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Golden Bandicoot (Isoodon auratus)

The Golden Bandicoot is a small, mostly nocturnal omnivorous marsupial that now survives in the north Kimberley of Western Australia and on islands off the Kimberley, Pilbara and north-eastern Arnhem Land coasts. It is listed as Vulnerable under the EPBC Act, and clearing, intense fire, feral cats and accidental introduction of predators can remove or degrade the small areas of habitat on which isolated populations depend.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Vulnerable.

South Australia, National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972: Endangered.

Western Australia, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Vulnerable.

Northern Territory, Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1976: Endangered.

Breeding season

Breeding timing varies between populations. Marchinbar Island animals may breed year-round, Barrow Island animals show a summer peak, and Kimberley pouch young have been recorded in May and September. Use local records and pre-clearance searches rather than relying on one Australia-wide breeding window.

Month values are January to December: 0 means not typical, 1 means occurs, and 2 means a relative peak or higher project risk. The pattern is a planning guide only and must be adjusted to the local population, recent records, fire history and survey results.

  • Breeding: Breeding appears to occur year-round on Marchinbar Island, with a summer peak reported for Barrow Island. Kimberley pouch young have been recorded in May and September.
  • Young: Dependent pouch young may be present at any time on Marchinbar Island. Two pouch young were recorded in Kimberley in May and September.
  • Movement and activity: The species is nocturnal and may have larger home ranges in the dry season. No seasonal migration is documented.
  • Fire and predation sensitivity: Hot, extensive late dry season fires can remove understorey and increase exposure to feral cats. Local fire timing varies between regions and should be checked before works.
  • Highest clearing risk: There is no reliable species-wide low-risk clearing period because breeding may occur year-round. Risk is highest where clearing coincides with pouch young or dependent young, including the recorded May and September Kimberley periods and the summer breeding peak reported for Barrow Island.

Identification

The Golden Bandicoot is a compact, golden-brown bandicoot with a long, pointed head and stiff guard hairs. It can be difficult to identify from brief sightings, particularly where it overlaps with the Northern Brown Bandicoot, so photographs, hair samples or expert confirmation may be needed.

The upperparts are golden-brown and covered by stiff, quill-like guard hairs that conceal the softer greyish underfur. The body is compact, the head is relatively flat and elongated, and the muzzle is pointed. The tail is short compared with the body and averages 10.5 cm.

Average head and body: 24.5 cm

Average tail: 10.5 cm

Mature weight: 300 to 850 g

Identification: Distinguishing features

The Golden Bandicoot is smaller than the Northern Brown Bandicoot and has a flatter, more elongated head. Hair morphology provides an unequivocal distinction in the cited recovery material, but this normally requires a suitable sample and an experienced identifier.

The survey guidelines list the Golden Bandicoot as a medium-sized ground-dwelling mammal for which hair sampling can be used. A field identification based only on size or colour should be treated cautiously where Northern Brown Bandicoots occur.

Identification: Signs and detection

Look for conical foraging pits, tracks, scats and nests in suitable heath, spinifex and dense ground cover. Bandicoot diggings are not reliably distinguishable between species of the same genus, so diggings should be recorded and followed by direct detection methods such as spotlighting, camera trapping or trapping.

Day shelters may be nests made from grass, leaves, twigs and other ground litter. The species is generally hidden during daylight, so eyeshine or an animal crossing a track at night may provide the first indication of presence. No species-specific call or track measurements are provided in the supplied documents.

  • Record the location, dimensions and distribution of all conical diggings, and photograph representative examples with a scale.
  • Use camera traps, spotlighting, hair sampling devices or appropriately designed cage trapping to confirm suspected presence.
  • Do not identify Golden Bandicoot diggings to species without supporting evidence, especially where Northern Brown Bandicoots or other digging mammals occur.

Distribution: Current range

The species formerly occurred across much of northern, central and western Australia, extending into Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The surviving mainland form is now restricted to a small part of the north Kimberley, with additional populations on offshore islands in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

In Western Australia, Isoodon auratus auratus occurs on a small area of mainland north-west Kimberley between the Mitchell Plateau and Yampi Peninsula, including sites around the Artesian Range, George Water, Prince Regent Nature Reserve and Yampi Peninsula. It also occurs on Augustus and Uwins Islands in the Kimberley.

