Bilbies are returning to desert in the northwest corner of NSW for the first time since they were declared extinct in the state over a century ago.
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Ten of the small animals, raised at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, were released in to a fenced cat- and fox-free area in Sturt National Park.
Only 9000 of the nocturnal marsupials remain, located in parts of central and western Australia. The Greater Bilby has been extinct in the wild in NSW since around 1910, but a similar release occurred in the Piliga in 2018.
National Parks and Wildlife Deputy Secretary Atticus Fleming hopes the release of the bilbies will turn back time.
"Our small-medium sized mammals have suffered catastrophic declines in the last 200 years, driven by feral cats which kill 1.4 billion native animals every year," he said in a statement on Thursday.
"In these feral-free areas, we are turning back time by restoring the Australian bush to what it should be - alive with small mammals such as the bilby."
The Wild Deserts project has created one of the largest, feral-animal-free areas in Australia within Sturt National Park, eradicating every last rabbit, cat and fox from two 2000 hectare feral-proof fenced exclosures.
It is hoped the project will increase the bilby population by 17 per cent.
NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean said it is one of the country's most important threatened species initiatives.
"Australia has the worst mammal extinction rate in the world but we are turning back the tide of extinctions, reintroducing at least 13 mammal species currently listed as extinct in NSW by establishing a network of feral cat and fox-free areas," Mr Kean said.
Traditional Owner and Maljangapa man Leroy Johnston, who released the first bilby, said it was a magical moment signifing the start of the process of healing the land.
Taronga Conservation Society Australia chief executive Cameron Kerr said the moment Mr Johnston released the bilby was one of the most moving occasions in his career.
"To see Leroy, one of the local elders release a bilby back into this country for the first time in 100 years, and see the expression on his face see the little bilby hop off into the distance was a very, very powerful moment," he said.
The bilbies, whose movements are being tracked and health monitored by conservations, have already settled in well.
"There's lots of evidence they've been exploring and foraging, and we're even seeing some burrow sharing which means hopefully in a few months down the track there might be some young bilbies on the ground," Taronga Conservation Society manager Andrew Elphinstone said.
The bilbies join the crest-tailed mulgara in the fenced Wild Deserts area in Sturt National Park.
Five other species - the western quoll, burrowing bettong, stick-nest rat, western barred bandicoot and golden bandicoot - will also be also be released into the area over time.
Australian Associated Press
