12 Southern Brown Bandicoot at Tharwa, ACT
Identification history
| Isoodon obesulus obesulus | 25 Jan 2025 | MichaelMulvaney | ||
| Isoodon obesulus obesulus | 24 Jan 2025 | CarbonAI | ||
| Perameles nasuta | 24 Jan 2025 | nathkay |
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Significant sighting
DonFletcher noted:
25 Jan 2025
First ever record of a whole animal (not bones at an eagle nest) of this species in the wild, in this region. Declared threatened in NSW.
User's notes
Old record from Feb 2023. No obvious signs of cause of death. Specimen gone when I went back to collect.
7 comments
DonFletcher
wrote:
24 Jan 2025
@nathkay I'd like to get some details right please. (Why? Because we should get stuff right in any case but also because this is the first record of this species in the ACT as a whole wild animal. It was previously known from bones and fur in eagle nests at Wanniassa and Rob Roy in 2003. Extensive searches in following years failed to find the source population. Later the species was introduced by local staff to the enclosures at Tidbinbilla but some individuals quickly escaped through holes in the fence. So your animal may have been either a descendent of the captive ones, or part of the 'missing' local wild population which was the source of the bones and fur.)
The photo shows the animal on a road but the location given is not on a road. Could you please correct the location. Second, could you please confirm all other details, such as the date, and that the specimen was not collected nor any samples taken (other than a photo) and that it has completely disappeared?
The photo shows the animal on a road but the location given is not on a road. Could you please correct the location. Second, could you please confirm all other details, such as the date, and that the specimen was not collected nor any samples taken (other than a photo) and that it has completely disappeared?
DonFletcher
wrote:
28 Jan 2025
@nathkay has confirmed the location is correct - on a sealed walking track to Gibraltar falls.
YumiCallaway
wrote:
16 Feb 2025
@DonFletcher may I inquire on your stance towards the sensitivity of this sighting? I would like to prompt a discussion, as I must admit I was a bit confused when I first saw the comment thread in late Jan.
At the moment, the location information of the sighting is suppressed. However, this is undermined when the location is mentioned in your comment. Is there no longer a need to treat the location information with sensitivity?
Personally, I would support managing the information such that it is available as necessary to relevant people. This is despite the sighting being 2 years old, and of a deceased specimen, as sightings of this nature garner quite a bit of attention across the platform and beyond.
Would be happy to discuss it and hear your thoughts :)
At the moment, the location information of the sighting is suppressed. However, this is undermined when the location is mentioned in your comment. Is there no longer a need to treat the location information with sensitivity?
Personally, I would support managing the information such that it is available as necessary to relevant people. This is despite the sighting being 2 years old, and of a deceased specimen, as sightings of this nature garner quite a bit of attention across the platform and beyond.
Would be happy to discuss it and hear your thoughts :)
DonFletcher
wrote:
17 Feb 2025
Hi @YumiCallaway, Oops! I had not realised it was suppressed. Where does it tell me that?
I'm not aware of a good reason for suppressing it because this species is not desirable for private captive keeping and is difficult to detect and difficult to harvest. On those grounds a lot of reptiles which we don't suppress would be better candidates for suppression imo. Also it is not the kind of species which both attracts people to view it and is sensitive to their presence like e.g. a Wedge-tailed Eagle nest. Please consult other opinions though, as well as mine.
Also I'm not aware of good reasons to concern ourselves with the question many people are raising in discussions on email and verbally, as to whether this animal originated from the captive colony at Tidbinbilla. (Apparently the gates were left open in 2020 when the bush fire was approaching.) The point is made in a way to discount the record. However if there are SBB living out there in the wild, it does not matter for conservation purposes whether their origin was deliberate reintroduction, accidental reintroduction, or whether they are a remnant natural wild population. Remains of SBB were found in eagle nests during WTE research in 2002 and 2003, well before there was a captive colony at Tidbinbilla. Therefore we have known since 2003 that there is a wild population of SBB somewhere in the Canberra area. If this record is not from that wild source, there is another wild source yet to be found in the area. You can contact me separately if you like on don.fletcher999@gmail.com or 0428 48 9990.
I'm not aware of a good reason for suppressing it because this species is not desirable for private captive keeping and is difficult to detect and difficult to harvest. On those grounds a lot of reptiles which we don't suppress would be better candidates for suppression imo. Also it is not the kind of species which both attracts people to view it and is sensitive to their presence like e.g. a Wedge-tailed Eagle nest. Please consult other opinions though, as well as mine.
Also I'm not aware of good reasons to concern ourselves with the question many people are raising in discussions on email and verbally, as to whether this animal originated from the captive colony at Tidbinbilla. (Apparently the gates were left open in 2020 when the bush fire was approaching.) The point is made in a way to discount the record. However if there are SBB living out there in the wild, it does not matter for conservation purposes whether their origin was deliberate reintroduction, accidental reintroduction, or whether they are a remnant natural wild population. Remains of SBB were found in eagle nests during WTE research in 2002 and 2003, well before there was a captive colony at Tidbinbilla. Therefore we have known since 2003 that there is a wild population of SBB somewhere in the Canberra area. If this record is not from that wild source, there is another wild source yet to be found in the area. You can contact me separately if you like on don.fletcher999@gmail.com or 0428 48 9990.
Location information
- Maps Namadgi National Park
- Places Tharwa, ACT
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- nathkay Recorded by
-
Collections
nathkay NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Significant Featured NSW Government Priority Species ACT threatened species Isoodon obesulus obesulus Other Small Marsupials Small Marsupials Mammals
Additional information
- Deceased Animal health
Species information
- Isoodon obesulus obesulus Scientific name
- Southern Brown Bandicoot Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Endangered *
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 998.59m Recorded at altitude
-
Synonyms
Isoodon obesulus obesulus
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes