Current project

Education for best-practice cat management to decrease impacts on biodiversity -Protecting Potoroos and their Native Neighbours -Project Summary 2022-2024
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The Two Peoples Bay/Manypeaks/Waychinicup region, a short 35 km northeast of Albany, is a mixed farming area with three major nature reserves and the Waychinicup National Park. This area is highly significant to residents, tourists, the scientific community, and the Minang Traditional Owners. Two famous endemic and threatened fauna species live exclusively in the area, the Gilbert’s Potoroo and Noisy Scrub Bird, as well as more recently the first attempt to re-establish a population of the Critically Endangered Western Ground Parrot commenced. (see images below)In addition, there are 10 other threatened fauna species with significant populations in this area including the Australasian Bittern, Western Ringtail Possum and Quokka. Many groups have carried out work to protect these remarkable animals in this area including the Department of Biodiversity and Conservations and Attractions (DBCA), BirdLife WA, the Gilbert’s Potoroo Action Group (GPAG), Friends of the Western Ground Parrot and more.  One of the main threats these animals face is that of feral cats. ​

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Pezoporus flaviventris - Western ground parrot Kyloring Click photo for more information

Atrichornis clamosus — Noisy Scrub-bird, Tjimiluk Click photo for more information

Potorous gilbertii - Gilbert's Potoroo - Ngilkat Click photo for more information

The Oyster Harbour Catchment Group with 30 years of natural resource management are very excited to support the Albany and Surrounds Feral Cat Working Group to implement the “Protecting Potoroos and their Neighbours” project. Jenni Loveland, founder of the Albany and Surrounds Feral Cat Working Group has been working since 2019 to educate the community about the best ways to keep pet cats safe and contained, reduce the stray and barn cat population, and encourage landholders to reduce feral cats on rural properties.
The Albany and Surrounds Feral Cat Working Group (ASFCWG) has recently received a grant from State Natural Resource Management to implement a project to value-add to the introduced predator management works currently taking place in the area. The aim is to increase community awareness of this remarkable biodiversity hotspot, focusing on the importance of protecting the 13 threatened species and the damage/impact feral and roaming cats have on the native wildlife population. 

The ASFCWG will fill the role of a community liaison officer working with Two Peoples Bay/Manypeaks/Waychinicup residents, Noongar groups, school children, and the general public to encourage sustainable social change. The role will include fostering the benefits to cats by keeping them safely contained to your property; discovering barriers and opportunities for feral control; providing education to the community about how to protect the special biodiversity of this unique region, and keeping the community updated on the significant investment DBCA, DPIRD and many others have made in protecting native animals and local productivity.
Jenni will be supported in this project by the Oyster Harbour Catchment Group for administrative and logistical assistance DBCA, DPIRD, and for technical information concerning fauna, and Gilberts Potoroo Action Group, Friends of the Western Ground Parrot, South Coast Natural Resource Management, Birdlife WA, and other organisations for advice on the current projects and works being implemented throughout this region.

Potorous gilbertii - Gilbert's Potoroo - Ngilkat Click photo for more information

Gilberts Potoroo- Potorous gilbertii -  Ngilkat

This little cutie is not very common at all, and many people haven’t even heard of them. So, who is it and where do they live?
There are five types of potoroos recorded in Australia with sadly at least one probably extinct. Our local Potoroo the Gilbert's Potoroo is in great peril with fewer than 100 individuals. It desperately needs our help to survive.
The Gilbert's Potoroo is medium-sized, smaller than a quokka, and can sometimes be mistaken for a Quenda or Southern Brown Bandicoot to the untrained eye.
Weight: Adult males, 1100g, adult females 900g
Head and body length 270 mm
Tail length 210 mm
The coat is thick, soft, and grey-brown with fur continuing lightly down the tail. The tail curls up tightly when the animal is resting. The ears are rounded and almost completely buried in the fur.
These small marsupials hop on their long hind feet similar to other members of the kangaroo family. They dig for food with their forefeet which have long curved claws but are also able to handle food items with dexterity.
Their diet is specialised with over 90% being made up of native underground fungi (sometimes called "truffles"), which they dig up to 10cm to find. Berries, fleshy seedpods, and insects are also eaten but only in very small quantities.
Not much is known about reproduction, but studies have shown that females can produce a single pouch young when under 12 months old, with males maturing around two years of age. They produce young at any time of year 4-6 weeks after mating and the young stay in the pouch for three to four months. Unlike other marsupials, they have a very quick transition and within a week, they have permanently left the pouch but will still suckle from mum for about a month and then leave the mother’s home range when about 6 months old.
The only known natural population lived within Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve. They need unburnt dense sedges and scrubland, where they search for food at night and rest during the day in bowl-shaped nests under spreading sedges, well hidden beneath the shrub canopy.
The biggest threats to the Gilberts potoroo are cats, foxes, and fire.
In 2015 a lightning storm ignited a fire at Two Peoples Bay resulting in the destruction of over 90% of suitable habitat there leaving only a handful of survivors. The species was saved from extinction by the earlier establishment of two safe haven populations by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation, and Attractions in anticipation of just such a catastrophic fire.
Gilbert's Potoroo is the perfect prey size for both foxes and cats, which both frequent the area. Both fox and feral cat control is being undertaken regularly at Two Peoples Bay and has increased since the fire to protect the handful of survivors.
We too can help the potoroo by controlling foxes and feral cats on our properties, sterilising all cats by 6 months of age, including “barn cats” and containing pet cats. Unwanted cats should be rehomed or sent to a rehoming facility and never left to fend for themselves in the bush.

For more information on the Gilberts Potoroo or to donate please visit https://www.potoroo.org/conservation and for information on keeping cats happy inside see https://www.ohcg.org.au/albany-and-surrounds-feral-cat-working-group.html
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For more information on the Gilberts Potoroo or to donate please visit https://www.potoroo.org/conservation and for information on keeping cats happy inside see https://www.ohcg.org.au/albany-and-surrounds-feral-cat-working-group.html

See monthly stories on the local species that live in the area.