Australia's endangered eastern quoll population thriving with new joeys in Tasmania

SYDNEY — Conservation efforts for Australia’s endangered eastern quoll have taken a hopeful turn with the recent birth of joeys in the wild, offering a glimmer of hope for this rare marsupial. The eastern quoll, a small, nocturnal carnivore once abundant along Australia’s eastern coast, has faced drastic population declines due to habitat loss, disease, vehicle strikes, and predation by invasive species. Once so widespread that early settlers referred to it as a "native cat," the species was declared extinct in the wild on the Australian mainland by the 1960s. However, recent discoveries suggest the animal may have persisted longer than records indicate, with a taxidermied specimen reportedly found in Barrington Tops in 1989 and later identified in 2016.

Today, the eastern quoll survives primarily in Tasmania, where it remains vulnerable despite a wild population estimated between 10,000 and 12,000 mature individuals, according to the IUCN Red List’s 2014 assessment. Research from 2023 indicates that eastern quolls once thrived in northern and eastern Tasmania but have experienced dramatic declines since 1985, with sharp drops around 2000 and 2009. "Some of the research over the last decade shows a concerning downward trajectory in eastern quolls in Tasmania," said David Hamilton, a conservation ecologist with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy and the University of Tasmania.

Scientists are investigating multiple threats to the species, with feral cats emerging as a major concern. Rob Brewster, rewilding manager for the Invasive Species Council, noted that cats have directly contributed to eastern quoll deaths in Tasmania. "We can directly implicate cats in the decline of eastern quoll populations in Tasmania," he said. Despite these challenges, conservationists are pursuing "rewilding" efforts to help stabilize and grow populations. Rewilding involves reintroducing animals into suitable habitats to restore ecological balance.

A 2025 study documented the release of 20 captive-bred eastern quolls in 2020 at Silver Plains, a 6,500-hectare conservation property. However, genetic testing of juveniles in 2021 and 2022 revealed that none of the released adults had reproduced successfully, likely due to their lack of wild breeding experience. Undeterred, researchers adjusted their approach and released a mix of adults and juveniles at The Quoin, a 5,000-hectare conservation site. This strategy proved more effective, with captive-bred quolls successfully reproducing and contributing to the next generation.

While rewilding efforts in Tasmania show promise, reintroducing eastern quolls to the Australian mainland remains difficult. Liz Gerber, conservation and community engagement manager at Sydney Zoo, explained that eastern quolls have a natural "flight or freeze" response, which helps them evade aerial predators but leaves them vulnerable to ground predators like foxes and cats. A 2018 pilot program in Booderee National Park saw 14 of 20 released quolls killed by foxes within three months. Sydney Zoo has since launched a breeding program, releasing nine quolls, including four joeys in January 2026, into the fox-free Bannockburn Rewilding Sanctuary south of Sydney.

The eastern quoll plays a vital ecological role as a scavenger and predator of small mammals and insects, helping maintain ecosystem balance. "They are a really important scavenger in our environment. We have lost that key role in our bushland, the little recycler that stops the spread of disease," Gerber said. Conservationists hope that continued efforts will restore this missing ecological function and secure the future of the species.

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