On this page:

• Bilbies
• Chuditch
• Red Kangaroos
• Woylies
• Echidnas
• Tawny Frogmouths
• Malas
• Bobtail lizards
• Quendas

Bilbies are a special type of marsupial known as peramelids (bandicoots or bilbies). They are rare and considered one of Australia’s endangered species. Bilbies are roughly the size of a rabbit, with long, silky, blue-grey fur on their bodies. Their lower limbs and the end half of their tail are white, while the other half of their tail is black.

Bilbies have long ears, like rabbits. Appropriately, their scientific name is Macrotis lagotis, which means “hare-eared big-ear”.

Bilbies have a light and delicate build and are able to put on surprising bursts of speed. They also have powerful forearms that they use to dig for food and to burrow, (burrows can be as long as 3 metres and nearly 2 metres deep). Attempts to dig a bilby out of its burrow have often resulted in the animal making a frantic extension to its burrow in order to escape.

Bilbies have poor eyesight but make up for this with acute hearing and a well-developed sense of smell. They are shy and nocturnal, generally spending the days in their burrow where it is cooler and foraging for food at night when the outside temperature drops. They sleep sitting back upon their tails with their heads tucked down between their forepaws and ears folded forward along their face. Bilbies may use a dozen or more different burrows within their home range, with the entrance to the burrow often disguised near a termite mound, spinifex (small prickly grass) tussock or small shrub.

Bilbies are omnivorous, eating both protein and vegetable matter, ranging from insects such as ants and termites and their larvae, to seeds, bulbs, fruit and fungi. Large amounts of soil are consumed with their food, with 20 to 90% of their excrement being made up of sand. These amazing animals obtain most of their water from their food, rarely needing to drink.

Marsupials (such as bilbies, kangaroos, wombats and possums) are a special kind of mammal, differing from other mammals such as bats, rodents and whales because of the way they produce their young. Marsupials give birth to tiny, live babies that are naked, blind and have undeveloped hind legs. This baby uses it forearms to drag itself through its mother’s fur to one of the nipples, where it latches on, suckling milk and completing its development until it is ready to venture into the wide world.

Bilbies can breed throughout the year, although breeding depends on rainfall. Male and female bilbies have been known to mate almost continually for 24 hours, literally until the point of exhaustion. Although female bilbies have eight nipples they rarely raise more than two or three babies at a time. Bilbies have rear opening pouches so that they don’t flick dirt into their pouches by accident when they are digging. The young remain in the pouch for 75 to 80 days after birth, after which they remain in a burrow, being suckled for a further two weeks before becoming independent. Bilbies can raise up to four litters annually and they usually live for around six years.

In the late 1800s a large number of bilbies were hunted for their skins. In the 1900s bilby populations have continued to decrease dramatically due to fire, habitat degradation, grazing and predation by foxes and feral cats. Bilbies used to be found across 70% of continental Australia but are now restricted to around 20% of their former range, living in the driest, hottest and least fertile desert areas where the introduced predators cannot survive.

The Wildlife Centre has been breeding bilbies in captivity for eight years, providing animals to the Department of Conservation and Land Management for release into the wild across a number of locations in Western Australia, supplementing the existing populations. To feed 11 bilbies for one week the Centre needs 35 kg of fruit and vegetables, nearly 1 kg of live mealworms and 700 grams of pellets.

The western quoll, native cat or Chuditch (choo-ditch) as they are known in an indigenous Australian language (Nyoongar), are the largest carnivorous marsupials in Western Australia. Chuditch have soft grey-brown fur with 40-70 white spots randomly scattered over their head and back, large rounded ears and a pointed muzzle. They also have a long tail with a dark, brushy end. Males weigh in at around 1.3 kg and females at just under 1 kg.

They are usually active from dusk to dawn, foraging for food on the ground, and have been known to occasionally climb trees in search of prey or to escape from predators. These animals eat a wide range of food, primarily small invertebrates such as scorpions, crickets and spiders, although they also eat small mammals (such as woylies, numbats, rodents and southern brown bandicoots), small lizards, and bird and reptile eggs. On occasion chuditch supplement their diet with the red pulp surrounding the Zarnia seed, as well as a variety of small fruits and parts of flowers.

Chuditch have been found in a wide variety of habitats from karri, marri and jarrah forests to woodlands, beaches and deserts. However, they appear to favour woodland, where there are lots of places to hide and find food. Chuditch generally make their dens in hollow logs and burrows, although they have been known to make use of bird nests.

