Numbats at brink of extinction, not seen in NSW wild for more than 100 years, hang on with pest fence

Wed, 16 Dec 2020 05:47:31 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-07/saving-numbats-from-brink-of-global-extinction/12951644>

"Numbats have not been seen in the New South Wales wild for more than a
century and globally they are rarer than the black rhino, their
near-extinction caused by feral predators such as foxes and feral cats.

But the precious numbat is hoped to spring back to life in far
south-western NSW near Gol Gol, just over the Murray River from Mildura,
thanks to a 42-kilometre-long, two-metre-high electrified fence.

The fence establishes a 9,500-hectare feral predator-free safe haven for
reintroduced small mammals and marsupials ranging from bilbies, western
barred bandicoots, burrowing bettongs, brush-tailed bettongs, red-tailed
phascogale, bridled nailtail wallabies, Mitchell's hopping mouse, and
western quolls.

This week, five numbats — four female and one male — were released into
the Mallee Cliffs National Park feral predator-free area.

More will follow when they can catch the elusive marsupials, including
several planned reintroductions next year from the Perth Zoo to ensure
diversity of the species' gene pool."

Cheers,
        *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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