The Iemma Government must take bold action to revive the eastern quoll (Dasyurus vuverrinus) population in New South Wales, or admit failure and declare it extinct in this State, Liberal MP Michael Richardson said today. 

“Listing the animal as ‘endangered’ only legitimises the Government’s do nothing approach,” Mr Richardson said.

“The DECC’s recovery plan is a single sentence: ‘If rediscovered in NSW, undertake an immediate assessment of the status of the population, identify any threats and determine the appropriate recovery actions.’

“The Government has no recovery plan, which is a clear indication it doesn’t expect to find a live eastern quoll in NSW.

“The last confirmed sighting of an eastern quoll in this State was at Nielsen Park, Vaucluse, in 1963.

“How long does it take before an animal is presumed extinct? In Victoria the eastern quoll was last seen in the 1950s, and it has been officially extinct for some years. Why the difference between the two States?”

The eastern quoll, a marsupial carnivore about the size of a cat, was once widespread across NSW woodlands, grasslands and open forests, but populations declined sharply at the beginning of the 20th Century. 

“The only priority recovery action the Department of Environment and Climate Change has identified is to report any sightings. That’s not good enough, ” Mr. Richardson said.

“But there is another option. The eastern quoll is still common in Tasmania, so why not re-introduce, say, 30 animals from across Bass Strait into Kosciuszko National Park or a fenced off area closer to the coast where they can re-establish themselves?

“Compared with dropping rat poison all over Lord Howe Island to re-introduce a giant stick insect it should be a piece of cake.

“Either the Government should take positive action to return the eastern quoll to NSW, or declare it extinct in this State. The current situation achieves nothing.”

The NPWS ATLAS database lists 38 extinct species in NSW, 25 of which are mammals: five mice, four rats, four bandicoots, four bettongs, three wallabies, two quolls, one phascogale, the numbat and the northern hairy nosed wombat.


 
Figure 1: Eastern Quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus), http://www.viridans.com/pageone.html



Figure 2: Reported sightings of the Eastern Quoll in NSW.