PROJECT UPDATE - KANGAROO ISLAND DUNNART - APRIL 2020
It's nice to be able to share positive news at this time!
Last weekend, an article published in Adelaide's The Advertiser reported on the progress on Kangaroo Island (KI) three months after the devastating bushfires that burnt approximately one third of the Island.
Now synonymous with other threatened species found on KI, including the Glossy Black-cockatoo, the Bassian Thrush and the Southern Emu Wren, the Kangaroo Island Dunnart has become somewhat of a 'superstar' for native endangered species.
To recap, fires on the Island in December 2019 and January 2020 burnt 95% of habitat of the remaining Kangaroo Island Dunnarts. An unburnt patch of bushland located within the fire scar, a patch located thanks to helicopter surveys funded by FAME, enabled the on-ground team to react and quickly discover Dunnarts surviving against all odds.
In collaboration with FAME and Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), predator-proof fencing of the Western River Refuge is now complete.
This week, Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife (KILfW) excitedly shared the news that sensor cameras installed on a different property on the Island had captured images of new populations of the KI Dunnart. It's now imperative to safeguard the area from feral cats and build protective refuge tunnels to help the population continue to survive.