Meet Quentin and Quetzl; two Western Quoll brothers born at Arid Recovery and translocated to the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park.
That was in 2016. Now, both have been recaptured alive and well in their new Ikara-Flinders Ranges home. They are both healthy and strong adults living in a wild population founded by the South Australian Department for Environment and Water (DEW) and supported by the Foundation for Australia’s Most Endangered Species (FAME).
The babies’ mother, Sepia, was one of two female quolls translocated to Arid Recovery in 2015, as part of a trial to see whether quolls born in the woodlands of south-west Western Australia could survive in the South Australian arid zone, where their species is now extinct.
The Arid Recovery trial went very well (read here) and the two females thrived. In 2016, two males were added. Sepia quickly fell pregnant and produced three gorgeous babies. Unfortunately, she died while they were still young and so, concerned for their wellbeing, Arid Recovery staff caught and hand-raised Quentin and Quetzl. Despite our efforts, the third baby could not be recovered and was assumed to have perished.
Quentin and Quetzl were moved to the Ikara-Flinders Ranges to boost the population of quolls reintroduced there. It is wonderful to see that they are surviving well in the wild.
In further good news, the third baby is still alive and well at Arid Recovery! It is still elusive and untrappable, so we don’t know whether it is a boy or girl, but we see it regularly on our camera traps. It is also now a healthy adult.
Given the success of our quoll trials (read here), we will be conducting a full-scale reintroduction of Western Quolls into the Arid Recovery Reserve in May this year. We are very excited to help these gorgeous native predators thrive in the arid zone once more.
