A photograph of a rarely seen cat-sized Aussie predator has got experts who study the elusive creature excited. Although it’s hard to spot among the high native grasses, the animal has been identified as an endangered spotted-tail quoll.
Ecologist Paul Revie from Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland told Yahoo News the species is seldom seen in the wild because it’s quite “cryptic” and numbers have plummeted due to human impacts. “There’s probably 5,000 or 6,000 in total across the whole of eastern Australia, so it’s very thin on the ground. Numbers are massively down on what they originally at,” he said.
People usually only photograph quolls after they’ve become trapped in a pen after attacking chickens. Because they’re so unknown as a species, he fears this “ beautiful and ferocious animal” could disappear without too much fanfare.
What’s most remarkable about the photo is that it shows a nocturnal quoll during the day — a sight that’s extremely uncommon. “Seeing one like that out in the open, out in the light, it’s like a reflection on what Australia would have been like 200 years ago,” Revie added.
Related: 📸 Man’s encounter with rare quoll: ‘Most beautiful creature I’ve ever photographed’
Spotted-tail quoll numbers have dramatically declined since European settlement. Source: Getty
Predator that once dominated landscape face new threat
Before Europeans released invasive species into the landscape, quolls were one of ancient Australia’s most dominant apex predators. Revie describes them as a “miniature weapon”, noting that although they only weigh between 2 and 6kg, individuals have been known to take down a 16kg wallaby.
When Europeans first tried to release rabbits onto the continent, they were unsuccessful because the quolls simply predated them all. “It wasn’t until they started poisoning and shooting all the quolls that rabbits were able to establish,” Revie said.
Once foxes and cats began to dominate the continent, quolls retreated and became less common during the day. “They’ve had to change their behaviour and they’re just not around in the same numbers,” Revie said.
Foxes also brought with them a deadly parasite that triggers a disease called mange, which is now also frequently found in wombats. It causes infection, hair loss, blindness, inhibits mobility and eventually results in death.
Today, seeing quolls wandering during the day can be a sign they’re infected and can’t see that the sun is shining. But Revie is hopeful the individual in the photo is actually healthy and thriving despite the mounting pressures it faces.
Researchers use photographs to help map quoll strongholds
The photo was collected as part of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland’s Quoll Seekers Network. The program collects hard evidence of quoll sightings to help map where they live.
The quoll was documented near the NSW town of Tenterfield, which is near the border of Queensland. The wider region has been a well-known stronghold for the creatures, where they’ve withstood attacks from invasive predators and the destruction of habitat by humans.
But now new threats are putting more pressure on the animals. Not only is mange an emerging problem, but cane toads are also expanding their range due to climate change. Sadly the invasive amphibians are the perfect meal size for quolls, but they have poisonous glands that cause sickness and death.
“Little quolls are quite silly and naive and will have a go at anything they can get their mouths on, so cane toads are an easy target for them. That’s why over the last 30 or 40 years we’ve seen quolls disappear from a lot of the lowlands in South East Queensland and northern New South Wales,” Revie said.
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