Quoll-ity Conservation: A Victory for Eastern Quolls

This World Wildlife Day, we’re celebrating a significant wildlife achievement that has been years in the making, focused on achieving quoll-ity conservation outcomes!

The highlight of this success is the eastern quoll—a marsupial carnivore that was declared extinct in the wild on mainland Australia over 50 years ago but has managed to persist in Tasmania. Unfortunately, since the early 2000s, eastern quoll numbers in Tasmania have been in decline. While the species has made a strong recovery in some areas, in others, the quolls have disappeared entirely or are barely holding on.

A partnership formed through an Australian Research Council Linkage grant, and supported by the Elsie Cameron Foundation and the National Environmental Science Program’s Resilient Landscapes Hub, is working to reverse this decline. The goal is to secure a brighter future for eastern quolls both in Tasmania and on mainland Australia. Collaborating in this effort are the University of Tasmania, the Tasmanian Land Conservancy, WWF Australia, and the Tasmanian Quoll Conservation Program. Together, we have been researching the factors driving eastern quoll decline in Tasmania. By deploying camera networks and conducting targeted surveys, we’ve begun to map the landscape from the quolls’ perspective—identifying potential threats, prey, and habitat features.

This data has enabled us to take actionable steps to address these declines. By supplementing struggling quoll populations in areas with minimal ongoing threats, we’ve made a meaningful impact. A key part of this effort has been the support of a dedicated, conservation-minded landholder—the Quoin, a private property in Tasmania’s Midlands, which is committed to innovative regeneration practices. Additionally, the eastern quolls involved in this project were bred through a captive-breeding program run by four partner sanctuaries: Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, Devils@Cradle, East Coast Natureworld, and Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary. Together, these organizations make up the Tasmanian Quoll Conservation Program, which plays a crucial role in supporting and safeguarding eastern quolls, as well as their cousin, the spotted-tailed quoll, in the wild.

With the right landholder, a suitable environment for eastern quolls, and a supply of quolls ready for release, we had all the ingredients for a successful conservation translocation. In early February, 24 eastern quolls underwent thorough health checks before being released into their new home at The Quoin. The habitat here is ideal for eastern quolls—open grasslands teeming with potential prey, low numbers of introduced predators, and abundant denning sites.

These eastern quolls are being carefully monitored in their new home to track their health, movements, and habitat use as they settle in. The data we gather will help us understand the essential features of the environment that support eastern quoll survival in the wild, and will refine our methods for future translocations. For instance, during this release, we experimented by releasing some quolls alongside their siblings. However, these individuals showed little interest in staying together, possibly relieved by the absence of familial tensions after close quarters in captivity.

In the years to come, this project will conduct additional translocations to further bolster eastern quoll populations in the wild and provide critical insights into how we can reintroduce this species to mainland Australia. A heartfelt thanks to all our partners, funders, students, staff, and passionate volunteers whose collective efforts are making this conservation success possible.