes in the area that prey on the chuditch.
The trail cameras were set up more than five years ago, but the team’s efforts are thought to have finally made the region hospitable enough for the chuditch to return. At least five sightings have been confirmed in 2025.
“These are the things that get you out of bed in the morning,” said project lead Tom Nagle, per Yahoo News.
“Anecdotally, that’s telling us that they’re making quite a comeback. That’s really important because western quolls are highly susceptible to predation by cats and foxes,” Nagle said.
Trail cameras are just one of the many tools used in conservation projects such as this one. They help experts gauge the population health of a species, especially in secluded areas not easily accessible to humans. They also provide documentation of rehabilitation progress or decline.
When a species successfully returns to one of its habitats, it improves the health and diversity of ecosystems. And when we respect nature, protect the environment, and properly care for wildlife, more species will survive and thrive.
“There’s a whole plethora of species we’d love to see return,” said Jeff Pinder, a project officer for conservation organization mentioned in the Yahoo News report.
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