ENDANGERED brush-tailed rock wallabies have been found in the Warrumbungle National Park, survivors of the devastating fire that ripped through the area last month.
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Office of Environment and Heritage threatened species officer Todd Soderquist said images of the marsupials were captured on infrared cameras that were set up in locations where it was hoped survivors would be.
“We are pleased to now discover the cameras have picked up photographs of what we believe to be four different animals, telling us we do have survivors among a colony that we have been monitoring for the past decade,” Dr Soderquist said.
He said the rock wallabies appeared to be healthy. They were discovered in an area where animals bred in captivity were released in 2009.
It is believed some of these rock wallabies survived alongside animals native to the site.
But the full impact of the fire on wildlife is not known.
A spokesman from the Office of Environment and Heritage said estimating the numbers of wildlife killed or injured in a bushfire was difficult.
“In this case we know there have been casualties, but the Australian bush is remarkably resilient to bushfire and we always hear some incredible survival stories – kangaroos and wallabies have been seen in some areas, as have other species such as frogs,” the spokesman said.
Dr Soderquist said searches would be expanded to other sites in the park and the cameras would be monitored in coming weeks, in the hopes of finding more brush-tailed rock wallabies and other species.
Anyone who finds injured wildlife should contact their local wildlife care group, such as WIRES.