In the Northern Territory, the species occurs on Marchinbar Island in the Wessel Islands, with translocated populations established on Raragala and Guluwuru Islands. The Barrow Island and Middle Island populations are the separate subspecies Isoodon auratus barrowensis.

Current mainland region: North-west Kimberley, Western Australia

Current Northern Territory region: Wessel Islands, north-eastern Arnhem Land

Known island localities named in the advice: Lachlan, Augustus, Storr and Uwins Islands in the Kimberley, Marchinbar Island, and translocated populations on Guluwuru and Raragala Islands

Distribution: Former range and bioregional context

The former range included central Australia, the tropical semi-arid zone, parts of South Australia, western New South Wales, Victoria and western Queensland. The supplied documents describe broad habitat regions rather than formal IBRA bioregions, so project assessments should use the current mapped distribution and local records rather than assume occupancy from historical range alone.

Former habitat included arid sand dunes and sand plains, Acacia and Eucalyptus woodlands, vine thickets, rugged sandstone heath and woodlands, and volcanic country in the subhumid tropics.

Distribution: Strongholds and population information

The strongest known population is on Barrow Island, which supports the separate Barrow Island subspecies and has been estimated at tens of thousands. For the mainland form, population estimates are unavailable for Kimberley mainland sites and most Kimberley islands.

The Marchinbar Island population was estimated at about 1,400 animals and the Middle Island population at about 1,000, although these figures are historical estimates. The species has a severely fragmented distribution, and the supplied documents do not provide a current range-wide population trend.

Barrow Island estimate: Several tens of thousands, separate subspecies

Middle Island estimate: About 1,000

Marchinbar Island estimate: About 1,400

Approximate historical area of occupancy: 65,260 ha, based on older records and island areas

Habitat: Current habitat

Golden Bandicoots use a wide range of habitats historically, but surviving populations are associated mainly with dense, structurally diverse ground cover. Habitat requirements differ between mainland sandstone sites and island populations.

On the Kimberley mainland, the species is recorded mainly in rugged King Leopold Sandstone and associated vine thickets, heathland and open woodland with dense hummock and tussock grass cover. On Marchinbar Island it is associated mainly with low heath and shrubland on sandstone or sand sheets, and it tends to avoid vegetation with greater tree cover.

On Barrow Island, Golden Bandicoots use limestone and Triodia hummock grassland. On Middle Island they occur on Quaternary sand with Spinifex longifolius.

Habitat: Structure and climate

The Kimberley mainland habitat critical to survival occurs in medium to high rainfall areas receiving about 700 to 1,200 mm annually. Island populations occur in drier settings as well as on sandstone heathland.

Important structural features include dense spinifex or other ground cover, low shrubs, heath, vine thicket edges, rugged sandstone and patches of vegetation that have not been burnt uniformly. The supplied documents do not provide an elevation limit.

Reported Kimberley rainfall range: About 700 to 1,200 mm annually

Key ground cover: Triodia and other dense hummock or tussock grasses

Important landforms: Rugged sandstone, sand sheets and limestone

Habitat: Habitat assessment on projects

Treat all areas supporting an extant population as habitat critical to survival, particularly isolated islands. On mainland projects, search sandstone heath, vine thicket, spinifex and dense shrub or grass cover even where the vegetation community is patchy.

Retain connected patches of dense ground cover and avoid creating large areas of recently burnt or cleared habitat between shelter sites. Map habitat patches, diggings, nests and nearby rock or vegetation refuges before clearing.

  • Inspect low heath, shrubland, spinifex, vine thicket edges and rugged sandstone before clearing.
  • Assess recent fire history and the amount of continuous ground cover within and around the proposed disturbance footprint.
  • Include nearby unburnt or structurally dense patches in the habitat assessment, not only the exact location of a detected animal.

Foraging habitat: Diet

Golden Bandicoots forage mainly at night by using their strong forefeet and pointed muzzle to dig for food. They use the soil beneath heath, spinifex and shrub cover, and may take both animal and plant material from the ground surface and litter.

Scat analysis from Marchinbar Island found mainly beetles and ants, with cockroaches, spiders, centipedes and plant material also present. Mainland animals eat insects, arachnids and plant material. Animals on Barrow Island have been observed eating turtle eggs and reptiles.

