Burrowing bettongs are on the move at Arid Recovery. After growing populations inside the predator-free Main Exclosure, our team has relocated 141 bettongs to other parts of the Reserve where quolls now help keep numbers in check. The move is part of a long-term experiment exploring how native predators restore balance to arid ecosystems.

At Arid Recovery, the fight to protect endangered wildlife relies on a 1.8-m tall floppy top fence -  our home-grown innovation that keeps predators out and science moving forward. Invented at Arid Recovery and now used across Australia, the fence is constantly tested by rust, wind, and time. Maintaining it is tough and costly, but vital: without it, there would be no safe haven for wildlife and no long-term research to guide conservation efforts.

What do 50 cameras in the desert reveal? In the vast Jackboot Paddock between Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre North and South, Arabana Rangers, BHP and Arid Recovery are working together to track feral animals and protect native wildlife. This powerful collaboration is already turning up exciting results and combining Indigenous knowledge with science to care for Country.

What happens to small mammals when you take cats and foxes out of the desert? We monitored small mammals inside and outside the fence for over 26 years. The result was a surprising story of succession, driven by rainfall-fueled booms, colonisation, and the shifting balance of competition in a feral-predator-free landscape.

For environmental science student Rose, joining Arid Recovery’s annual cage and kowari trapping surveys was a chance to turn theory into practice. Over two weeks, she experienced early morning starts, hands-on wildlife monitoring, and the challenge of working in a remote arid landscape. From the wide red dunes to the frantic scurry of a kowari, Rose shares how her two-week placement deepened her understanding of ecology, fieldwork, and the species she’d only read about in textbooks.

She’s survived droughts, overpopulation, and relocation; and might be the great-great-grandmother of nearly 400 burrowing bettongs. Meet Nana Tong, the 9-year-old bettong matriarch quietly shaping a marsupial dynasty at Arid Recovery.

What happens when you turn 27 years of conservation science into wearable art? In her powerful series Extinction Intervention, artist Katherine Grocott transforms track count data from Arid Recovery into sculptural jewellery that tells the story of extinction, survival, and recovery.

As climate change drives more intense and frequent heatwaves, how will desert wildlife cope? Bilbies and rabbits both retreat underground, but will that be enough in a hotter, drier future?  UNSW researcher Jack Bilby explores how these two burrowing species are responding to rising temperatures  and what that means for conservation in a rapidly changing climate. 

For 27 years, Arid Recovery’s annual pitfall trapping has helped track the environment. While our reintroduced animals often steal the show, it’s the small, lesser-known species that quietly tell the deeper story of ecosystem health.

2024 was the year of the kowari!. These elusive desert predators are bouncing back at Arid Recovery, with record numbers trapped and tracked. But with kowaris now listed as endangered, every new insight is crucial to securing their future.