News Release:
Threatened bettongs find a safe refuge at Yaraandoo
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Date 20/1/03 No 006/03 A colony of threatened rufous bettongs (rat kangaroos) has found
a predator-free haven at the Yaraandoo Environment Centre, east
of Armidale. Late of the University of New England where they were bred, the
27 endangered marsupials, which used to be regarded as a pest to
crops and home gardens, will occupy a 7-hectare protected enclosure
where they can breed and be the subject of further study by UNE
researchers. The plight of the bettongs, part of a study by UNE’s Professor
Peter Jarman into breeding endangered species and releasing them
into safe sites in the wild, had been problematic as their numbers
grew with no habitat safe from foxes and wild cats presenting itself. Yaraandoo proprietor Lorraine Smith heard about the difficulty
and stepped in to include the colony in the Environment Centre,
and she obtained sponsorship from the Australian Wildlife Foundation,
Wesfarmers Landmark, Ducat's Earth Moving, Conservation Volunteers
Australia, and Friends of Yaraandoo to build the enclosure. The bettongs, rabbit-sized relatives of wallabies, have been released
over a period of a week with the last two ceremonially installed
in their new home at the launch yesterday by UNE's Vice-Chancellor,
Professor Ingrid Moses, and the Member for Northern Tablelands,
Richard Torbay.
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For Professor Jarman, a world expert on marsupials, whose research
on grey kangaroos led to the award-winning film Faces in the Mob,
the opportunity to continue studying the bettongs could yield some
significant practical benefits. Bettongs feed on fungi around eucalyptus
roots that assist the trees to take up nutrients, and they may be
vital in spreading those beneficial fungi. Some bettongs at Yaraandoo
will carry radio transmitters so that Dr Karl Vernes, of UNE, can
track whether they find the underground fungal fruiting bodies and
where they disperse the spores. After white settlement, bettong numbers in Australia became so
great that they were nominated a pest and scalp bounties paid for
their removal. The only wild colonies now in existence are in some
parts of far north-eastern NSW and Queensland, where dingoes keep
the foxes at bay. Media contact: Professor Peter Jarman, School of Environmental
Sciences and Natural Resources Management, UNE, Armidale (02) 6773
2194 or Lorraine Smith, Yaraandoo, (02) 6775 9219. A photograph illustrating the release of the bettongs is available for download. It shows (back row from left) Armidale-Dumaresq Mayor Councillor Brian Chetwynd, Vice-Chancellor of UNE Professor Ingrid Moses, Member for Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay, and Lorraine Smith of Yaraandoo; (front row from left) Professor Peter Jarman of UNE and Jack Gordon of Yaraandoo. |