The supplied documents do not identify a fixed list of plant species forming the diet of the Golden Bandicoot. Food availability is likely to vary between island, sandstone and woodland sites.

Main recorded prey: Beetles and ants

Other recorded food: Cockroaches, spiders, centipedes, other insects, arachnids and plant material

Occasional food recorded on Barrow Island: Turtle eggs and reptiles

Foraging habitat: Foraging method and area

The species locates food and digs conical pits in soil and litter. Foraging is nocturnal, and activity is centred on nest sites or defined areas of activity. On Marchinbar Island, male home ranges were 4.4 to 35 ha and female ranges were 1.7 to 12.7 ha, with larger ranges tending to occur in the dry season.

Diggings may occur throughout suitable heath, spinifex, shrubland and sandstone ground cover. Their presence alone does not confirm Golden Bandicoot because diggings of bandicoots in the same genus cannot reliably be separated by appearance.

  • Search beneath dense ground cover, around shrub bases, along heath edges and across sandy or sandstone soils.
  • Inspect and photograph conical pits, associated tracks and scats, and record whether pits are fresh or weathered.
  • Retain foraging areas around nest sites and avoid isolating them from dense ground cover.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding information is limited and differs between populations. Marchinbar Island animals appear able to breed throughout the year, while Barrow Island animals show a summer peak; pouch young have been recorded in the Kimberley in May and September.

The species is a marsupial and females carry young in a rear-opening pouch. The supplied species-specific documents do not provide a confirmed gestation period, litter size, age at maturity or lifespan for the Golden Bandicoot. General bandicoot information indicates rapid development and small litters, but those values should not be treated as Golden Bandicoot measurements without species-specific confirmation.

For project planning, assume that pouch young or dependent young may be present at any time on Marchinbar Island and that breeding activity may be concentrated in summer on Barrow Island. Kimberley records of females with two pouch young in May and September show that young may also be present in the dry season.

Breeding season: Apparently year-round on Marchinbar Island; summer peak reported for Barrow Island; Kimberley pouch young recorded in May and September

Pouch young recorded: Two pouch young in Kimberley records from May and September

Gestation: Not stated for the Golden Bandicoot in the supplied documents

Litter size: Not stated for the Golden Bandicoot in the supplied documents

Age at maturity: Not stated for the Golden Bandicoot in the supplied documents

Lifespan: Not stated for the Golden Bandicoot in the supplied documents

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat

Breeding and shelter sites are associated with low heath, shrubland, spinifex, dense ground cover and sandstone or sandy substrates. On the Kimberley mainland, retain structurally diverse heath, vine thickets and grass cover around known activity areas.

Avoid clearing dense cover around nests, foraging pits or rock refuges during any period when pouch young could be present. Because breeding may occur throughout the year, a seasonal avoidance period cannot be applied reliably across all populations.

  • Search for nests and recent diggings before clearing, including in dense grass hummocks and low shrubs.
  • Retain continuous ground cover around detected activity areas and provide a quiet buffer until fauna supervision confirms that the area is clear.
  • Where clearing cannot be avoided, use staged clearing and allow animals to move towards retained habitat under an approved fauna management procedure.

Sheltering habitat: Day shelters

Golden Bandicoots shelter during the day in dense vegetation and ground nests. Available information points to a strong association with cover that protects animals from heat and predators, rather than to permanent burrows or tree hollows.

The species rests in dense vegetation or other shelter during the day. Nests may be made from twigs, grass, leaves and other ground litter, and activity areas are centred on nest sites.

On Marchinbar Island, shelter and activity areas occur mainly in low heath and shrubland on sandstone or sand sheets. On Barrow Island, animals use hummock grasses and also limestone caves.

Nest materials: Twigs, grass, leaves and other ground litter

Recorded refuge types: Dense vegetation, hummock grass and limestone caves

Nest or den dimensions: Not provided in the supplied documents

Sheltering habitat: Shelter features to retain

Retain dense spinifex, low shrubs, heath, fallen litter, rock cover and limestone or sandstone refuges wherever they occur within known or potential habitat. The documents do not report use of tree hollows, permanent burrows or specific shelter dimensions for this species.

Recently burnt or cleared areas may lack the cover needed for daytime shelter and can expose animals to predators. Retaining a fine-scale mosaic of cover is therefore more appropriate than removing all ground vegetation from a work area at once.

