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More than 30 wildlife-tracking cameras have been filming in Litchfield National Park for almost 12 months, but researchers are yet to spot the endangered northern quoll.
The population of northern quolls is under threat in Litchfield National Park, with research underway locally to try and capture a rare glimpse of the native animal.
Wildlife cameras have been filming in Litchfield National Park for almost 12 months, but the nationally endangered northern quoll is yet to be spotted. PhD candidate Ryan Sauermann says feral animals, such as cats and cane toads, have contributed to the native species' population decline. Ranger Darius Nasir warns "we won't see them again" if the decline continues, and Mr Sauermann wants pet-owners to help limit the threat to wildlife.
For nearly a year, Ryan Sauermann has been scouring the Top End's Litchfield National Park in hopes of catching a glimpse of a northern quoll — but he's yet to spot one. The University of Melbourne PhD student believes the once-common marsupial may now be locally extinct in the region. Supplied: Parks and Wildlife"We started out hoping to set up a captive breeding and rewilding colony, given how quickly their populations have declined," he said.
"Now the PhD project has turned more into where are they, are they even still around, and if not, why? " Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife ranger Darius Nasir has been helping Mr Sauermann with the research. The senior park ranger used to spot the nocturnal northern quolls "almost every night", but said it's now been four or five years since he's seen one.
ABC News: Dane Hirst"Around 2009, 2010, I used to see them all the time around my house … my dogs would be going off and it'd be quolls, quite abundant quolls back then,"Mr Sauermann said the spread of cane toads was largely to blame for the decline in the native species.
"As the cane toad front moves through, we're losing 85 to 95 per cent ," he said.research in Queensland confirmed spotted-tail and northern quolls were "functionally" extinctRyan Sauermann, alongside rangers and other researchers, has set up a number of cameras around the national park, in hopes of capturing footage of northern quolls. Mr Sauermann said changes to fire management and other feral species also posed major threats to northern quolls, which are listed as "endangered" nationally, and "critically endangered" in the Northern Territory.
"The introduction of feral predators — cats especially — are a big issue. "Mr Sauermann has set up more than 30 wildlife-tracking cameras throughout the nationalFilming equipment has been set up in Litchfield National Park, but none of the cameras so far have captured a glimpse of the endangered northern quoll. Food is used to attract animals to these "camera traps", with footage showing a variety of feral animals and other wildlife sniffing around the area.
"We've gotten quite a lot of buffalo and pigs, we've gotten a fair few cats, but no quolls at all so far,""It's been north of 4,000 nights of camera trapping, which means 30-plus cameras deployed for almost a year. "Citizen science is also playing a big role in the study, with Mr Sauermann doing everything he can to raise awareness about the plight of the northern quoll.
"In Litchfield where we've got a lot of tourists, I've been putting up flyers around park that say, 'If you see a northern quoll, please give me a shout'," he said. "I've reached out to a number of Facebook groups … but unfortunately, those have yielded very limited success so far. " A wanted poster, on display inside the national park, urges visitors to report any sightings of the northern quoll.
Mr Sauermann has been flying from Melbourne to the Top End "every couple of months" since late last year — and said he will keep coming back, despite so far not locating any quolls.
"Just because we're not finding anything right now doesn't mean that they're not here, doesn't mean we should stop looking," he said. The PhD candidate said, aside from dingoes, the carnivorous northern quoll is "probably one of the apex predators out here". Researchers say feral cats and cane toads inside Litchfield National Park are threatening the species.
"They're the ones managing, not just insect populations, but also other rodent populations," he said.quolls in northern Australia was "greatly important"and he feared the possibility of an ecological snowball effect if the "quite cute" animals were wiped out. Northern quolls used to be abundant in the NT, but the Litchfield-based research project has confirmed the population is declining.
Widllife Threat National Park Research Native Animal Quoll Extinction Quolls Population Decline Quoll Population Northern Quoll Extinction
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