Caring two hoots for bandicoot

THE Southern Brown Bandicoot Regional Recovery Group held its inaugural meeting at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Cranbourne this month.
The group was established following a community meeting in June this year, when more than 75 people called for the Western Port Biosphere Reserve to initiate a regional recovery group to implement plans to save the endangered southern brown bandicoot.
The group is made up of members of the community and representatives from local governments and state agencies.
The southern brown bandicoot, which is nationally endangered, was once a common local species.
It is now rare in south central Victoria, with the exception of a small, secure population in the gardens and some small scattered groups across the Biosphere Reserve.
At the meeting on 4 November, Sarah Maclagan, a PhD research student at Deakin University and a member of the recovery group, shared preliminary results of her GPS tagging project that is revealing previously unknown information about the nature of southern brown bandicoot movements in the landscape.
The research is expected to provide critical information needed to create effective biolinks across the reserve’s landscape.
These links will allow safe movement of the animal to ensure natural dispersal, genetic diversity and mitigate climate change.
Biosphere Reserve chairman Rob Gell said the new group would be very beneficial.
“This community initiative is one very important way the biosphere is fulfilling its charter, providing leadership and promoting co-operation to achieve a rich and sustainable future in our Western Port Biosphere Reserve,” he said.
Considerable work has already been done by the group under its bandicoot recovery program and by its partners.