  • Inspect grass hummocks, dense shrubs, rock crevices and caves for nests before clearing.
  • Do not remove ground litter, fallen branches or dense cover unnecessarily from retained habitat.
  • Use a fauna spotter catcher during staged clearing where nests or suitable shelter cannot be avoided.

Threats: Predators and disease

The main threats are feral cat predation, inappropriate fire, disease risk and loss of habitat. Threats are amplified where a small population is isolated, where ground cover is removed, or where introduced predators reach an island population.

Predation by feral cats is rated as severe and is the key documented threat. Cats contributed to the decline of mainland populations and have been implicated in the extinction of the Hermite Island population, together with black rats. Feral dogs, dingoes, pythons and monitor lizards may also take bandicoots, although native predators are not considered a threat to healthy populations.

Disease is rated as severe in the conservation advice, but the extent of disease risk is unknown. Introducing cats, rats or other animals to predator-free islands is a major biosecurity risk.

  • Prevent domestic animals, feral cats and rats from entering work areas or being transported to islands.
  • Apply strict island biosecurity to vehicles, vessels, equipment, materials and temporary accommodation.
  • Report injured or dead bandicoots and retain carcasses for authorised disease or forensic assessment where required.

Threats: Fire and habitat change

Frequent, extensive and hot fires can remove the dense understorey and spinifex structure used for shelter and foraging. Fire and predation may interact because animals are more exposed after undergrowth is burnt. In the Northern Territory, the species appears to prefer areas burnt two to five years previously within a fine-scale mosaic, rather than uniformly burnt habitat.

Clearing, intensive local habitat loss and fragmentation can remove nests, foraging areas and movement links. Bauxite mining is identified as a potential severe local threat in parts of the Kimberley, and development has also been identified as a threat on Barrow Island.

  • Avoid broad, hot or repeated burns through occupied or suitable habitat.
  • Retain a fine-scale mix of older and recently burnt vegetation, guided by the applicable fire management plan and local advice.
  • Stage clearing so dense cover and movement routes remain available until fauna has moved to retained habitat.
  • Map and protect all known occupied patches because mainland populations are discrete and restricted.

Threats: Project risks

The supplied documents do not identify road mortality or hydrology change as established major threats for the Golden Bandicoot. Roads, vehicle access, lighting, noise, dust, drainage changes and construction activity can nevertheless increase direct injury, predator access or loss of ground cover at a project site and should be assessed where they intersect occupied habitat.

A project can also increase risk by creating access for cats, dogs or rats, or by leaving cleared edges between shelter patches. These risks are particularly important on islands and at isolated mainland sites.

  • Survey before clearing and identify all diggings, nests, dense shelter patches and likely movement routes.
  • Keep construction compounds, food waste and laydown areas secure from cats, dogs and rats.
  • Control vehicle speed and restrict night driving through occupied habitat where practicable.
  • Design drainage and access works so they do not remove or isolate known shelter and foraging patches.

Survey methodology: 1. Desktop assessment and habitat inspection

Survey the Golden Bandicoot where suitable habitat remains or may have been used, especially heathland, shrubland, spinifex and sandstone habitats with dense ground cover. The species is nocturnal, mostly solitary and difficult to confirm from diggings alone, so use more than one detection method.

Review recent records, historical records, aerial imagery, fire history and previous survey reports before entering the site.

Map heathland and shrubland on sandstone or sand sheets, Triodia dominated ground cover, dense understorey, vine thickets and rugged sandstone habitat.

Treat all areas supporting an extant population as habitat of conservation significance, including retained habitat on islands and mainland sites.

Inspect habitat during the day for nests, dense ground cover, hollow logs, shelter sites, tracks, scats and conical foraging pits.

Known current distribution: North-west Kimberley mainland and nearby islands in Western Australia, and Marchinbar, Raragala and Guluwuru Islands in the Northern Territory.

Typical habitat: Heathland and shrubland on sandstone or sand sheets, spinifex hummock grassland, and rocky sandstone habitat with dense understorey.

  • Record the location, area and condition of each suitable habitat patch, including evidence of recent fire, heavy grazing, feral cats or other disturbance.
  • Survey habitat patches separately where they are divided by cleared areas, roads or unsuitable vegetation.

