A 40-square-kilometre predator-proof zone in the north west of NSW will offer protection to vulnerable native mammals.
Predators like rabbits, cats and foxes have been eradicated from the enclosure.
Over time, greater bilbies, burrowing bettongs, western barred bandicoots, golden bandicoots, western quolls, greater stick-nest rats and crest-tailed mulgaras will be returned to their homes, without the threat of feral predators.
“There are many native animals that we haven’t seen in this area in decades because they’ve been killed off by feral foxes and cats,” Minister for Environment Matt Kean said.
The UNSW Wild Deserts team established the feral-free zone in the Sturt National Park as part of the NSW Government’s Saving our Species program, which has committed $42 million to reintroduce locally extinct species in western NSW.
The bilbies, some of which are being bred by the Taronga Conservation Society Australia, will be the first animals to be set free in their new home.
Learn more about the Saving our Species program
Learn more about the Sturt National Park
