This Mini Kangaroo Is Bouncing Back From The Brink Of Extinction

Thanks to the ongoing efforts of conservationists, a small marsupial species called the brush-tailed bettong is bouncing back from the brink of extinction. The brush-tailed bettong looks like a miniature kangaroo and even keeps its young in a pouch.
It once inhabited more than 60 percent of mainland Australia, but in the 18th century, European colonization introduced predatory wild cats and foxes to the country. Additionally, the animal’s natural woodland and grassland habitats were destroyed.
Between 1999 and 2010, the species’ population size shrank by 90 percent. The decline of brush-tailed bettongs was possibly caused by blood parasites and other factors.
Now, brush-tailed bettongs, also known as woylies, live on just a few islands and isolated areas of southwestern Australia, which amounts to only one percent of its former range.
The Northern and Yorke Landscape Board launched a project in 2019 to help restore the ecological diversity of Australia’s Yorke Peninsula.
Initially, the project was referred to as the Great Southern Ark but was later renamed the Marna Banggara to honor the region’s native Narungga people.
In the language of the Narungga people, the word “Marna” means good, healthy, and prosperous, while “Banggara” means country.
“We are on a mission, if you like, to bring back some of these native species that have gone missing in our landscape since European colonization,” said Derek Sandow, the project manager.
The team installed a 15-foot perimeter fence to keep predators out and create 150,000 hectares of preserved land for the first members of the brush-tailed bettongs to be brought back from extinction, which the Narungga people call yalgiri.

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The group individually sourced the creatures from several remaining populations in the country to diversify the genetic pool. Nearly 200 bettongs were introduced into the protected area from 2021 to 2023.
“We’ve reduced fox and cat impacts to a level that’s low enough for these yalgiri to be reintroduced and for them to actually find refuges, find food, and to survive themselves,” Sandow said.
Brush-tailed bettongs were the first animals to be reintroduced into the region because they are vital to the ecosystem. Their main source of food is fungi, along with seeds, bulbs, and insects, which they must tunnel into the ground to find.
One bettong can turn two to six tons of soil per year. The digging allows air to circulate in the soil, promotes water filtration, and helps seedlings take root, benefitting other species. So far, the reintroduction project is a huge success.
A recent survey has revealed that 40 percent of the brush-tailed bettongs were descendants of those originally introduced in the protected area. A total of 22 out of the 26 females were carrying offspring in their pouches, a sign that they were healthy and breeding.
Over the next several years, the team hopes to return other locally extinct species to the region. It could even have positive effects on industries like tourism.
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