Conservation

Endangered tiger quoll presence confirmed in The Otways, Victoria

The Genetic Insights team at cesar has confirmed that scat (that’s poo to most of us) found in the Bellarine Peninsular and Great Otway National Park is that of the rare spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), also known as a tiger quoll. This is the first confirmed evidence in 13 years that quolls are active in the area.

The quoll is the largest carnivorous marsupial remaining on mainland Australia. It is a top of the food chain predator with a large home range, so is not found in high numbers.

Chance encounters and sustained efforts of Parks Victoria, the Department of Sustainability and Environment, and the Conservation Ecology Centre (CEC) resulted in three separate findings representing different individual Tiger Quolls within the Bellarine Peninsular-Otways National Park area over the past few months.

The scats were confirmed as that of a Spotted-tailed (Tiger) Quoll after DNA analysis by cesar.

“Scats contain DNA from the source animal, so the species which left the scat can be determined using species specific DNA markers” explains Anthony van Rooyen of cesar’s Genetic Insights team.

“We are currently undertaking further testing to help better understand the origins of these three animals”.

Cover image: Photo by Lucy Clausen, DSE Victoria

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