Credit: Tom Sayers/AWC
Conservationists are celebrating a major win in Central Australia, with threatened Golden Bandicoot numbers tripling inside a feral predator-free area. The remarkable population growth shows just how quickly native species can bounce back when feral cats and foxes, key threats to native mammals, are removed from the landscape.
Dr Tim Henderson and his team of ecologists now estimate the bandicoot population at Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s (AWC) Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, on Ngalia-Warlpiri and Luritja Country in the Red Centre, at around 300 individuals. That’s a significant increase from the 80 bandicoots reintroduced just two-and-a-half years ago into the sanctuary’s 9,450-hectare fenced refuge, one of the largest non-government protected areas in Australia.
“This kind of growth is exactly what happens to species such as the Golden Bandicoot, when they finally get a break from the pressures of being hunted by cats,” said Dr Henderson. “Bandicoots breed fast, they mature early, and they can have multiple young per year, under favourable conditions.”
“Bringing the Golden Bandicoot back to Central Australia and releasing them into the feral predator-free environment has allowed for their natural rate of increase to kick in, and now they’re thriving.”
The Golden Bandicoot used to be one of the most common small mammals in the arid zone, where it was an important food item for First Nations Peoples. Once widespread across much of the mainland, the species is now listed as ‘Vulnerable’, with remnant populations only persisting on the mainland in a few locations in the north-west Kimberley. The decline from 95% of its former range is believed to be due to predation by feral cats and foxes, exacerbated by grazing and altered fire regimes following colonisation.
In Central Australia, the Golden Bandicoot was extinct for around 60 years until August 2023, when the Ngarinyin People, the Traditional Custodians of Wilinggin Country in the Kimberley, WA, including AWC’s Charnley River – Artesian Range Wildlife Sanctuary, gifted a founding population of 40 bandicoots to the Traditional Custodians of Watakinpirri Country, a rugged mountain range and its surrounding sandplains on Newhaven.
Since then, the bandicoots have rapidly expanded their range within the fenced refuge, with monitoring showing high breeding activity and strong survival rates.
“We recently spent four nights checking up on the bandicoots, and we managed to capture 99 individuals, 92 of which were born at the sanctuary,” said Dr Henderson. “Excitingly, 100% of the females caught during the most recent survey had pouch young or showed signs of recent breeding, so we’re expecting to meet more newbies during future surveys.”
Dr Henderson said bandicoot detections on motion sensor cameras have also increased, from around 8% of cameras detecting bandicoots in September 2023 (one month after reintroduction) to over 60% in September 2025.
“We’re seeing them everywhere,” added Dr Henderson. “I can only imagine how many bandicoots we’ll have running around in another two years.” It is estimated the population could grow to thousands of individuals over time.
AWC delivers Australia’s most ambitious animal reintroduction program, restoring species such as the Golden Bandicoot to establish new populations and boost their overall numbers and genetic diversity. Over the next 10 years, AWC plans to increase protection for threatened wildlife vulnerable to introduced predators by 50%, expanding from 20 to 30 species.
For more information on AWC’s work with the Golden Bandicoot, here.
Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is a pragmatic, on-ground global conservation leader, conserving landscapes and providing hope for Australian wildlife. Informed by science, we deliver measurable conservation impact at scale to secure the future of our most endangered species and their habitats, including restoring degraded landscapes where necessary.
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