How Predator‑Free Fences and a Training Zone Are Restoring the Outback

Bilbies, bandicoots and burrowing bettongs disappeared from north‑west New South Wales after cats, foxes and rabbits hunted them to local extinction.

In 2016 the Wild Deserts project launched with the aim of re‑introducing seven species that had vanished from the region, including crest‑tailed mulgaras, stick‑nest rats, western quolls and Shark Bay bandicoots.

The first technical hurdle was to create safe havens. Two 2,000‑hectare fenced exclosures were constructed inside Sturt National Park and, after intensive predator removal, were declared feral‑free in early 2019.

With the fences secure, the team released the first crest‑tailed mulgaras and bilbies in 2020. In the following months Shark Bay bandicoots, golden bandicoots, bettongs and western quolls were also introduced.

Beyond the fences lies a 100‑square‑kilometre ‘wild training zone’ that hosts a low density of feral cats. This area allows the newly released animals to practice predator‑avoidance behaviours before they move into the broader landscape.

By first protecting animals in predator‑free enclosures, then exposing them to a controlled level of threat, the project teaches native mammals to recognise and evade feral predators – a skill they never evolved with. Researchers hope this training will boost long‑term survival once the animals disperse.

Early monitoring shows breeding populations of bilbies, bettongs, golden bandicoots and quolls emerging in the training zone, and their digging is already improving soil turnover and seed dispersal, signalling a recovering desert ecosystem.

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