Survey methodology: 2. Searches for signs and foraging pits

Search systematically for conical diggings, tracks, scats, nests and other signs during daylight.

Document every digging, because bandicoot diggings can be difficult to distinguish from those of other species and cannot reliably confirm Golden Bandicoot presence by themselves.

Use the location of diggings and shelter resources to select sites for spotlighting, camera trapping, hair sampling or trapping.

Survey area basis: The survey guideline describes minimum effort for a subject site up to 5 hectares and recommends replication across habitat types for larger areas.

  • Photograph representative diggings with a scale and record their size, substrate, density, associated tracks, scats and food remains.
  • Mark sign locations on a map and revisit them with a direct detection method.
  • Search dense heath, shrubland, grass hummocks, hollow logs and other sheltered sites where the species may rest during the day.

Survey methodology: 3. Spotlighting and camera trapping

Conduct spotlight surveys at night on foot through suitable habitat, because the Golden Bandicoot is mainly nocturnal and rests in shelter during the day.

Target heathland, shrubland, spinifex, sandstone outcrops, dense ground cover and locations where fresh diggings or tracks were recorded.

Use camera traps at likely travel routes, feeding areas, nest sites and other sheltered locations where direct observation is unlikely.

  • Record the date, start and finish time, route, weather, recent rainfall, moon or light conditions, observers, distance walked and all detections.
  • Repeat spotlighting and camera trapping across representative habitat patches rather than relying on a single observation point.
  • Do not treat a negative spotlighting result as proof that the species is absent.

Survey methodology: 4. Hair sampling and live trapping

Use hair sampling devices where a non-capture method is preferred and where an appropriately qualified laboratory can identify the sample.

Use Elliott B or cage trapping only under an approved animal ethics, wildlife research or fauna handling authority and with a species-specific trapping plan.

Place traps in suitable habitat near shelter, fresh diggings, tracks or other evidence of activity, and check them at the frequency required by the approval and animal welfare conditions.

Hair identification: The survey guideline lists the Golden Bandicoot as a species for which identification from a hair sample is possible, although subspecies generally cannot be distinguished.

Available methods: The guideline lists spotlight surveys, hair sampling devices, Elliott B or cage trapping, camera traps, searches for signs and soil plot surveys for medium-sized ground-dwelling mammals.

  • Use trapping as a targeted confirmation method, not as a substitute for habitat assessment.
  • Protect traps from heat, rain and predators, and provide the shelter, bait and checking arrangements specified in the approved method.
  • Release animals at the capture location unless an authorised relocation is required by the project approval or fauna management plan.
  • Record trap locations, trap nights, trap type, bait, weather, checking times, captures, non-target animals and any injuries.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Prepare a survey design that covers every suitable habitat type and replicates effort where the project area exceeds 5 hectares.
  • Use at least one direct detection method in addition to daytime habitat and sign searches, with the final combination and effort set by the project ecologist and any regulator or approval condition.
  • Record survey dates, times, effort, methods, weather, fire history, habitat condition, coordinates, photographs, specimens or samples and all negative results.
  • Have uncertain identifications checked by a suitably experienced mammalogist before clearing proceeds.
  • Submit confirmed records, including reliable negative and incidental records where required, to the relevant state or territory wildlife database.
  • Report any EPBC Act listed species detection and any potential impact to the project environmental manager and approval authority.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise habitat loss

Avoid clearing occupied habitat wherever practicable. The species has undergone a major range contraction and surviving populations are restricted and fragmented, so planning must protect known populations, shelter and dense ground cover before machinery arrives.

  • Redesign the footprint to retain heathland, shrubland, spinifex, sandstone outcrops, vine thickets, dense understorey and other habitat used by the species.
  • Retain connected areas of suitable habitat between occupied or potentially occupied patches, and avoid isolating small patches with roads, compounds or linear infrastructure.
  • Keep all known occupied sites and nearby shelter resources within retained habitat unless an approval specifically allows disturbance.
  • Give particular protection to island populations and cat-free sites, where introduced predators can cause severe impacts.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and timing

National status: Vulnerable under the EPBC Act.

Relevant state and territory status in the supplied records: Endangered in the Northern Territory and South Australia, and Vulnerable in Western Australia; the historical recovery plan also records the species as presumed extinct in New South Wales.

