Woylies moved to new homes to help survival

• Eighty woylies transferred from South-West to Wheatbelt and Mid-West 

Up to 80 critically endangered woylies have been moved to three sites from the Department of Parks and Wildlife's Perup Sanctuary, near Manjimup, to help with recovery efforts of the species.

Environment Minister Albert Jacob said the recovery of the woylie, a small marsupial, was a part of the Liberal National Government's Western Shield wildlife conservation program, which was working to reduce the threat of foxes and feral cats on native animals.

About half the woylies have been taken to Australian Wildlife Conservancy's (AWC) wildlife sanctuaries at Mount Gibson, 350km north of Perth, and Karakamia at Chidlow, about 50km north-east of Perth.  The remaining woylies have been transported to Dryandra Woodland, near Narrogin in the Wheatbelt region.

The woylies moved to AWC properties have been released in feral predator-free sanctuaries to supplement animals that were moved to these sites in 2015, while the animals moved to Dryandra have added to the wild population there and increased the genetic diversity of this important population.

"The Perup Sanctuary supports the most genetically diverse woylie population in the State and this transfer of the marsupials is part of conservation efforts focused on establishing insurance populations across a range of locations," Mr Jacob said.

The woylie population is estimated to be less than 20,000 in Australia, including 400 to 600 of the marsupials in the Perup Sanctuary, with the only wild populations remaining in Dryandra and the Upper Warren in the State's south-west.

The Minister said genetic diversity of woylies at Perup and in the wild made them the most important in Australia.

"These wild populations remain vulnerable to predation by foxes and cats and potential disease outbreaks," he said.

"The partnership between Parks and Wildlife and AWC enables us to increase our capacity to conserve wildlife while also, and most importantly, increasing the number of populations of a critically endangered species."

Fact File

• Woylies were once widespread across southern Australia but were reduced to three small south-west WA populations by the 1970s

• Under Western Shield, at least 53 threatened mammal and bird species remain in existence in areas that have been baited for foxes and feral cats 

Minister's office - 6552 5800