Quolls and possums thriving in the Flinders Ranges a decade on from their reintroduction

Latest monitoring by the Bounceback program shows populations of the quolls and possums, both previously locally extinct, were healthy and resilient.

National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) rangers and volunteers set 162 traps for five nights across the Flinders Ranges, where they caught, scanned and carefully released 135 western quolls and 30 brush-tailed possums.

Bounceback, in partnership with the Foundation for Australia’s Most Endangered Species (FAME), successfully reintroduced western quolls in 2014 and brush-tailed possums in 2015 and is currently working to establish red-tailed phascogales in the Gawler Ranges.

Talitha Moyle National Parks and Wildlife Service Reintroduction Ecologist said that despite the harsh summer conditions in the in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges, the populations of western quolls and possums are doing well.

"Wilpena is one of the only places in Australia where campers might see a western quoll in the wild," Ms Moyle said.

"If you are incredibly lucky, your camping trip might go to the next level in terms of spotting endangered wildlife. The key is to be quiet and to use a torch."

Of the 135 western quolls captured, 81 were new to the monitoring team, proving that, despite a harsh and dry summer, a healthy and viable population is adapting and flourishing in the Flinders Ranges.

The western quoll once ranged 70 per cent of Australia but became extinct everywhere except Western Australia in the late 19th century. The 30 brush-tailed possums captured, including 12 new ones, matched a 2024 record.

As part of the Bounceback program, The Department of Environment and Water and FAME have established three safer havens for endangered species in South Australia’s Far North since 2013 and, in 2024, entered a new partnership to create three more over the next three years.

FAME Chief Executive Tracy McNamara said it took bold action – and a belief that it could be done – to return the western quoll and brushtail possum to the Flinders Ranges.

"The safer havens are unfenced areas, each about 500km2, where feral animals, are substantially reduced to allow reintroduced native animals to thrive," Ms McNamara said.

Relocating bilbies, restoring bassian thrushes and protecting threatened plants are among 11 projects to be undertaken in the Flinders, Gawler and Gammon ranges. The projects will help increase climate resilience and create refuges for species reliant on cooler, wetter and higher areas of the Flinders Ranges.