NUMBATS

So what is a numbat?

The numbat is a small carnivorous marsupial between 35 and 45 centimetres long, including the tail. It can vary in colour from grey to a reddish-brown. Usually there is a patch of red on the back. Numbats also have between four and eleven white stripes across their hind-quarters, these becoming lighter towards the mid-section. They also have a black stripe running from their nose through the eye to the base of each ear.

The numbat has a long sticky tongue which it uses to collect its only food: termites. It does not have strong enough claws to dig into a termite mound but must collect up the termites as they go to feed or in the shallow tunnels which led to their food supply. An adult numbat requires about 20,000 termites a day. The numbat is diurnal, that is it is active during the day, unlike most marsupials which feed at night.

The numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) is also known as the banded anteater or walpurti. It once used to range across most of southern Australia but is now limited to two small pockets in Western Australia and two feral controlled area, the Yookamurra Sanctuary in South Australia and the Scotia Sanctuary in NSW. It is classified as endangered. Perth Zoo has been conducting a breeding program which has re-introduced about 150 numbats back into the wild. The numbat is the emblem of Western Australia.

Numbats are solitary creatures and they establish a home territory of about 1.5 square kilometres. They feed during the day and rest in a burrow or hollow log or tree during the night. Numbats breed during February and March, having one litter a year of four young. Numbats do not have a pouch. Numbat predators are pythons, foxes, cats and birds of prey.

The photographs on this page are actual camera trap photographs of the animals we just released. Some of the nubats have collars and some don't. Photos kindly provided by AWC and Scotia sanctuary.

STAGE TWO AT SCOTIA

After some time off and a few thousand kilometres its back to Scotia Sanctuary to release and then monitor numbats from Perth Zoo. I was delayed a little while the car got new tyres and new brakes, not sure why as I never use the brakes. The weather was extremely hot and I pulled up the first night beside Benanee Lake, near Euston. I put up a mosquito net and left the van doors open. A cool breeze blew across the lake and through the van, it was the coolest night sleep I had had for a while. In the morning I awoke to birds chirping. It was a very pretty place and I spent a few hours here swimming, having breakfast and photographing birds.

A wood swallow at Benanee 

Then it was on to Manildra for groceries before heading out to the sanctuary. Once there I unpacked and then headed out for the night-time mala monitoring and feeding. It was very hot at Scotia. During the monitoring in my little tent the sweat was rolling down my face and despite the Aeroguard the insects gave me no peace. Monitoring only went until about 2 in the morning. Back at camp it was too hot to sleep and I found that the electricity in my block was blacked out. This wasn't good preparation for a 5am start.

An emu, spotted on the approach to Scotia.

The mala being fed at night.

The next morning we headed out to find two numbats. A young one, Nicolas, was being monitored to see if he was coping by himself. He had a collar so we located where he was sleeping and then put a camera to see if he was by himself or still with his mother. After this we looked for a female called Nana. She had not been sighted for a while. We tried to find her signal but without success. After returning to camp I was loaded up with equipment and then dropped back in the area where Nana was last spotted. I had a back pack with water and food and a snake bandage. I had a hand radio, a satellite phone, a GPS and the telemetry box and aerial. I also took my camera. The next few very hot hours were spent walking transects through the bush scanning for the missing numbat. I didn't have any success.

A sand goanna.

In the afternoon the rest of the volunteers went out to set up logs and water dishes for the new numbats arriving. I was left at camp because I had just come back and was due to do telemetry for the mala that night. Unfortunately an electrical storm came over and the telemetry had to be called off. 

Birds using a favoured watering point

Early next morning we again set out and found Nicholas and put a new camera at the entrance to the burrow he had slept in. Then I joined the team doing numbat surveys as they were one member short. Louise and Megan drive around the dirt roads at 10 to 15 km/hour and try to spot numbats and goannas. They record the position of any they find. This goes on for about 4 hours. This morning we saw a lot of goannas but no numbats. Usually they do see at least one each day, and one day they saw some juveniles playing and were able to take some good pictures. More storms and the monitoring was again cancelled, though we still had to go out and feed the mala. Despite the storms it is still extremely hot here during the day and the night. Sleeping is difficult.

SURVEYSl

I came to Scotia to help with the pit fall surveys. The plan was to do a 9 day cycle, have 4 days off and then do another 9 day cycle with a different group of volunteers. In a cycle each team erects the pits at three different sites and monitors them over three nights. The sites are physically checked each morning and afternoon and any wildlife in the traps are identified and measured. Then the traps are taken down and put at a different site. This is repeated three times during the cycle.

My monitoring station: home in the desert.

Arriving at Scotia I found the team monitoring the mala at night were short a member so I volunteered to do this job as it wouldn't interfere with the pit fall surveys. The mala monitoring went through the night. Each session of taking telemetry readings on twenty mala would take about 40 minutes. There was a break between each session of at least an hour, but sometimes two or sometimes three hours. This is when sleep happened. The monitoring would last all night.

I have completed the first 9 day survey and thoroughly enjoyed my time here. It was hot, though reasonable. Although at times the work was constant it wasn't in any way excessive or difficult. Although we were monitoring snakes and spiders we were never in any danger and the only problem I had was with a certain spinifex plant. Doing the surveys was a very worthwhile experience. The staff were friendly, knowledgeable and dedicated to their work. Many, but not all, of the volunteers were working or studying in an ecology related field so knew the wildlife we were coming across. While I was grasping the difference between a Royal Ctenotus skink and a Jewelled gecko they were all using their latin/scientific names. This wasn't a problem. I came to appreciate the remarkable variety of reptiles that we have in Australia and especially in spinifex country.

