Community & Business
21 March, 2025
Mission to save tiny bettong population from extinction
NORTHERN bettongs will be relocated to save a tiny population near Mount Carbine from extinction in the first rescue mission between two wild populations of this species.
Less than 30 northern bettongs are left at Mt Spurgeon, near Mount Carbine and the species is listed as endangered, with only two wild populations and one re-introduced population remaining, all of them in North Queensland.
Terrain NRM’s Dr Andrew Dennis said the translocation project aims to be a “genetic rescue”.
“We need diversity in the gene pool. The Mt Spurgeon population is so small now that they are genetically inbred,’’ he said.
“That has led to an inbreeding depression, with females producing fewer babies than in healthy populations, and to the population not being able to cope with other pressures like feral animals and lantana weed taking over large parts of the habitat. They can’t breed fast enough to keep up.”
Terrain NRM has secured $420,000 from the Australian Government through its Natural Heritage Trust program to partner with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Gulf Savannah NRM on the translocation project, which is guided by the Northern Bettong Recovery Team.
It follows the successful reintroduction of northern bettongs to the Paluma region, where they have been breeding up over the last year in Mount Zero Taravale Wildlife Sanctuary, a fenced predator-free tract of land.
Forty-nine northern bettongs were moved from Lamb Range near Mareeba to the sanctuary in the AWC-led partnership project, funded by AWC with the support of the Queensland Government and Traditional Owners.
“This time about seven northern bettongs will be relocated from Lamb Range, and it’ll be to an existing population,’’ Dr Dennis said.
“We want to improve the genetic make-up by 30 per cent, to take reproduction up to normal rates.”
“Genetic rescues” are gaining momentum in threatened species conservation across Australia. The first was for mountain pygmy possums in Victoria in 2010. They’ve since helped the eastern-barred bandicoot, helmeted honeyeaters and rock wallabies.
Dr Dennis said the northern bettong project would include weed and pest control work at Mt Spurgeon National Park in the lead-up, to prepare the habitat for the bettong population to re-expand. This will be followed by population monitoring for at least two years after the bettongs are translocated.
“We will be surveying the area and controlling feral animals, including pigs and cats, over a few hundred hectares of land,’’ he said.
“We’ll also be removing lantana, which is suppressing food sources for bettongs. This work will build on years of survey and monitoring work by AWC and Western Yalanji Traditional owners, with the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Gulf Savannah NRM.
“It’ll be a team effort again – we will be working closely with the Northern Bettong Recovery Team including Western Yalanji, researchers from James Cook University who’ve provided the genetic data, and our project partners Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Gulf Savannah NRM and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.”
Dr Dennis, who is also the Northern Bettong Recovery Team Chair, said the northern bettong population had dramatically declined over the past 20-30 years, with an estimated 1100 remaining on Lamb Range, at Mt Spurgeon and the Mt Zero sanctuary area.
“Their habitat is very restricted – they are now only living in a narrow, fragmented strip of eucalypt forest along the western edge of the Wet Tropics,’’ he said.
“They’ve been identified as one of 20 Australian mammals at the greatest risk of extinction.”
NORTHERN BETTONGS FACTS:
They mainly feed on truffles, which grow underground, connected to the roots of trees.
They help the forest by spreading the spores of truffles around with their droppings, making them a keystone species, responsible for the dispersal of a huge number of ectomycorrhizal fungi species. These fungi have an essential role in forest health, forming a symbiotic relationship with the roots of eucalyptus and allocasuarina trees.
They make spit balls, called oorts, out of undigested grass, and these help research to track their movements.
