A Northern Quoll at Brooklyn Wildlife Sanctuary.

Credit: Kate Borgo

On World Wildlife Day (3 March 2026), conservationists are celebrating records of juvenile Northern Quolls in Far North Queensland. The finding provides a deeper understanding of the species’ unique breeding behaviour and will help inform plans for a proposed reintroduction of the quolls to the Coane Range.

Two females were found carrying up to eight pouch young each during a targeted trapping survey at Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s (AWC) Brooklyn Wildlife Sanctuary on the land of the Djungan and Western Yalanji People. The survey was conducted to help fill knowledge gaps in the species’ breeding season ahead of a planned translocation to Mount-Zero Taravale Wildlife Sanctuary, an AWC property near Townsville.

“Northern Quolls have a unique life history, with the males dying off shortly after breeding,” explained Dr Alexander Watson, AWC Regional Ecologist. “To optimally translocate the species, we are aiming to move females carrying pouch young of a certain size to increase genetic diversity.”

“By recording the presence of females and their young on Brooklyn, we can better determine the right timing for moving quolls to the Coane Range. Translocating animals with pouch young carries risks, so females cannot be moved if their young are either too small or too developed.”

AWC plans to translocate Northern Quolls from Brooklyn to Mount Zero-Taravale, with the aim of increasing the endangered species’ global population size and establishing the only population in a feral predator-free area on mainland Australia. At Mount Zero-Taravale, the quolls would join the Northern Bettong, one of Australia’s mammals at greatest risk of extinction, which was released inside the sanctuary’s 950-hectare feral predator-free fenced area in 2023.

“Brooklyn is a great source site for the translocation because we estimate that there are at least 300 Northern Quolls persisting on the sanctuary and the surrounding areas,” added Dr Watson.

Northern Quolls were prevalent throughout northern and eastern Australia until the 1930s. After the arrival of cane toads, the species experienced a significant population decline which was amplified by the impact of feral cats, foxes and changed fire regimes.

Dr Gabrielle Beca, AWC Wildlife Ecologist, said it was a special moment for the entire team to find the tiny ‘quoll jellybeans’. She believes the quolls persistence at Brooklyn may be benefiting from effective management of fire and feral herbivores.

“It’s reassuring to find Northern Quolls, particularly females with pouch young, because it shows the species is likely benefiting from AWC’s early dry season burning, which creates a mosaic of burnt and unburnt vegetation, providing sheltered areas and reducing pressure from predators” said Gabrielle.

Beyond Brooklyn, AWC protects Northern Quoll populations at wildlife sanctuaries and partnerships in the Kimberley, including Charnley River-Artesian Range and Mornington Wildlife Sanctuaries. Earlier this year, AWC also recorded a Northern Quoll at Piccaninny Plains Wildlife Sanctuary on Cape York, the first confirmed sighting in decades.

For more information on AWC’s work with the Northern Quoll, click here.

Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is a pragmatic, on-ground global conservation leader, conserving landscapes and providing hope for Australian wildlife. Informed by science, we deliver measurable conservation impact at scale to secure the future of our most endangered species and their habitats, including restoring degraded landscapes where necessary.

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