Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus obesulus)
Description
- The Southern Brown Bandicoot (eastern) is a medium-sized marsupial that lives on the ground.
- It has small, rounded ears, a long-pointed snout, and a compact body with a short tail between 11-12 cm long.
- It has black spiny hairs and a softer grey underfur, making it look brown from a distance. Its belly is creamy-white.
- Its front legs are short with curved claws, and it has longer back legs, similar to kangaroos.
- Its pouch faces backwards.
- Adults weigh between 400 – 1600 grams. Males are heavier than females.
- It’s an omnivore, digging through leaf litter and soil to eat insects, fungi, and plant roots. Sometimes it eats fruit, seeds and other plants.
- It breeds year-round, with more activity in spring where females have 2-3 litters each year, with 1-4 joeys per litter.
Find out more about the Southern Brown Bandicoot on Canberra NatureMapr.
Where to find them
The Southern Brown Bandicoot has a patchy distribution across New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
Much of the Southern Brown Bandicoot’s habitat and population has been lost since European settlement. Its range has shrunk by 50–90%. The species is now spread out in small, isolated groups.
In the ACT, the species was thought to be extinct, until remains were found in 2003. Some bandicoots have since been spotted between 2016-2018 in Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. Southern Brown Bandicoots were also translocated to the Sanctuary within Tidbinbilla.
The Southern Brown Bandicoot lives in areas that are:
- coastal
- dense, such as wetland edges or heathland.
Bandicoots are shy and stay close to cover to avoid predators. They build nests on the ground under plants and sometimes use burrows made by other animals.
Conservation threats
The main threats to the Southern Brown Bandicoot include:
- predation by foxes, feral cats and domestic cats
- habitat loss from land clearing or timber harvesting
- change or fragmentation of habitat
- frequent or large fires
- vehicle strikes
- climate change
- competition with rabbits
- disease such as toxoplasmosis.
Conservation status
- National – Endangered (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999).
- Australian Capital Territory – Endangered (Nature Conservation Act 2014).
Conservation actions
The ACT is out of the range where the Southern Brown Bandicoot lives. If the species has been spotted in the ACT, it has been by chance or is within the Tidbinbilla sanctuary. The best habitat for the species is in reserved areas, so more conservation areas aren’t required.
Conservation aims include to:
- reduce known threats
- study the distribution, number and structure of known populations of the species in the ACT
- identify key features of habitats that are important for the species
- manage pest animals
- include habitat protection in fire management plans
- work with regional and national groups to support research, surveys, and monitoring programs.