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FACT SHEET
About the Eastern Barred Bandicoot

Eastern Barred Bandicoots are a very special native marsupial which weigh less than
3kg, have a short tail and hop around a bit like a wallaby. They have 3-4 white stripes
called bars on their rump which is how they get their name the Eastern “Barred”
Bandicoot.

They live 2-3 years in the wild and up to 5 years in captivity.

They are nocturnal and spend the day sleeping in nests made from native grasses
which is why their grassland habitat is so important to them.

Eastern Barred Bandicoots are omnivores, but most of their diet is made up of
invertebrates, particularly worms and crickets. They have lovely long noses to find
their invertebrate prey in the grasslands.

Eastern Barred Bandicoots have excellent hearing with their long ears and also a
very keen sense of smell to find invertebrate prey.

Eastern Barred Bandicoots are generally solitary except for when mothers have joeys
with them. Eastern Barred Bandicoots hold territories and need a surprising amount
of space for such a small creature.

Eastern Barred Bandicoots are amazing mothers. They are pregnant for just 12.5
days, and give birth to joeys which climb into their mother’s backwards facing pouch.
The pouch faces backwards to make sure the joeys are protected from dirt while their
mothers forage and dig in the grasslands looking for food. The joeys are connected to
their mother via modified placenta which becomes special ‘bungee cords’ for 3 days
after they are born, to make sure that if they fall out of the pouch, they can climb back
in!

Eastern Barred Bandicoots never have a bad hair day! They have a special fused
claw which acts like a built in hair comb and groom themselves very well.

Eastern Barred Bandicoots are fantastic little hoppers! They can jump so high, the
equivalent for a human would be leaping over a 7 storey building.

Grassland habitats are very important for Eastern Barred Bandicoots to survive.
Grasslands covered a third of Victoria prior to European settlement. Now less than
0.01% of grasslands remain, and native grasslands are Victoria’s most critically
endangered ecosystem. Habitat loss was one of major causes in the decline of
mainland Eastern Barred Bandicoots.
Zoos Victoria
Elliott Avenue Parkville
T 1300 ZOOS VIC
www.zoo.org.au

Introduced species like foxes and cats also caused a big decline in the number of
mainland Eastern Barred Bandicoots. As Eastern Barred Bandicoots make nests in
native grasses, it is easy for foxes and cats to sniff them out, and Eastern Barred
Bandicoots are not adapted to deal with such introduced predators.

In the late 1980s the last small population of less than 200 Eastern Barred
Bandicoots were living in Hamilton in Western Victoria, but because of the continuing
decline of the population a small group was collected and taken to a protected area at
Woodlands Historic Park in 1989.

The species is now classed as ‘extinct in the wild’ and persists only in predator-proof
release sites and in the captive breeding program.

In 1991, Zoos Victoria began a captive breeding program for Eastern Barred
Bandicoots and since then has bred more than 650 bandicoots. All mainland Eastern
Barred Bandicoots alive today can trace their ancestry back to this captive breeding
program

With the help of the Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team including
Conservation Volunteers Australia, Department of Environment, Land, Water and
Planning (DELWP), Kyabram Fauna Park, National Trust of Australia, Parks Victoria,
Mt Rothwell Biodiversity Centre and Tiverton Property Partnering, we have the
chance to bring this species back from extinction.

To fight extinction, we would love Eastern Barred Bandicoots to live safely in the wild
and no longer need our help.

Eastern Barred Bandicoots are very vulnerable to predation from foxes and feral cats
and creating special fenced areas to protect them from predators and re-establishing
their grassland habitat has been critical to their survival.

There are three release sites in Victoria, Mt Rothwell Biodiversity Interpretation
Centre, Woodlands Historic Park and a small release site at Werribee Open Range
Zoo. A trial release on fox-free Churchill Island is also underway.

We need everyone’s help to create grassland habitats and protect our native wildlife
from introduced species!
Zoos Victoria
Elliott Avenue Parkville
T 1300 ZOOS VIC
www.zoo.org.au
Dogs and Bandicoots?

Maremma Guardian Dogs and Eastern Barred Bandicoots may seem like a strange
pair but in a new pilot program, their relationship could help save the bandicoot from
extinction.

The Federal and Victorian Governments, Zoos Victoria, Mt Rothwell Biodiversity
Interpretation Centre, Tiverton Property Partners, National Trust of Australia,
Mooramong and the Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team are working together
on a Guardian Dog trial for the Eastern Barred Bandicoot.

This trial draws on the success of programs such as the Middle Island Maremma Dog
Project (Warrnambool) where Maremmas have successfully protected Little Penguins
from fox predation.

Maremmas are a breed of guardian dog that originated in Italy and have been used
for centuries to successfully guard livestock. They are considered ideal for
conservation work because they can bond to an array of animals, defend them from
introduced predators and have a low prey-drive.

Once widespread across the basalt plains of South-Western Victoria, Eastern Barred
Bandicoots are now extinct in the wild on mainland Australia as a result of habitat
loss and predation from introduced predators, such as foxes.

Breeding programs and reserves surrounded by feral-proof fences have been critical
to establishing an insurance population of this species.

The Guardian Dog program will trial whether bandicoots, protected by specially
trained Maremma Guardian Dogs, will be able to form self-sustaining populations in
areas that are not enclosed by feral proof fences.

The first working dog pups, Mackinnon and Banjo and three new recruits have the
joined the program and over the next two years they will be gradually introduced to
sheep, Eastern Barred Bandicoots and other native species.

When the dogs have matured they will begin work at trial sites including Tiverton
Station, a private reserve in Western Victoria and Mooramong, a National Trust
property near Skipton.

Up to eight Maremma Guardian Dogs will take part in the trial that will be staged over
five years.

If successful, the trial could result in the creation of a Fighting Extinction Dog Squad,
a specially trained squad of dogs that protect and help monitor a host of native
wildlife!
Zoos Victoria
Elliott Avenue Parkville
T 1300 ZOOS VIC
www.zoo.org.au
Additional Resources
Love Your Locals Teacher Resource Pack: http://www.zoo.org.au/education/teacherresources
Islands can also create predator-proof zones for our threatened native species. Watch a short
video about the release of Eastern Barred Bandicoots on Churchill Island.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qe78hoQ-qs
Watch a short video about the Guardian Dog Trial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjKDsgusbS4
Watch the release of Eastern Barred Bandicoots into Woodlands Historic Park, a predatorproof release site https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74BcmACI0YI
How do Eastern Barred Bandicoots choose a mate? Learn about new research being done
into their preferences and habits, https://vimeo.com/152242225
Zoos Victoria
Elliott Avenue Parkville
T 1300 ZOOS VIC
www.zoo.org.au