Chuditch are generally solitary animals. Males can have a home territory of up to 15 km squared and females of up to 4 km squared however while the males’ territory will often overlap with that of other males and females, the females’ territory rarely overlaps with that of other females. Both males and females usually have a ‘core area’ of their home territory that is defined by their various dens.

Marsupials (such as Chuditch, woylies, kangaroos, wombats and possums) are a special kind of mammal, differing from other mammals such as bats, rodents and whales because of the way they produce their young. Marsupials give birth to tiny, live, babies that are naked, blind and have undeveloped hind legs. The baby uses its forearms to drag itself through its mother’s fur to one of the nipples, where it latches on, suckling milk and completing its development until it is ready to venture into the wide world.

Chuditch mate from April to July, with a female mating with several different males over the period of a week to ensure fertilization. After a gestation period of around 18 days the female gives birth to between two and six young, each about the size of a grain of rice. These babies are carried in a rudimentary pouch where they remain for about 61 days before getting too heavy to be carried while the mother forages for food. The mother leaves them in one of the dens while she finds food; by four months old the young are starting to explore outside the den, learning to hunt without their mother’s help. Within another month or so the young are fully weaned and begin to leave home, usually around December. Young Chuditch reach sexual maturity very quickly and it is likely that they breed in their first year. The average life span for Chuditch is two years in the wild, although a life span of five and a half years has been recorded in captivity.

Evidence shows that Chuditch once covered over 70% of the Australian mainland however today they can only be found in patchy populations totalling around 6,000 in the south west, mid west and wheatbelt areas of Western Australia. Chuditch populations have decreased dramatically since European settlement, largely due to habitat alteration (especially land clearing and the removal of suitable den sites), frequent wildfires, predation by raptors, foxes and feral cats and competition for food with introduced carnivores. Vehicle accidents and poisoning have also depleted Chuditch populations. Chuditch will raid chicken houses and are sometimes illegally shot in the more populated areas.

The Centre cares for Chuditch that have been orphaned or are injured or diseased, rehabilitating the animals back into their native habitat where possible.

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Red Kangaroos are the largest marsupial an Australian Emblem, seen in the Qantas symbol. This pouched marsupial can stand erect, balancing on its 2 powerful hind legs and strong, muscular tail. The foot of the hind leg is extra long, with 3 forward facing clawed toes one of which is a syndactyl claw used for grooming. The front legs are shorter, have 5 claws which are only placed on the ground when foraging. Red Kangaroos have a narrow head, forward focussing eyes, with a wide field of vision and large erect ears. Most males have dense, woolly, red fur whereas females are predominantly grey. They can be distinguished from other kangaroos by the presence of white markings on the end of the nose. The underparts are white and there is usually a white stripe from the mouth to the base of the ear.

Red Kangaroos are mostly nocturnal - active at night, late evening and early morning. They grazie on green shoots that are high in fibre and low in nutrition - their forestomach is adapted for digestion of food rich in cellulose. They can survive without drinking water, as they get enough from their food. However, they are often seen drinking at stock water holes during drought.

Red Kangaroos are semi-nomadic, living in family groups, in central Australia, preferring open plains with scattered shade trees. They can often be found resting in the shade during the hot daylight hours. They can survive in temperatures greater than 40°, using shade and avoiding activity in the day. They can concentrate their urine and tolerate a certain amount of dehydration. They also pant and lick their arms to help themselves cool down.

Kangaroos use bi-pedal locomotion. Their large feet and powerful back legs work together to hop along. Their strong, muscular tail is used as a counterbalance. They can leap over fences 3m tall, from a standing start. They can reach speeds of 60 km/h, with individual strides up to 6 m in length. Hopping away is their main form of defence. They will often thump the ground with their feet as they flee, warning the rest of the mob of the danger. They can also balance on their tail and use their hind legs to kick. Males have slender chests and muscular biceps and forearms - they use them like hands for fighting (boxing), grooming and holding food.

Red Kangaroos are found in the hotter areas of central and northern Australia. Their numbers have increased since the introduction of European farming practices.

The females are mature at 15—20 months. The young are born about 33 days after mating and are typically the size of a jellybean, with forearms. They use their sense of smell to make it un-assisted to the pouch and attach to a teat. Here they develop hind legs and tail etc.The Joey weighs less than one gram. It will stay in the pouch till 5—9 months old. The females mate again after giving birth, but the embryo remains dormant till the Joey is out of the pouch, at about 10 months. The youngster will stay with mum till about 12— 18 months old. Kangaroos typically have a 15-year lifespan.

