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Post by Melanie on Feb 19, 2006 3:24:37 GMT
Researchers celebrate baby potoroo discovery Researchers from the Department of Conservation and Land Management are celebrating the discovery of the first gilberts potoroo to be born and bred on Bald Island, near Albany in southern Western Australia. The potoroo is Australia's most critically endangered species, with less than 40 of the animals known to exist. Four of the small, kangaroo-like marsupials were released on Bald Island last year in an effort to establish a new colony. In December, researchers discovered a baby potoroo that was conceived on the mainland but born on the island. They have now found another young, which is the offspring of two of the animals released last year. The male young is thought to have been born in October and will soon be ready to leave the pouch. www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200602/s1572195.htm |
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Post by Melanie on Feb 26, 2006 2:41:10 GMT
Potoroos breed Ken Matts Thursday, 23 February 2006 THE first potoroo bred on Bald Island Nature Reserve marks the successful translocation of a colony of Australia's most critically endangered mammal, the Gilbert's potoroo. The young male potoroo (Potorous gilbertii) is the offspring of the female and one of the two males released on the island in August last year. The project by the Department of Conservation and Land Management was to increase the conservation status and population of the species. CALM research scientist Dr Tony Friend made the discovery during a routine visit to the island to monitor the translocated animals. The three animals from the initial August release were unable to be located and scientists had some concerns for their welfare during a similar monitoring visit in December. A return trip last month identified that the animals from the first release were not only alive and well, but had their first young, a male, almost ready to leave the pouch. The discovery of the young male potoroo follows the birth of a newborn found in the pouch of a second female adult released on Bald Island in December last year. Environment Minister Mark McGowan said the discovery was good news for the island's potoroo colony as it increased the gene pool of the colony. "Days after her release, it was found that she had given birth to a young female potoroo despite the disruption of being transported from the mainland and released on the island," he said. The Gilbert's potoroo only exists at Mt Gardner in Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve and now Bald Island and the total species population consists of less than 40 animals worldwide. "The species is so critically endangered that the establishment of this additional population is essential," Mr McGowan said. Dr Friend anticipates the male potoroo bred on Bald Island was born about October last year and that it would soon be ready to leave the pouch. He anticipates that the mother will give birth again as soon as her pouch is empty. The nocturnal marsupial, a 1kg relative of kangaroos, feeds almost exclusively on underground fungi and will hold a single young in the pouch for up to four months before weaning. Bald Island was chosen for the translocation as its climate is similar to Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, it has suitable habitat for the survival of the species and is free of foxes and cats. albany.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&story_id=461125&category=General%20News&m=2&y=2006 |
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Post by Melly on Feb 7, 2005 13:38:57 GMT
Gilbert’s potoroo was rediscovered in 1994 after having been considered extinct for over 100 years. The Gilbert's Potoroo was originally found at King George's Sound in Western Australia. It was described in 1840 by John Gilbert. Remains have also been found between Cape Leeuwin and Cape Naturaliste, two locations also found in Western Australia.
With an estimated wild population of less than 30 animals, the Gilbert's potoroo is Australia's rarest mammal, occuring in small, restricted pockets in Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Western Australia.
