Aussie Ark spotlight to shine a light on noctural lives of Eastern quoll.s 4 April 2024
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00:00 (Music)
00:07 So we're out here in the Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary
00:10 on a night time quest for some eastern quolls.
00:13 Let's see how we go.
00:15 Grab your torches, we're heading into the Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary
00:18 to shine light on the beloved eastern quoll.
00:21 Tonight we have a beautiful full moon
00:23 and we're going spotlighting in the Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary.
00:26 Spotlighting in the sanctuary is always a thrill.
00:28 You really feel like you're a detective.
00:30 The eastern quoll is one of the most iconic species
00:33 that is part of Aussie ARC's breeding and rewilding program.
00:36 And tonight's the night we get to observe them.
00:40 So this is the quoll's favourite, just some minced meat.
00:43 Incorporates a lot of good supplements, some kelp, some calcium.
00:46 Put it in a nice high spot so just the quolls can get to it.
00:50 Although these quolls are living in wildlife,
00:52 we still provide food regularly.
00:55 A fresh meat site is the perfect place to steak them out.
01:02 They're able to find their food in the dark
01:04 thanks to their incredible eyesight and their sense of smell.
01:07 Another amazing part of their evolution is the beautiful spots on their coats.
01:11 This is thought to mimic dappled moonlight which aids them with their camouflage.
01:18 Last night while we were searching for eastern quolls
01:20 in our Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary,
01:22 we had some amazing encounters with so many other species.
01:24 So just up in front of us we have a Tasmanian devil.
01:26 We saw a dozen Tasmanian devils.
01:28 We saw 39 endangered greater gliders.
01:31 Huge long black tails, beautiful white bellies, looking very healthy.
01:36 And we had some amazing encounters with over a dozen rufous bedongs
01:40 and we even saw them foraging.
01:43 As part of our search we also set up four remote sensor cameras
01:47 where we hope to capture more footage of eastern quolls coming to dine.
01:52 Upon checking the camera trap footage the following day,
01:54 I'm so excited to be able to see this footage.
01:58 This footage from the camera traps really enables us to see the secret lives
02:01 of these endangered eastern quolls.
02:05 Soon Aussie Arc in partnership with WWF will be releasing some of our quolls.
02:12 Tonight was all about checking on our quolls to make sure they're fully prepared
02:16 and we've got even more confidence from what we saw.
02:20 Aussie Arc is trying to raise $100,000 to help secure the future of this species
02:24 back on mainland Australia.
02:26 If you'd like to help us and secure this mission,
02:28 head to aussiearc.org.au and donate today.
02:31 [no audio]