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Brush-tailed bettongs, or woylies as they are known in the indigenous Australian language (Nyoongar), are energetic, hopping marsupials. Woylies are small, rabbit-sized animals that resemble wallabies or kangaroos. They are about 30cm high and weigh around 1.6kg.

Their fur is yellow-grey with reddish tinges on the tail that ends in a black, furry tuft. Their tail is prehensile or specially adapted for grasping, grabbing, holding or wrapping around things; they often carry material back to their nests in their curled tail. They have very long hind feet and when moving, bound with their head low and their tail extended as a counterbalance. They are generally slow moving but can put on bursts of speed. Their forepaws are shorter, with long, curved claws that they use for digging, searching for food and nest building.

Woylies prefer forest and woodland where they can take cover in thick undergrowth, although they like some open areas for easy feeding. They prefer sandy soils to make digging easier and are not usually located in areas with higher rainfall. They have individual ranges that include separate feeding and nesting areas, with feeding areas overlapping with other woylies. Woylies build elaborate nests under logs, shrubs and other debris on the forest floor, using bark, twigs, grass and leaf litter as construction materials.

These animals are nocturnal and go foraging for bulbs, seeds and insects at night and sleep during the day. They don’t eat any green plant material and do not drink as they obtain all their water from their food. Underground fungi form a large part of their diet and spores from the fungus are later excreted. The fungi form associations with plants, living in roots from which they obtain their food and in return they assist the plant in extracting nutrients from fairly poor quality soils. By spreading the spores in their droppings woylies play an important role in the forest ecosystem.

Woylies, like some other marsupials, can carry a baby in the pouch while at the same time having an embryo in the womb awaiting birth. This means that they can produce young all year round throughout their life. Females start breeding at six months and reproduce approximately once every 100 days; they are prolific breeders in a stable habitat. Baby woylies live in the pouch for around 90 days and then spend a number of weeks at their mother’s heel.

When female woylies are under stress they have been known to eject their young from the pouch, providing an easy meal and distraction for their predators and ensuring the female survives to reproduce again and raise the embryo that she may already be carrying; unfortunately this protective mechanism usually results in the death of the ejected offspring, Woylies live for four to six years.

Evidence from Aboriginal people and early settlers show that the woylie population and range has been dramatically decreased since European settlement in Australia. They were once spread across much of Australia and by 1975 were restricted to three small groups in Western Australia. This was largely due to habitat degradation, predation by foxes and feral cats, and possibly disease. With research, predator reduction and reintroduction programs this has been increased to ten flourishing populations, including four groups in South Australia. As a direct result of conservation actions in 1996 they were the first species in Australia to be deleted from lists of threatened species.

The Centre has been breeding woylies in captivity for a number of years, passing 50 groups of woylies to the Department of Conservation and Land Management for release into the wild.

Echidnas (also called Spiny Ant Eaters) are a special type of mammal that lays eggs, known as a monotreme. Monotreme means “one hole” and refers to the rear passage through which these animals urinate, pass excrement and lay their eggs. There are only three monotreme species in the entire world: the short-beaked echidna and the platypus (both of which are found in Australia) and the long-beaked echidna found in New Guinea.

The short-beaked echidna is found all over Australia in a very wide range of habitats from the snow to the desert. It is one of the world’s most adaptable and versatile animals - echidnas in cold climates dealing with low temperatures by going into hibernation (or torpor) and dropping their body temperature; echidnas in arid regions taking shelter from high temperatures in caves or burrows and venturing out at night time when it cools slightly. Echidnas are thought to be about as smart as a rat - only slightly less intelligent than a cat.

Echidnas are covered in coarse hair, with the upper side of its body also covered in prickly spines. Each of the spines are formed from a single hair and together they form an effective defense against predators. The spines are light yellow with black tips and may be over 6 cm long. When threatened on hard ground they will roll into a ball with their spines facing outwards.

They have very strong claws and short legs, enabling them to dig quickly into the ground if they are threatened on soil, or to dig open ant and termite nests. They can move objects (like rocks and logs) over twice their own weight and are known for their strength rather than their speed. Two long claws on the echidna’s hind foot are used for grooming between its long spines. The male echidna also has a spur on each ankle, like the platypus, only its spurs have no venom gland attached to it. It is not widely known that echidna can swim, using their rubbery beak as a type of snorkel. Echidnas are usually solitary and quite shy, finding shelter in rotten logs, burrows, stumps and under bushes.

