Rewilding: Australia's eastern quoll

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Australian scientists are trying to return the eastern quoll to the wild on the country's mainland, where it was last seen more than a half century ago.

Twenty of the cat-sized carnivores were released into Booderee National Park in mid-March after being flown from Tasmania. Each one was fitted with a radio collar to allow scientists to track their movements.

An eastern quoll being released into the wild /WWE Australia Photo

Two weeks later, I spent the day with a team who was in the midst of the mammoth task of finding the nocturnal creatures in a more than 60-square-kilometer remote park filled with thick brush and rough terrain.

Researchers searching for eastern quolls in Booderee National Park /CGTN Photo

Armed with a radio receiver and an antenna, the team spent hours tracking faint signals during an effort that was not unlike searching for a needle in a haystack.

On this day, we were lucky enough to see one wary quoll hiding inside a hollowed out log, which signaled an early success for the program.

An eastern quoll recently released into the wild /CGTN Photo

"It means that they have gotten over some of the initial shock of translocation – being taken from captivity to the wild," said Nick Dexter, the Parks Services Manager at Booderee National Park.

Eastern quolls were once plentiful on Australia's mainland and known as a farmer's friend for their role in regulating the environment.

"Because they eat things like mice and rats, they also eat things like pasture grubs and insects in the environment," say Rob Brewster, director of Rewilding Australia. "So they can eat all of these things that can breed and potentially affect humans."

But their numbers on the mainland began to dwindle by the middle of the last century.

"Unfortunately human culling, disease and the presence of introduced predators like the European red fox really caused major declines," said Chris MacGregor, a senior researcher officer at Australia National University.

Australia has lost more species to extinction than any other country. Scientists are watching this program closely to see if the model can be used to help repopulate other endangered animals.

"I'll be really happy when we see young quolls, then we know that they are successfully breeding here and they are establishing their population," said MacGregor.