Southern brown bandicoot reintroduction at Booderee National Park

The southern brown bandicoot (eastern subspecies Isoodon obesulus obesulus) is a nationally threatened marsupial. The bandicoot was once common in Booderee National Park, but became locally extinct about 100 years ago. Following 17 years of fox control by Parks Australia, conditions were considered suitable to trial the reintroduction of bandicoots in 2016 when 11 bandicoots were released. The park is unfenced and intensive fox management remains ongoing. Before this project, there were no published reports on the outcomes of earlier reintroductions of the species, nor guidance to inform future projects. To address this knowledge gap, we monitored the fates of the 11 bandicoots released and investigated dispersal, home range, habitat selection and the factors (e.g., sex, body mass, release order) that influenced survival.