The tip of an echidna’s snout is sensitive to electric signals given out by insects. They dig open ant or termite nests for food, probing the area with their sticky, 17 cm tongue. They then pull their tongue back into their mouth, crushing them between the horny plates on its tongue and the roof of its mouth. Termites are up to 80% water and ants are up to 64% water, making termites the preferred food source in drier regions, although echidnas are sometimes also seen drinking.

Echidnas mate between June and September. Up to ten males form a “train” (echidnas lined up nose to rear) that follows a female around for around four weeks. The males push and shove each other, with the most persistent eventually breeding with the female. Echidnas breed belly-to-belly so that the male avoids impaling himself on her spines.

Monotremes lay leathery-shelled eggs, with the echidna laying its single egg about 14 days after mating. The egg is incubated in her pouch for 10 days before it hatches and the baby - or “puggle” — is born. It comes out naked, blind and with undeveloped hind legs. The puggle uses its forelimbs to drag itself to its mother’s belly where it suckles on a patch of where milk oozes onto the skin. The baby stays in the pouch until its spines develop (at about three months), after which it is left in a nursery burrow. The mother returns to suckle the young every five to 10 days, with the puggle drinking around 20% of its body weight in each feed. The baby increases its total body weight 500 times in the first 45 days and leaves the burrow at 6 to 12 months old.

Echidnas have no significant predators, although they have been known to be eaten by dingos and foxes. Their young are sometimes also eaten by goannas. Unfortunately echidnas are often killed on roads by vehicles. The Centre has two echidnas, one of which was hand raised from a puggle. They form pail of the educational program, visiting schools and community centres. Echidnas have been known to live over 50 years in captivity.

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Tawny Frogmouths are often confused with owls but actually belong to the Night Jar family of birds. They were given their name because of their tawny (light brown, brown-orange) colouring and their wide frog-like mouths. “Tawnies” are masters of disguise, often tipping their heads up and forward to imitate a tree branch. With their marbled grey and black mottles and streaks they blend in well with the bark of trees. Most species are dichromatic, meaning they have two colour phases (in this case ruddy brown and grey) not associated with season, gender or age. They have large, homed, triangular, hooked beaks that are topped with a tuft of bristly feathers and striking golden coloured eyes. Their legs are short, with small, weak feet.

Tawny frogmouths are nocturnal and have an unusual call that sounds like a low drumming hoot or a deep grunting “oom-oom-oom”; this sound is repeated through the night. They have also been known to make a very low frequency sound that some humans are not able to hear without a listening device, but that other birds can hear quite some distance away. During the day “tawnies” generally sleep in their “branch” pose.

“Tawnies” eat a range of insects, worms, slugs, small mammals, reptiles, frogs and birds, feeding just after dusk and again just before dawn. They are good hunters and are able to catch a moth in flight or pounce from a tree to the wound to catch a meal; usually they sit and wait for their prey to come to them. They catch their prey with the beaks, rather than their talons, making them quite different from the owls they are sometimes mistaken for. Unfortunately they like to hunt near lights where there are lots of insects and so they are often hit by cars.

Tawny frogmouths mate for life, the pair remaining together until one of them dies. They breed from August to December, making a nest out of loose sticks covered in green leaves, moss or their own feathers in the fork of a tree branch. The nests are well camouflaged and are generally reused year after year, with some annual repairs. The female usually lays two to three white eggs, each one laid 1-3 nights apart from the other. Both the male and female sit on the eggs, usually the female by night and the male by day, with the eggs hatching after 30 days. Young chicks are covered with a soft down right from hatching and are fed and cared for by both parents. Young “tawnies” are very clean, moving to the edge of the nest and pooing over the side to prevent their home becoming fouled. They stay in the nest until they are able to fly 25 to 32 days after hatching.

Tawny frogmouths can be found across Australia, including treed areas of the Perth metropolitan area - although they are often hard to spot. The Centre has two tawny frogmouths that share a large enclosure. They form part of the educational program, visiting schools and community centres.

Malas (or Rufous Hare-Wallabies) are a special type of marsupial known as macropods, meaning “great-footed animals” This name is given to kangaroos, wallabies, bettongs and other marsupials with powerful hind legs and long feet. Macropods’ second and third toes of their hind foot are also joined together.

Malas obtained their common name rufous hare-wallaby from their resemblance to the hare and the rufous colour of their fur. Rufous is defined as a strong yellowish pink to moderate orange colour, or reddish colour. Malas are one of four sub-species of hare-wallabies and are considered to be rare and vulnerable.

