Woylie recovery hailed a success

The recovery of the woylie in Western Australia has been hailed as a ‘survival success story’ by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

The woylie was removed from State and Federal endangered species lists earlier this year and now has been formally listed by the World Conservation Union as ‘conservation dependent’ in its latest Red List of threatened animals.

The list was released in Washington DC last week.

Environment Minister Peter Foss today said the IUCN’s recognition of the woylie’s status was a tribute to the pioneering scientific work by the Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM).

Mr Foss said CALM also was working to bring many more species of native mammals back from the brink of extinction.

In a background note released along with the Red List, the IUCN said that the woylie (or brush-tailed bettong) was no longer listed as threatened despite being on the verge of extinction only two decades ago.

"Its recovery marks the first time a species has been de-listed in Australia as a result of scientific research and conservation management," the IUCN said.

The woylie used to inhabit more than half of Australia but by 1975 was restricted to three tiny pockets in the South-West of Western Australia, where its numbers were low.

Dr Jack Kinnear and Dr Per Christensen, working for CALM, demonstrated experimentally that introduction of the European red fox was the main cause of population declines of many medium-sized marsupials.

"A 10-year species recovery plan prepared in 1990 provided for fox control in the marsupials’ habitat and reintroductions to areas of habitat where foxes had wiped it out," the IUCN said.

"The recovery plan was so successful that by the end of 1995, the woylie’s conservation status was changed from ‘endangered’ to ‘lower risk (conservation dependent)’ on the Red List."

Mr Foss said woylie populations had been re-established at several places in the jarrah forest including sites at Mundaring, Julimar and south west of Boddington and in the western wheatbelt in the Boyagin and Tutanning Nature Reserves near Brookton.

"Woylies also will be among the first species to be re-established on the Peron Peninsula in Shark Bay where CALM has all but eradicated foxes and is having a devastating impact on feral cats," the Minister said.

"CALM’s Western Shield initiative, which is aimed at controlling foxes and feral cats on five million hectares of the conservation estate, also will result in many other species being reintroduced into their former range.

"This initiative and its associated programs such as Project Eden at Shark Bay and Operation Foxglove will mean that as many as 31 other native species will be brought back from the brink of extinction ."

Operation Foxglove is a joint project between CALM and Alcoa of Australia.

Media contact: Ministerial: Peter Harris (09) 321 2222 or (09) 222 9595 CALM: Gordon Wyre (09) 334 0420