ABC Southern Qld / By Tobi Loftus
Posted Thu 6 Jun 2024 at 6:44am
- In brief: Fifteen northern hairy-nosed wombats have been relocated to Powrunna State Forest near St George in South West Queensland.
- The species is one of the world’s most endangered animals, with just over 400 of the creatures alive.
- What’s next? Up to 60 northern hairy-nosed wombats will be moved into their new home, the third secure habitat for the species in Queensland.
A 1,000 per cent increase in Queensland’s northern hairy-nosed wombat population since the 1980s means the endangered animal will be found in a new part of the state for the first time.
Once common across eastern Australia, by the 1980s only 35 northern hairy-nosed wombats remained in Queensland after land clearing and pests destroyed much of their habitat.
Conservation work over subsequent decades increased that population at Epping State Forest in central Queensland to about 400, and to 18 at the Richard Underwood Nature Refuge (RUNR) near St George.
That population boom has led to the establishment of a new conservation and breeding site — the 2,800-hectare Powrunna State Forest near St George.
Fifteen marsupials have spent their first month at Powrunna — about 500 kilometres west of Brisbane — after being relocated from central Queensland.
A wombat enters a burrow
The first of 15 wombats have been moved to Powrunna State Forest. (Supplied: Queensland Department of Environment and Science)
Leanne Brosnan from the Wombat Foundation, an advocacy group set up to help conserve the species, said it was the “culmination of many years of hard work and planning”.
“Even at 400, they’re still one of the most endangered animals in the world,” she said.
“So, while this is very exciting, and you know hopefully their future will now be assured with Powrunna, there’s still a long way to go for the species.”
