The sightings were made at Mallee Cliffs National Park, and Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary, where the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) has been working with national park staff to reintroduce numbats into predator-free areas.
In total, seven young numbats were observed – five at Mallee Cliffs, including a rare set of quadruplet siblings and two more at Scotia.
Quadruplet of Numbat juveniles at Mallee Cliffs. (Image: Brad Leue/ACW)
Once widespread across arid and semi-arid Australia, numbats were driven to the brink of extinction by feral predators and habitat loss. By the 1970s, they had vanished from much of their range, surviving only in small pockets of south-west Western Australia. In New South Wales, they are officially listed as extinct.
The juveniles seen at Mallee Cliffs are believed to be the great-great-grandchildren of numbats reintroduced in 2020. Conservation staff described the moment as surreal, with the young animals seen playing, napping and even approaching humans out of curiosity.
“They were just cruising around, falling asleep and playing with each other. The bravest of the lot even ran up to me to check me out before scurrying back – it wasn’t scared at all,” the AWC land management officer Michael Daddow said in a press release.
At Scotia, the recent sighting was especially encouraging after the population there had declined due to the severe 2018–19 drought. According to AWC, these new observations suggest conditions are improving and the population is beginning to rebound.
Numbats, which are diurnal and feed exclusively on termites, are notoriously difficult to spot in the wild. Seeing multiple juveniles is not only rare, but a promising sign that conservation efforts are helping the species recover.
Visit ACW to learn more about their work with numbats.
Image credits to Brad Leue and ACW.
Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.