Win for endangered woylie efforts

BOUNDING away in the blink of an eye, releasing a woylie into the wild is a challenging task for Department of Parks and Wildlife officers.

BUT their efforts have been rewarded, having recently achieved the largest translocation of the critically endangered species ever undertaken in Western Australia.

Woylies are small kangaroo-like marsupials that were once widespread across Australia.But due to the threat of predators like foxes and feral cats, they are now found in only a handful of locations in WA, South Australia and western NSW.In June, 181 woylies were captured in the Perup Sanctuary near Manjimup and relocated to two separate sites in nearby state forest that are regularly baited and monitored for introduced predators.The 420ha fenced-off sanctuary supports the most genetically diverse woylie population in WA, with numbers increasing from 41 to about 600 over the past four years.Environment Minister Albert Jacob said it was becoming increasingly important to translocate some of the woylies into areas outside the enclosure as the sanctuary neared capacity.It was also important to introduce new woylies to ensure ongoing genetic diversity and population health among the species, Mr Jacob said.It is believed the woylie population peaked a decade ago at more than 250,000, but numbers have since declined by about 90 per cent.In September 2013, woylies were classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, meaning they are on the brink of extinction in the wild.

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