Aussie Ark spotlight for Eastern quolls 4 April 2024

Manning River Times

Aussie Ark spotlight to shine a light on noctural lives of Eastern quoll.s 4 April 2024

Transcript

00:00 (Music)

00:07 So we're out here in the Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary

00:10 on a night time quest for some eastern quolls.

00:13 Let's see how we go.

00:15 Grab your torches, we're heading into the Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary

00:18 to shine light on the beloved eastern quoll.

00:21 Tonight we have a beautiful full moon

00:23 and we're going spotlighting in the Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary.

00:26 Spotlighting in the sanctuary is always a thrill.

00:28 You really feel like you're a detective.

00:30 The eastern quoll is one of the most iconic species

00:33 that is part of Aussie ARC's breeding and rewilding program.

00:36 And tonight's the night we get to observe them.

00:40 So this is the quoll's favourite, just some minced meat.

00:43 Incorporates a lot of good supplements, some kelp, some calcium.

00:46 Put it in a nice high spot so just the quolls can get to it.

00:50 Although these quolls are living in wildlife,

00:52 we still provide food regularly.

00:55 A fresh meat site is the perfect place to steak them out.

01:02 They're able to find their food in the dark

01:04 thanks to their incredible eyesight and their sense of smell.

01:07 Another amazing part of their evolution is the beautiful spots on their coats.

01:11 This is thought to mimic dappled moonlight which aids them with their camouflage.

01:18 Last night while we were searching for eastern quolls

01:20 in our Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary,

01:22 we had some amazing encounters with so many other species.

01:24 So just up in front of us we have a Tasmanian devil.

01:26 We saw a dozen Tasmanian devils.

01:28 We saw 39 endangered greater gliders.

01:31 Huge long black tails, beautiful white bellies, looking very healthy.

01:36 And we had some amazing encounters with over a dozen rufous bedongs

01:40 and we even saw them foraging.

01:43 As part of our search we also set up four remote sensor cameras

01:47 where we hope to capture more footage of eastern quolls coming to dine.

01:52 Upon checking the camera trap footage the following day,

01:54 I'm so excited to be able to see this footage.

01:58 This footage from the camera traps really enables us to see the secret lives

02:01 of these endangered eastern quolls.

02:05 Soon Aussie Arc in partnership with WWF will be releasing some of our quolls.

02:12 Tonight was all about checking on our quolls to make sure they're fully prepared

02:16 and we've got even more confidence from what we saw.

02:20 Aussie Arc is trying to raise $100,000 to help secure the future of this species

02:24 back on mainland Australia.

02:26 If you'd like to help us and secure this mission,

02:28 head to aussiearc.org.au and donate today.

02:31 [no audio]

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