Aussie Ark 13.8.2024_eastern quoll joeys

Aussie Ark discovers 41 eastern quoll joeys during pouch check

Transcript

00:00This is my favourite time of year, pouch checking our endangered eastern quolls.

00:12Eastern quolls breed in winter, so every winter we check the females in our species recovery

00:16unit to see how well they're doing and how many joeys we have.

00:21Today we're checking eight females, six of these were born at the Ark and the other two

00:25joined the program from Dunkeld in Victoria.

00:32Always so magical to open a pouch and see the young inside.

00:36And she has one, two, three, four, five, six.

00:42When they are first born, they are bald, blind and the size of a grain of rice.

00:47Up to 30 are born, but only the first six to secure to mum's six teats survive.

00:53950 grams, and she has some joeys, very tiny, two, three, four, five.

01:04As they get older, their distinctive spots become visible.

01:08They are so exquisite and so precious.

01:11Another full house, one, two, three, four, five, six.

01:16And they're about date size, quite big.

01:19This species was once widespread along Australia's eastern seaboard, but was wiped out by the

01:24feral fox and cat.

01:26By the 1960s, it was declared extinct on the mainland.

01:29It's now only found in the wild in Tasmania, but sadly the population continues to plummet

01:34due to the ferals, habitat loss and road strike.

01:40Aussie Ark has the largest breeding and rewilding program of eastern quolls in the world.

01:44We literally stand between them and extinction.

01:48Our pouch checks today revealed 41 new joeys born at the Ark.

01:52That's an incredible result, and more than last year.

01:55She's got six.

01:56The joeys will stay in the pouch for around three months and are fully independent by

02:00the start of summer.

02:03The joeys we saw today have a wonderful future.

02:05Most of them will be released into the Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary to enjoy a truly utopia

02:10existence.

02:11No ferals, no land clearing and no cars.

02:14Similar to the world their ancestors enjoyed pre-colonization.