SYDNEY, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- After disappearing from the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) for more than a century, eastern bettongs will be reintroduced to Sydney in the coming weeks.
In a statement released on Thursday, the NSW Department of Planning and Environment confirmed that a pioneering group of six bettongs would be translocated from Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary in Australian Capital Territory to Yiraaldiya National Park, a 555-hectare feral predator-free national park located in Western Sydney.
"The last eastern bettong disappeared from mainland Australia in the 1920s, surviving only in Tasmania, and this upcoming release will mean we've returned 11 species that were once extinct in New South Wales back into our national parks - a globally significant outcome," said NSW minister for environment James Griffin.
According to the statement, after the initial founding population of up to 40 bettongs is reintroduced to Yiraaldiya, the combined population across all 3 NSW government coastal feral predator-free sites is expected to grow to over 1,000 within the next decade.
Known as "ecosystem engineers," eastern bettongs are small, kangaroo-like marsupials that typically reach 2 kg in weight and are yellowish-grey above and white below. They can play a critical role in digging and aerating soil during their search for food, helping return bushland to its original state.
The species became extinct on the Australian mainland in the early decades of the 20th century mainly because of predation by foxes and large-scale land clearance.
Data from the NSW environment department indicated that feral cats and foxes pose a huge threat to native species and become a key driver of extinctions, as they kill more than 1.8 billion Australian native animals each year. ■