  • Check whether the proposed action is likely to have a significant impact on the EPBC Act listed Golden Bandicoot and whether an EPBC referral, approval or approval condition is required.
  • Check the relevant Western Australian, Northern Territory, South Australian or other state and territory wildlife legislation, permits and fauna handling requirements before survey, trapping, clearing or relocation.
  • Use a fauna management plan that identifies survey methods, competent personnel, exclusion areas, clearing limits, relocation arrangements, injury response and reporting requirements.
  • Schedule clearing to avoid periods when animals are most likely to be sheltering in dense cover, and consider the local fire history and the species' reported preference for areas burned two to five years previously.
  • Stage clearing so that retained habitat, escape routes and fauna handling resources remain available until each work area has been searched and released.

Before habitat disturbance: Pre-clearance preparation

  • Complete the approved pre-clearance survey using daytime searches and direct detection methods suited to the habitat and project scale.
  • Mark retained habitat, exclusion areas, active nests, dense ground cover, hollow logs, rock shelters, burrows, tracks, diggings and other fauna features before machinery enters the site.
  • Install exclusion fencing where it will prevent entry into retained habitat or direct animals towards safe retained habitat, but inspect fencing daily and remove hazards that could trap or injure animals.
  • Brief the machine operators and fauna spotter catcher on the clearing sequence, stop-work triggers, communication signals and the location of retained habitat and release areas.
  • Check that transport crates, bags, gloves, torches, nest material, first aid equipment and an approved wildlife contact are available before work starts.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and machinery coordination

Clear slowly and under the direction of the fauna spotter catcher. The spotter catcher must have authority to stop machinery, and all fauna interactions must follow the approved fauna management plan and relevant wildlife permits.

  • Hold a daily pre-start briefing covering the approved clearing area, retained habitat, weather, fire conditions, access routes and fauna response arrangements.
  • Inspect the work area each morning for fresh diggings, tracks, nests, animals, injured fauna, damaged fencing and new predator activity.
  • Clear in small sections from the less suitable or already disturbed area towards retained habitat, where this is consistent with the approved clearing sequence.
  • Use low-speed, staged clearing that allows the fauna spotter catcher to inspect vegetation, ground cover, logs, rocks and shelter before removal.
  • Stop machinery immediately when directed by the fauna spotter catcher, when an animal is seen, or when a new nest, burrow, shelter or occupied habitat feature is identified.
  • Do not allow machinery, vehicles, workers, dogs or materials to enter marked retained habitat or release areas.

During habitat disturbance: Handling and relocation

  • Allow an animal to move into retained habitat without pursuit where it can leave safely and the fauna spotter catcher considers that intervention is unnecessary.
  • Capture, handle, transport or relocate a Golden Bandicoot only by a person authorised under the relevant permit, approval or fauna management plan.
  • Use a suitable ventilated container with protection from heat, direct sun, noise and predators, and minimise handling time.
  • Release a healthy animal into nearby suitable retained habitat that is connected to the project area where practicable, unless the approval specifies another location.
  • Do not relocate an animal to an island, across a water barrier or to an unapproved site, because biosecurity and population risks apply to isolated populations.
  • Take injured or sick animals to an authorised wildlife carer or veterinarian as soon as practicable, and record the outcome.

During habitat disturbance: Habitat features and stop-work triggers

  • Treat dense heath, spinifex hummocks, nests, hollow logs, rock shelters, sandstone crevices and other ground shelters as fauna habitat and inspect them before disturbance.
  • Do not burn, mulch, crush or bury retained ground cover, logs or rock shelters without checking the approval and fauna management plan.
  • Stop work and reassess if a Golden Bandicoot is found, if repeated fresh diggings occur, if an occupied nest or shelter is identified, or if clearing would remove an unrecorded habitat patch.
  • Stop work if exclusion fencing fails, a predator enters a retained area, an animal is injured, or the spotter catcher cannot safely see the clearing edge.
  • Obtain advice from the project ecologist and approval authority before restarting after a stop-work trigger.

