Eastern Quolls once lived across Australia. They are now listed as Vulnerable under federal legislation, and extinct on the mainland after no confirmed sightings have occurred outside of Tasmania for over 50 years. The last recorded mainland sighting was in Sydney in the early 1960s.
At 60 cm in length and between 900 -1300 grams in weight, the Eastern Quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) is smaller than a pet cat.
Eastern Quolls are carnivourous and have soft black or fawn coloured fur, dotted with distinctive white spots. Compared to the larger Sspotted-tailed Quoll, the Eastern Quoll is slighter in size and has a more pointed muzzle.
Until recently, Eastern Quolls were considered widespread and locally common in Tasmania. Quolls were found in a variety of habitats including rainforest, heathland, alpine areas and scrub. They seemed to prefer dry grassland and forest mosaics which are bounded by agricultural land, particularly where pasture grubs are common.
Tasmania once seemed the last remaining refuge of Eastern Quolls. Today, however, spotlighting and live-trapping surveys are finding that Eastern Quolls numbers are declining rapidly. Reasons for the rapid attrition rate are not currently understood. The recent introduction of foxes into Tasmania, and their contribution to the Eastern Quolls’ extinction on the mainland, may represent a significant contributing factor.
Native marsupial carnivores such as the Tasmanian Devil,the extinct Tasmanian Tiger or Thylacine, and Quolls are considered iconic species not only in Tasmania and Australia, but also worldwide.
Sadly, these species have suffered disproportionately overrecent history, with the Thylacine becoming extinct in 1936 and the Tasmanian Devil suffering local population declines in recent years as a result of the fatal Devil Facial Tumour Disease.
In 2011, funding from the Foundation is helping to prevent the Eastern Quoll from going the way of the Thylacine.
Foundation Projects
Key Threats to Eastern Quolls
In 2011, the Foundation is funding important research into the key threats to the Eastern Quoll. This species, extinct on the Australian mainland, appears to be declining in its last refuge - Tasmania. PhD student, Bronwyn Fancourt, is investigating the reasons behind this decline and her findings will have important implications for future Recovery Plans for Eastern Quolls.