Malas weigh about 1.5 kg and are covered in long, soft fur. The fur is a yellow-pink or reddish colour on top, fading to a paler shade underneath. They have long, powerful back legs that they use to hop on when moving at speed. When flushed from their burrows malas move with an explosive burst of energy in a zig zag pattern, often making a high pitched nasal squeak at the same time. Macropods, like the mala, cannot move their hind legs alternately (i.e. both legs must move together) and they have difficulty in moving backwards.

Malas are herbivores, eating herbs, grasses, seed husks, seeds, bulbs, and grazing on other low plants, although they have been known to eat insects during dry periods. Malas can go for some time without drinking water, making them ideally adapted to the hot, dry conditions in which they live.

The Australian Mala population has decreased dramatically since the l930s, from being one of the most common and widespread macropods of central Australia to one of the rarest. This decrease has resulted largely from habitat degradation due to rabbits and grazing, and wildfire. Predation by cats and foxes has decimated any remaining mainland populations. The current distribution of malas in the wild is restricted to only two small islands off the coast of Western Australia, Dorre and Bernier Islands. Encouragingly, whilst populations on these islands fluctuate due to drought, fire and rainfall there has been no overall decline. This may be largely due to the absence of feral predators on the islands.

Malas prefer dunes, grasslands and spinifex (a prickly grass) habitats. During the day they shelter from the heat in shallow dips dug under spinifex and small bushes, during the high beat of summer sometimes even converting this dip to a short burrow. Burrows are usually around one metre long and 30 cm deep with one entrance. Malas may use a number of different burrows within their territory, rarely interacting with other Malas.

Marsupials (such as malas, kangaroos, wombats and possums) are a special kind of mammal, differing from other mammals such as bats, rodents and whales because of the way they produce their young. Marsupials give birth to tiny, live, babies that are naked, blind and have undeveloped hind legs. This baby uses its forearms to drag itself through its mother’s fur to one of the nipples, where it latches on, suckling milk and completing its development until it is ready to venture into the wide world. Marsupial babies may be protected during their development by a pouch or folds of skin.

Baby Malas remain in the pouch for only 124 days, allowing females to produce up to three offspring per year. In the wild this number is generally closer to one or two. When female Malas are under stress they have been known to eject their young from the pouch, providing an easy meal and distraction for their predators and ensuring the female survives to reproduce again and raise the embryo that she may already be carrying; unfortunately this protective mechanism usually results in the death of the ejected offspring.

The Centre has a male and female mala and hope to breed and hand rear young in the near future. Malas are difficult to breed in captivity and the current breeding pair have had at least one miscarriage in recent times. To feed two Malas for one week, 7 kg of fruit and vegetables, a handful of nuts and a handful of muesli is needed.

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Depending on which part of Australia you live in Bobtail lizards are also known as the Shingleback Lizard, Sleepy Lizard, Pine Cone Lizard, Bog-eye Lizard, Stump-Tail Lizard, Blue-tongue Lizard, Stumpies or Bobbies; giving them more common names than any other Australian animal.

Bobtails are found across much of Australia, particularly the drier regions. As a species they cope with temperatures ranging from approximately 7°C to 40°C.

They grow to approximately 40cm, weigh 800 grams, have a blunt, triangular shaped head, a wide mouth and large, bumpy scales varying from dark brown to mid brown to pale cream. They have a large, fleshy blue tongue and when threatened, turn towards the threat, open their mouth wide and stick out their blue tongue. This contrasts vividly with their pink mouth and this, together with their large head is intended to scare the attacker. Bobtails may also hiss and flatten out their body, making them took bigger. They may bite when frightened, bruising and breaking the skin, however they are not dangerous or poisonous.

Their tail is broad and stumpy, similar in size and shape to its head to confuse predators. It is also used as a fat storage area so that after a good season the bobtail can go without food for many months. A bobtail in poor condition will have a very flat tail. Bobtails are omnivorous, eating a wide range of soft plant and animal matter, including leaves, fruit, flowers, insects, worms, eggs and insect larvae.

Bobtails live in open country with lots of ground cover such as grass or leaf litter. They emerge early in the morning to bask in the sun, before foraging for food in the warmer part of the day. Like all lizards they rely on external heat sources to heat their blood and an active Bobbie maintains a temperature of 30°C to 35°C. They spend much of the winter and colder times relatively inactive, making the most of the warmer weather during spring and summer to breed.

