A race against time is under way to save some of Australia's most threatened species in the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, south of Canberra.
Fearing fire, rangers have been preparing to ferry "insurance populations" of Brush-tailed rock wallabies, Northern Corroboree Frogs and Bettongs to safer places.
In a kind of Noah's Ark operation to save animals from natural devastation, three species are being transported out in case fire destroys the Nature Reserve.
"It's an emergency response," Peter Cotsell, the Director of the Namadgi National Park and the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve said.
The species include the Brush-tailed rock-wallaby which Canberrans recently voted to be an official symbol of the city.
It was last seen in the wild in the ACT in 1959. The Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve started a population from three animals and they have increased to 24 animals living at the Reserve, protected from predators by fencing.
The frogs are stored in tanks in a temperature-controlled shipping container. The wallabies and the bettongs were being caught on Wednesday, ready to be removed in cages on the back of trucks.
"We have a fire approaching from our east, from the Namadgi National Park," Peter Cotsell, said. "Our biggest concern is that that fire will reach Tidbinbilla over the next few days.
Our biggest concern is that the fire will reach Tidbinbilla over the next few days.
- Peter Cotsell
"We're in full recovery mode to try and remove our key species out of Tidbinbilla."
Of the three types of animal, there are no prizes for guessing which is the favourite. All three will be saved but the cutest of them all is the wallaby.
"I guess our priority is to move the Brush-tailed rock wallaby because they are one of our hardest species to catch," Mr Cotsell said.
The aim is to net the 24 animals with a minimum of stress. The task started on Wednesday with the aim of moving the whole menagerie on Thursday.
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"We need to take ultimate care in handling to make sure we don't stress the animal while it's in transit to its location," the head ranger said.
They aren't sure where the animals will ultimately end up. They were to be taken to a holding depot before being moved on.
Much will depend on the fire. If it destroys vast amounts of vegetation, the stay away would be longer.
The people at the Nature Reserve have been working with a range of state governments as well as the federal government. They are also liaising with zoos in Sydney and in Victoria and with the Mount Rothwell Biodiversity reserve in Victoria.
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
