Southern Brown Bandicoot Recovery Program

The Southern Brown Bandicoot (SBB) Recovery program was one of the first projects initiated by the Biosphere.

The Recovery Program was started in 2003 and continued through the Growing Connections project (2012- 2017).  In 2020, the Foundation became the secretariat for the Regional Recovery Group (SBB RRG), formalising our role as a champion for the bandicoot.

The Southern Brown Bandicoot is listed as nationally endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and threatened in Victoria under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. Until the 1970s, the Southern Brown Bandicoot was common in the heathy woodlands that occurred in the Western Port region. Today, there remains only one relatively secure site and elsewhere only isolated patches of habitat remain, with few surviving bandicoots. The conservation of these fragmented populations, on land managed by many private landholders and public agencies, poses a significant challenge.

With support from the Wettenhall Environment Trust, the RRG’s Research Officer has completed a comprehensive study of the available bandicoot habitat in Bass Coast Shire.

Read the Report Here

This important piece of work adds weight to the arguments of our colleagues at Save Western Port Woodlands

The SBB RRG’s major work areas are:

  • On-ground actions to control foxes, and improve and reconnect habitat
  • Research and monitoring to provide a scientific basis for management using self-triggered cameras including significant contribution to the Western Port Biosphere Growing Connections project
  • Community engagement
  • Contributing to state and federal government recovery plans and  Species Strategies

View a historical report on Southern Brown Bandicoots in the Biosphere Reserve

High priority actions for the future include:

  • Extend and improve bandicoot habitat and reserves. Reconnect the landscape.
  • Implement effective control and monitoring of pest predators.
  • Accurately survey known habitat and collect habitat and environmental information relevant to community ecology and condition.
  • Control (or at least reduce) threats from road mortality.
  • Further clarify the taxonomy and genetic status of populations to enable an accurate conservation status assessment of the taxon.
  • Improve the control of companion animals, particularly dogs and cats.
  • Analyse and compare population census data with management histories.
  • Assess the need for, and feasibility of, a captive breeding population.
  • Heighten public awareness of the recovery program, including encouraging the public to report bandicoot sightings.

Planning for the translocation of Southern Brown Bandicoots into West Gippsland

The Biosphere Foundation is pleased to announce another major initiative aiming to support the regional recovery of the Southern Brown Bandicoot, both in terms of numbers and genetic health.  With support from the Gippsland Transport Environmental Projects – Pilot Program, and in partnership with Parks Victoria and the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, the project will include a study on the feasibility of translocations and, most importantly, the identification of suitable source populations and release sites around which future translocations can be planned.

The project will run for 12 Months from September 2022 to August 2023.

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Acknowledgement to Country The Western Port Biosphere Reserve Foundation acknowledges the Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work. First Nations peoples are the original caretakers of the land and waterways and hold the truth, the stories, and the knowledge necessary for creating a sustainable future. We recognise their continued connection to the land and waters. We pay our respects to the Elders past, present, and emerging. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal Land.