Returning from a bushwalk in the Brindabella Mountains, David Clark spotted a rare quoll south of Canberra, eating road kill.
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In the sunny, early afternoon Mr Clark was surprised to get close enough for a photograph of the cat-sized spotted-tailed quoll on the Boboyan Road.
Declared a vulnerable species because extensive land clearing has reduced its habitat, the spotted-tailed quoll is bigger than the rabbit-sized eastern quoll, which was released at Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary earlier this year.
Mr Clark had left a picnic area near Glendale Crossing when he saw the quoll scavenging on a dead red-necked wallaby and turned his car off the road, 100 metres away.
"I had my bird-watching binoculars, so I had a nice view from 100 metres, then walked a bit closer, and kept going until I was four or five paces from it," he said.
"I was surprised to see it in the middle of the day like that, out in the open," Mr Clark said.
Director of ACT Parks and Conservation Daniel Iglesias says only two or three spotted quolls had been spotted in the ACT in recent times, including one in Charnwood, one in Holt and this one. "It is fantastic to know they are still around," Mr Iglesias said.
"We know they hang out in Namadgi National Park, the habitat there fits their bill," he said.
Mr Iglesias said quolls were more vulnerable to being taken by wild dogs, or foxes, after their habitat had been cleared.
This one looked healthy, hungry, and may have been breeding and having to feed hungry offspring, he said.
In March four eastern quolls released among a total of 14 at Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary escaped and were eaten by foxes. The eastern quolls are extinct from this region, according to Woodlands Trust general manager, Jason Cummings.
He says at least five females, which were showing signs of breeding, and one male, remain in the sanctuary. Staff can monitor the quolls wearing tracking collars. But some had managed to discard their collars.
"They have stopped jumping and climbing out, they have settled down," Mr Cummings said. Two persistent escapees had been returned to a breeding sanctuary in Mount Rothwell.
Mr Clark said it was surprising to find the spotted quoll surrounded by an open paddock along the road. The nearest bushland was about 100 metres away.
He previously had a good view of a quoll in Tasmania, and he and his wife, Merilyn, had a glimpse of one near the Murrumbidgee River, upstream from Tharwa.
"I didn't see it well enough to identify it, but my wife got a better view and said, 'oh, that's a quoll.'
"That was only a couple of seconds," he said. "This one allowed me to get very close. It stopped every now and then and looked at me, and decided I was harmless and went back to having its dinner," Mr Clark said.