Bobtails mate for life — making them unique amongst reptiles. They pair up at the end of spring and spend 6-8 weeks together before actual mating takes place. During this time they move about together and even share the same living quarters — spending about 75% of their time together. The gestation period is around three to five months after which time the females give birth to live young (rather than laying eggs as most reptiles do), the mother carrying a baby lengthwise along either side of her spine. Their placenta is as developed as that of many mammals. Generally one or two, occasionally three, young are born. Babies can be born very quickly and, once they have clambered out of the birth sac, are quickly mobile, eating the afterbirth as a quick source of nutrition. Within a few days of birth they shed their skin for the first time and disperse. They have been known to live to approximately 30 years.

As with many Australian native animals, their habitat is threatened by clearing and development. In the wild they are predated upon by snakes, large birds (eg. kookaburras), also by foxes, cats and dogs. The Centre receives many bobtails for rehabilitation, often as the result of lawnmower accidents, dog or cat attack, car accident, ticks, snail pellets or “Bobtail flu”. This flu has been noticed in Western Australian bobtail populations over the last four to five years it is estimated to have decimated the local populations by up to 50%. Bobtails that receive treatment generally respond well, with roughly 85% surviving and being rehabilitated back into the wild.

Quendas (also called Southern Brown Bandicoots or Short Nosed Southern Bandicoots) are marsupials, although the word “bandicoot is Indonesian for “rat”. Quendas are similar in size to rabbits, although the larger males can reach 2.5 kg. They have large hindquarters but their bodies narrow to long, pointed snout. They have much smaller and more rounded ears than bilbies, as well as coarse, water resistant outer coats and soft fur undercoats. Their fur is usually dark grey-brown with yellowish flecks. Quenda tails are short and lightly furred with dark brown hairs; however many individual animals have stumpy tails - perhaps as a result of disputes with other Quendas or being nibbled off by their nest-mates. They have long, sturdy claws and the hind foot has two toes joined together to form a grooming claw.

Quendas are found in a variety of forest, heath and scrubland habitats and prefer areas where the undergrowth is dense (for cover) and located near water and wetlands. They can survive well in open areas, provided introduced predators are controlled. They are not strictly nocturnal so it is possible to see them during the day.

Quendas are omnivorous, eating both protein and vegetable matter, ranging from insects such as ants and termites and their larvae, to earthworms, to seeds, bulbs, roots and fruit. They obtain most of their food by digging and their diet changes with the seasons as different foods become available.

They built well-concealed nests using leaves, grass, soil and other materials. They usually nest in shallow depressions, often amongst fallen debris or low bushes and their nests have loose regions at both ends to allow for entry and exit. They have also been known to use old rabbit burrows as their nests. They are generally solitary and occupy distinctive home ranges; although there may be considerable overlap with other Quendas.

Marsupials (such as Quendas, kangaroos, wombats and possums) are a special kind of mammal, differing from other mammals such as bats, rodents and whales because of the way they produce their young. Marsupials give birth to tiny, live, babies that are naked, blind and have undeveloped hind legs. This baby uses its forearms to drag itself through its mother’s fur to one of the nipples, where it latches on, suckling milk and completing its development until it is ready to venture into the wide world.

Breeding can occur throughout the year, although most young are born through winter to summer. Unlike other marsupials, Quendas have a form of placenta, with the babies anchored to the inside of the womb by cords. After birth these act as climbing ropes as the newborns clamber into the pouch. A female Quenda has eight nipples usually rears five or six young, although it is unusual for more than two or three to survive to weaning. The pouch opens to the rear to prevent dirt, sticks and other debris entering when they are moving about. Unfortunately as the mother moves through the thick undergrowth babies have been known to fall out of the pouch and be left behind. The young develop quickly and become independent after about two months. They reach sexual maturity soon thereafter. Females may produce three or four litters in a breeding season. Quendas live three to four years.

In Western Australia Quendas are threatened species, often preyed upon by foxes and cats and, where they feed on road verges, hit by road vehicles. Clearing for farming and urban expansion has considerably reduced its range. Despite this Quendas are sometimes seen near urban areas and even in backyards.

The Centre looks after a number of Quendas through the year, especially young Quendas that may have fallen out of the pouch. Young animals are very curious and relatively tame, becoming more independent as they grow older. Young Quendas love drinking their special milk formula and are master escape artists. To feed a Quenda for a week a handful of muesli and nuts, 2 kg of fruit and vegetables and 70 grams of live mealworms are needed.

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