The ambitious trial to reintroduce native marsupial species into Sturt National Park is on track, say Wild Deserts conservationists.
Western quolls, bilbies and golden bandicoots are slowly taking back a 'low-cat' area of the desert - the massive Wild Training Zone of more than 100km2 in Sturt National Park in NSW.
The resurgence of these species is a result of the 'beyond the fence' initiative in Sturt National Park that is part of the Wild Deserts Partnership Project. It involves an alliance between UNSW Sydney's Wild Deserts team, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Taronga Conservation Society Australia.
"Seeing quolls, bilbies and golden bandicoots establishing themselves 'beyond the fence' is very encouraging and tells us we're on the right track," said UNSW Centre for Ecosystem Science Principal ecologist, Rebecca West, of Wild Deserts.
"These species do really well in the feral-free areas, but now the challenge is to train them up to recognise feral predators and evade them. We're already seeing success and are cautiously optimistic this will enable them to once again thrive right across their natural habitat."
These three nationally threatened species became extinct in the wild in NSW about a hundred years ago, mainly because of ecosystem changes caused by rabbits and livestock and predation by feral cats and foxes.
Evading feral animals
In late October 2025, the Wild Deserts team captured 57 individuals from the three species translocated into the Wild Training Zone over the last year. The captures confirmed quolls Dasyurus geoffroii and bilbies Macrotis lagotis survived for longer than 12 months, while golden bandicoots Isoodon auratus had survived for more than three months. These animals had survived despite some predation by cats and movement of quolls and bilbies outside the area into South Australia, Queensland and other areas of Sturt National Park.
"This reflects the effective approach to controlling feral cats that the team has implemented over the last three years, including shooting, trapping and use of Felixer grooming traps," Dr West said.
In further good news, all three species have bred in their new habitat of the Wild Training Zone located at the top corner of New South Wales. The protected area is bordered by the dingo fence in South Australia and Queensland and the constructed feral proof fence built by the Wild Deserts team which was supported by philanthropic donations and funding from the NSW State Government.
"This would not have been possible without the partnership between UNSW and Ecological Horizons in the adaptive management of the area, and the collaboration with NSW NPWS," said Scientia Professor Richard Kingsford, Director of the UNSW Centre for Ecosystem Science and Wild Deserts Project leader.
"Importantly, Taronga bred some of the original bilbies and quolls which have underpinned the project's success."
On November 11, another 21 Taronga-bred western quolls were released into the Wild Training Zone, following their highly successful conservation breeding program at Taronga Western Plains Zoo. The reintroduction of quolls to the Wild Deserts Training Zone has helped re-establish them as top native predator in the desert system where they once flourished.
The latest addition builds on the release of 15 western quolls and 22 bilbies from Taronga's zoo-based programs in April this year. In total, 51 western quolls, 305 bilbies and 234 golden bandicoots have been released into the Wild Training Zone in 2024 and 2025.
Nice problem to have
The project team sees this as the next step in native mammals taking back their desert ecosystems, extending their range beyond the safety of fenced exclosures. The feral predator-free areas in Sturt National Park act as strongholds for threatened species, anchoring recovery efforts that reach well beyond the fences. The addition of golden bandicoots to the Wild Training Zone follows their success within the safe havens, where populations have now reached carrying capacity.
"Inevitably, we need to think about how we are going to effectively establish populations of our native species beyond our fences," said Dr West.
"This will also help us with the looming challenge of having sustainable numbers of reintroduced species in our safe havens."
The Wild Deserts team has had the 'good' problem of having too many golden bandicoots and bilbies in the northern safe haven, 'Thipa', requiring them to move this species to prevent damage to the ecosystem with unsustainable numbers.
According to UNSW Centre for Ecosystem Science ecologist and Wild Deserts Project Manager Dr Reece Pedler, "it is increasingly a 'good' problem to have reintroduced species, such as golden bandicoots and bilbies, breeding up their numbers.
"But, we need to manage populations sustainably, whether in a zoo or in a safe haven. Our 'safety valve' was releasing them into the Wild Training Zone where they are flourishing so far."
Deputy Director of UNSW Centre for Ecosystem Science Professor Katherine Moseby is part of the Wild Deserts leadership team with more than three decades of experience with the management of reintroduced native species.
"Releasing threatened mammals beyond fences is extremely difficult as many are highly susceptible to cat predation. By managing cat densities at very low levels we have seen that some native species can learn and adapt to living with feral cats," she said.
Prof. Kingsford was particularly excited by this latest development.
"We are showing that a holistic approach to ecosystem restoration can really kick goals," he said.
"You can't just 'set and forget'. You have to manage whole ecosystems to deliver results, including the feral species and reintroduced species which can become too numerous and damage ecosystems."
By managing cat densities at very low levels we have seen that some native species can learn and adapt to living with feral cats.
Cautiously optimistic
The collaborative partnership acknowledges that these are early but encouraging results, laying the foundation for future expansion. The project team is investigating how species can adapt to live alongside invasive predators, and which management tools are most effective for supporting this transition.
NPWS Area Manager for Broken Hill, Jaymie Norris, saw increasing opportunities for improving the biodiversity in the parks that he manages, such as Sturt National Park.
"We could even see some of these species start to spread to the east of the park with more effective control of feral cats in particular," he said.
Taronga Wildlife Conservation Officer Rachael Schildkraut was encouraged by the results.
"A key objective for Taronga's conservation breeding program is to ensure our zoo-based breeding programs deliver wide conservation benefits and healthy, genetically-robust animals with behavioural skills to survive post-release," she said.
"We continue to see this with the Wild Deserts Project, with some of the original zoo-bred western quolls now producing wild-born young of their own in Sturt National Park."
The Wild Deserts project is part of a major NSW Government initiative to protect threatened native mammals through the Feral Predator-free Area Partnership Program. It is delivered by NPWS, in partnership with the Wild Deserts team (UNSW Sydney and Ecological Horizons) and Taronga Conservation Society Australia. Funding is provided by the NSW Government, with matching support from UNSW, philanthropic sources and other partners. Taronga's zoo-based breeding of quolls has also been supported through philanthropic contributions.