During habitat disturbance: Records and incident response

  • Record every detection, capture, relocation, injury, mortality, escape, stop-work event and fauna feature removed or retained.
  • For each animal record the date, time, coordinates, habitat, condition, method of capture, handler, destination, release time and permit or approval reference.
  • Photograph and map unexpected habitat features or signs that affect the clearing decision.
  • Notify the project environmental officer immediately of any mortality, injury, unauthorised clearing, predator incursion or breach of an approval condition.
  • Submit records to the relevant state or territory wildlife database and provide required incident reports to the regulator.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance inspection

Completion of clearing does not end the management obligation. Confirm that retained habitat is intact, controls are working and any relocated or nearby population is not exposed to new predators, fire or access impacts.

  • Inspect the cleared area and retained habitat after machinery leaves for trapped, injured or overlooked animals, damaged exclusion fencing, exposed nests, crushed shelter and new barriers to movement.
  • Search the edge of retained habitat for fresh diggings, tracks, nests and signs of predator access.
  • Remove waste, mesh, pits, open pipes and other artificial traps that could injure a Golden Bandicoot.
  • Do not remove retained logs, rocks, spinifex hummocks or dense ground cover identified in the fauna management plan.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and controls

  • Monitor retained habitat and any approved release area using repeat searches, spotlighting, camera traps or other methods specified by the project ecologist and approval.
  • Check predator exclusion measures, cat activity, fencing, access controls, fire conditions and weed establishment at the frequency set in the fauna management plan.
  • Maintain connectivity between retained habitat patches and prevent stock, vehicles, workers and domestic animals from entering them.
  • Continue monitoring after rain or fire, when changes in foraging signs and ground cover can affect detectability and habitat condition.

After habitat disturbance: Reporting and offsets

  • Provide the regulator, approval holder and land manager with a completion report covering clearing limits, survey effort, detections, handling, injuries, mortality, retained habitat and rehabilitation actions.
  • Report any failure to meet an approval condition or any unexpected impact immediately through the project incident process.
  • Apply any approved offset, conservation payment or other compensatory measure exactly as required by the EPBC Act approval or state or territory approval.
  • Do not use an offset as a substitute for avoiding and minimising impacts at the project site.

Rehabilitation actions: Recreate habitat structure

Rehabilitation should recreate the shelter, ground cover and habitat structure used by the Golden Bandicoot. Set targets from the condition of nearby occupied habitat and manage fire and feral predators as part of the rehabilitation plan.

Reference habitat: Kimberley mainland habitat includes rocky sandstone and vine thickets in areas receiving about 700 to 1200 mm annual rainfall; island habitat includes heathland on sandstone or sand sheets and spinifex dominated ground cover.

  • Restore heathland, shrubland, spinifex hummock grassland and sandstone ground cover appropriate to the local population and reference site.
  • Use locally appropriate native plants and natural regeneration from the surrounding habitat, rather than introducing species from another population or region.
  • Reinstate suitable logs, rocks, leaf litter and dense ground cover where they were removed and where this will not create a fire or machinery hazard.
  • Keep rehabilitation areas connected to retained habitat and maintain movement routes between patches.
  • Do not install nest boxes as a default measure for this ground-dwelling species; use them only where an approved design identifies a specific benefit.

Rehabilitation actions: Fire, weeds and predators

  • Develop a fire regime that maintains a fine-scale mosaic of ground cover and avoids frequent, extensive and hot fires that remove understorey shelter.
  • Use traditional Aboriginal burning practices where appropriate and agreed with Traditional Owners and land managers.
  • Manage feral cats and prevent cats, dogs, foxes and rats from entering island or fenced populations, using approved predator control and biosecurity procedures.
  • Control weeds and grazing that reduce dense understorey, spinifex cover or shelter resources.
  • Protect rehabilitation areas from vehicles, livestock and other disturbance until the vegetation and shelter structure are established.

Rehabilitation actions: Monitoring and success measures

  • Set measurable rehabilitation targets for native plant cover, spinifex and shrub recruitment, shelter availability, connectivity, weed cover, predator incursions and fire history.
  • Inspect rehabilitation areas at agreed intervals and after major fire, flood, storm or predator incursions.
  • Use repeat daytime searches, diggings and track searches, spotlighting, camera traps or other approved methods to assess Golden Bandicoot use of the rehabilitated area.
  • Compare results with nearby retained habitat and continue management until the site provides comparable shelter and ground cover and meets the approval's completion criteria.
  • Record monitoring results, maintenance actions, fauna detections and any corrective work in the project environmental report.

Sources