A mala with a radio collar

I also learnt about the mala, an animal I had never heard of before. I saw and learnt about a number of other small mammals, reptiles and 'bugs'. Although I didn't get a photograph (yet) of a bilby they were certainly good to see in their natural state; and I still haven't seen a numbat, but I am sure this will happen when I return. I also learnt a lot about AWC, Scotia and conservation work being done in Australia and in particular pit fall surveys. I would recommend doing a 9 day cycle to anyone......it is a valuable experience.

My plans did change. Now I am regrettably not doing the second pit fall survey cycle but instead will be taking a longer break away from Scotia before returning to do a release of numbats into the wild. These numbats are from Perth zoo which have a numbat breeding program operating with Scotia. There is some preparation to do before the animals arrive to ensure sufficient food sources and nesting sites and then, when they are released, monitoring to make sure they are surviving in the wild.

So here ends phase one at Scotia. I will return in a few weeks for phase two: the numbat release. Surely this will bring me closer to 'the wild ferret'.

Gehyra variegata, a small gecko.

TEAM LEADERS

Flic

During my time here at Scotia I have been very impressed with the staff supporting the research being done. Flic, Amy and Leah have each operated a pit-fall survey team, and Jennifer has made it possible for Bonny to do the research on the mala. All four girls work in these hot dry conditions, and often it is hard work, and I have never once heard them complain or whinge. In fact they are always cheerful and ready to help each other out or give a hand to anyone with any other task which needs doing. This is isolated, tough country and while doing the work you tend to get covered in dust, but at all times these four leaders seem to be able to remain very feminine and lady-like. Yep, haven't seen them chew tobacco or spit once! They also have an extensive knowledge of the country, the fauna and the flora.

My team leader is Flic (Felicity). She grew up in Orbost, eastern Victoria. She has already completed a Bachelor Degree in Environmental Science and Honours at Deakin University. She studied the Masked and Sooty owls while working as a Park ranger in Bairnsdale. After a short spell at Tidbinbilla she gained a job at Scotia in 2008, first, as a Land Management Officer, and then as part of the ecology team. She is currently studying a Masters of Wildlife Management through Macquarie University. Flic says she loves what she does and does not see it as work but rather as a way of life. She takes pride in doing a job with such an important purpose.

Amy

Leah

The other two pit-fall survey teams were led by Leah and Amy. Leah grew up on a dairy farm at Mil-lel, a town near Mount Gambia in South Australia. She has a Ph.D for her work on the reintroduction of Tamar wallabies. Leah has been here for nearly two years as a Wildlife Ecologist. Amy is at Scotia doing an internship with the ecology team It is supposed to be for six months but she has been here for nine already. She has been working as an ecology consultant for the past 5 years in Brisbane after completing her Science Degree with honours. She enjoys the chance to work with endangered animals. Since being here she has gained a lot of experience handling snakes as her pitfall survey teams always leave the snakes to the team leader to deal with.

The telemetry team I have been working with is made-up with Jennifer and Bonny. Bonny comes from Armidale and is collecting the data on the mala as part of her degree. Jennifer is the team leader and works at Scotia. She began here about six and a half years ago as a Land Management Officer. Now she works as a Field Ecologist. Most of Jennifer's work is with telemetry and management of the numbat population at Scotia.

Jennifer

FERAL ANIMALS

A section of the feral free fence at Scotia.

Scotia Sanctuary is 65,000 ha in area. It contains 11 distinct ecosystems. It is home to 20 species of mammals, 145 species of birds, 47 species of reptiles and 2 species of amphibians, (and a number of volunteers). At least 44 of these species are on the threatened wildlife list; and there are 9 known threatened plant species. Currently there is 12,000 ha on the property which has been fenced off and is feral free. These feral free areas are vital for endangered wildlife populations to allow them to stabilise and begin to grow. The pressures put onto these populations by feral predators and introduced pests can mean the difference between extinction and survival of the species. For example, one of the last two remaining mainland populations of Mala in the wild were wiped out by a single fox. Of course, these fences can't keep out all predators, owls and birds of prey can still take some victims. 

Feral goats are a widespread pest in Australia

Two of the common feral pests found around Scotia are goats and feral cats. Goats are estimated to roam over more than a quarter of Australia and they are plentiful over a wide area here. They have a major effect on native vegetation, not only by overgrazing but also by the soil damage they cause. Goats can also disperse weeds by carrying seeds in their droppings. They also do considerable damage fouling waterholes. While goats are not a predator they do have a negative carry-over effect on native populations by disrupting and destroying the environment the native population rely upon for survival and by competing for the resources those animals need.

Feral cats, to my mind, pose the biggest threat to Australian wildlife. There are an estimated 12 to 18 million feral cats. An individual cat may kill between 1 and 15 lizards, birds or small mammals a night. If we calculate the total number of wildlife killed on a regular basis it is no wonder cats are credited with driving many species of native fauna into extinction. One study found that even individual domestic cats were killing around 50 birds a year. Another study found that in a surveyed test area cats were killing over half the bird population in a year and disrupting the production of young so that the bird population was relying on birds coming from outside that area to keep the population viable. It is not difficult to imagine the entire population of mala at Scotia being wiped out by feral cats if it wasn't for the feral free fence being in place. AWC continues to fence more areas with these fences and there is always plenty of work for volunteers erecting fences.

Rabbits used to be widespread and in plague proportions.

An interesting project is happening in southern Queensland where wild dogs are a problem to sheep graziers. In the past wild dogs have been shot, trapped or baited. A pack of dogs might kill up to 30 sheep in one attack, and some farmers were losing as many as 700 sheep in a season. To combat these dog attacks graziers are now putting wild donkeys in with the sheep. The donkeys bond with the mob and then protect them. The donkeys themselves are from feral stock in the Northern Territory where they are a pest and exist in their thousands. So far 128 donkeys have been transported to southern Queensland.