HMST helps Eastern Barred Bandicoots

The Helen Macpherson Smith Trust has provided $63,000 in funding to support an important project set to save the Eastern Barred Bandicoot (EBB) from extinction in the wild.

In Australia, the mainland Eastern Barred Bandicoot (EBB) is extinct in the wild as a result of fox-predation and loss of habitat. To save this species from complete extinction, it desperately needs fox-free habitat. Large, fox-free islands in Victoria are the EBB’s best prospect for survival. Together with Zoos Victoria and the EBB Recovery Team, Nature Parks released 20 EBBs in August 2015 to 50-ha fox-free Churchill Island, off the coast of Phillip Island.

This population is doing very well so far, and this new funding has allowed the employment of a dedicated research scientist to monitor the survival and behaviour of EBBs on Churchill Island and existing wildlife at a proposed release site on Phillip Island. This monitoring is critical to evaluate suitability of local conditions for EBBs and contributes to the knowledge-base that informs EBB release programs elsewhere in Victoria.

This project brings together conservation organisations, government agencies, community groups and volunteers in a shared effort to conserve biodiversity. We look forward to bringing you updates on this project as it progresses.