Island Arks - Northern Quoll Translocation
One of the native animals most threatened by the spread of cane toads through the Top End is the northern quoll, with scientific research showing that quolls disappear from most areas colonised by cane toads, soon after the toad’s arrival.
In 2003, to prevent the possible extinction of this species in the Territory, a small number of northern quolls were captured from the Territory mainland and relocated to two islands off the Top End coast, under the Northern Territory Government’s Island Ark program. The 64 founder individuals have found these islands much to their liking. By December 2007, the population size on these two islands had increased to more than 5600 individuals.
- Final Report - Northern Quoll Translocation (pdf 1 MB)
In addition to the Island Ark funding, this translocation program has been supported by funds from Australian Geographic, the Threatened Species Network and the Natural Heritage Trust, with in-kind support from the Territory Wildlife Park and Parks Australia.
Traditional owners of these islands and the Gumarr Marthakal Indigenous rangers have been instrumental in the success of this program, and this successful collaboration has been one of the notable features of the quoll translocation.
This translocation program has ensured the ongoing survival of northern quolls in the Territory. In years to come, it may be possible to re-locate quolls from these islands back to their ancestral mainland homes.
The quoll research and management program has also included two other main components, both supported by funding from the Natural Heritage Trust’s Strategic Reserve Program, as prioritised by the National Cane Toad Taskforce.
One project investigated the natural occurrence of northern quolls on Territory islands.
Quolls are now known to occur naturally on 10 Territory islands, providing some security from the threat posed by cane toads. Their persistence on these islands is heavily dependent upon keeping cane toads from colonising them.
The other project examined the pattern of persistence of some northern quoll populations with cane toads in Queensland.
Northern quolls have suffered a very serious decline in Queensland largely because of cane toads, but still remain in some particularly rugged rocky areas. Their persistence in these areas is probably due partly to their high habitat suitability for quolls (allowing them to support relatively large numbers of quolls) and severe selection pressure for quolls that behaviourally avoid toads.