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Post by surroundx on Jul 22, 2012 6:06:18 GMT
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Post by surroundx on Sept 16, 2012 12:13:13 GMT
SHE'S KNOWN SIMPLY as 216. But she's unquestionably special, and as the small, black bag is peeled back to reveal her long snout and large dark eyes she's greeted with a hushed ripple of reverential "oohs" and "aahs". This is the 216th Gilbert's potoroo to be counted since the species was rediscovered in 1994 after a century on our list of extinct mammals. One of just 100 that remain, this is arguably the world's rarest marsupial: a rabbit-sized, wallaby-like, ball of soft fur that lives almost exclusively on native truffles. We're in a bush enclosure near Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, on the south coast of Western Australia. And the small audience being given this rare viewing includes volunteers who've been labouring to maintain the 8.2km predator-proof fence surrounding a new 380ha reserve, where 216 will eventually be released. "It's such a privilege," whispers Jonica Foss, of Perth, here to pull plants from around the fence to stop cats clambering over. "To think there are so few left and we've just seen one!" The man who's headed the recovery program since it began in 1999 is Dr Tony Friend, a scientist with WA's Department of Environment and Conservation. When we last spoke to him about the potoroo's plight (AG 88) there was little good news. The only natural population, at Two Peoples Bay, had been secured but was at maximum capacity of about 30. The species still hung on a knife edge with the real threat that one fire could wipe it out for good. Gilbert's potoroo is the comeback king "We tried captive breeding," Tony says. "And other things, like cross-fostering - using surrogates from another potoroo species to raise babies." But all had proved expensive with little success. Then, in 2005, the decision was made to risk a couple of adults to establish an 'ark' population on 800ha Bald Island, 25km east of Two Peoples Bay. It had already been used with success to build a population of noisy scrub birds, another species rediscovered in the 1960s at Two Peoples Bay (see map, below). The calculated gamble on Bald Island - which is free from the foxes and feral cats that have been largely responsible for the demise of Gilbert's potoroo and so many other mammal and bird species - worked. After 10 potoroos were released on Bald Island they began breeding, and by early 2010 numbers were great enough to start a second mainland population. Work finished on the new feral-free enclosure where 216 will eventually be released, and at the time of going to press there'd been three mainland releases of Bald Island potoroos and a fourth helicopter airlift of animals was being planned for later this year. With the Gilbert's potoroo population now at a little more than three times what it was when it was rediscovered in 1994 and spread across three locations, Tony's finally comfortable in acknowledging the species has a good chance. "Although," he cautions - after giving 216 a health check and gently releasing her back into her temporary bush home - "we've still got a long way to go." Source: www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/back-from-the-dead-gilberts-potoroo.htm |
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Post by surroundx on Sept 16, 2012 12:20:49 GMT
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Post by surroundx on Dec 2, 2014 5:07:12 GMT
A celebration today will mark 20 years since the discovery of a single population of about 30 Gilbert’s potoroos at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve near Albany. Environment Minister Albert Jacob said Gilbert’s potoroos had been the subject of intensive conservation work by the Department of Parks and Wildlife since the 1994 discovery. The population has increased to more than 100 animals across three colonies. Read more: au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/latest/a/25663372/rare-marsupial-fights-back-from-extinction/ |
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Post by Melanie on Dec 2, 2015 14:19:20 GMT
Emergency action has been taken to protect the critically-endangered Gilbert's potoroo from feral predators following fires in the south of WA. Source: AAP 2 Dec 2015 - 2:07 PM UPDATED YESTERDAY 3:03 PM Once thought to be extinct, the world's rarest marsupial is again under threat from fires and feral animals in the south of Western Australia. The WA government has taken emergency measures to protect the Gilbert's potoroo after a lightning bushfire tore through Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, east of Albany. Environment Minister Albert Jacob said authorities were carrying out aerial baiting in the area to assist the small marsupials, which have had to contend with feral animals as well as the devastating bushfires. Mr Jacob said five of the seven potoroos fitted with tail-mounted transmitters had been found alive after the fires, with more radio-tracking flights planned over the reserve to try and locate the last two. www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/12/02/aerial-baiting-assist-wa-potoroos |
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Post by Melanie on Dec 2, 2015 14:20:42 GMT
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Post by koeiyabe on Dec 4, 2015 21:07:20 GMT
 "Living Things Vanished from the Earth (in Japanese)" by Toshio Inomata (1993) with Eastern Hare-wallaby, Toolache Wallaby, Pig-footed Bandicoot, Thylacine, and Western Barred Bandicoot (clockwise). |
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Post by surroundx on Apr 5, 2017 13:41:44 GMT
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Post by surroundx on Apr 15, 2017 4:11:40 GMT
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Post by surroundx on Nov 16, 2017 12:53:11 GMT
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Post by surroundx on Nov 28, 2017 2:12:32 GMT
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Post by surroundx on Mar 5, 2018 11:45:55 GMT
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Post by surroundx on Jul 1, 2018 9:54:05 GMT
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Post by surroundx on Oct 6, 2018 7:57:22 GMT
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Post by koeiyabe on Jan 3, 2019 1:14:35 GMT
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