AWC is working with local landholders and conservation organisation, Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife, to protect one of the surviving populations of the dunnart after e xtensive wildfires in late 2019 and early 2020 burnt 95 per cent of their habitat. Response of the Kangaroo Island Dunnart and other threatened species to a cat eradication program Project: 1.1.10 Controlling feral cats on biodiversity-rich islands is a high priority for the conservation of Australia’s biodiversity. AWC is proud to partner with this not-for-profit organisation to help save the critically endangered Kangaroo Island Dunnart from extinction as a result of the recent bushfires. Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife holds grave concerns for the future of the dunnart. It is notoriously difficult to sample so determining population trends is challenging. (Natural Resources Kangaroo Island)Kangaroo Island dunnart. The Kangaroo Island (KI) Dunnart, a small insectivorous marsupial weighing up to 25g, is found nowhere else on earth. Image credit: Brad Leue/AWC. THERE WERE anxious days in early January when it looked as if the Black Summer fires had caused Australia’s 28th mammal extinction – that the flames had forced the Kangaroo Island dunnart over the brink. Recent bushfires on Kangaroo Island have been catastrophic for wildlife, particularly for species like the critically endangered Kangaroo Island Dunnart (Sminthopsis aitkeni). However, it is likely to have suffered major declines due to historic land clearing, particularly in the eastern part of Kangaroo Island.
Posted January 06, 2020 17:17:09 Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife holds grave concerns for the future of the dunnart. Weighing less than 25g when fully grown and with a diet of mostly insects, the dunnart is like a tiny quoll. The Kangaroo I Kangaroo Island dunnart. AWC is partnering with Kangaroo Island Land For Wildlife and local landholders to prevent this unique mammal from going extinct.

The Kangaroo Island Dunnart is a small carnivorous marsupial, now found only on Kangaroo Island. The Kangaroo Island Dunnart is a small carnivorous marsupial found only on Kangaroo Island, South Australia.