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Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus)

The southern brown bandicoot is a medium-sized, ground-dwelling marsupial of dense heathland, shrubland, open forest and woodland, mainly in southern coastal Australia. It is secretive, occurs in fragmented populations and is sensitive to clearing, loss of dense understorey, fire, introduced predators and barriers to movement, so suitable habitat and recent signs require careful checking before ground disturbance.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Endangered.

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Endangered.

Victoria, Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988: Endangered.

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

Australian Capital Territory, Nature Conservation Act 2014: Endangered.

Breeding season

Breeding and pouch young can occur in every month, although spring breeding is generally strongest. Survey detection is often best in autumn, when juveniles have recruited and soil moisture supports fresh diggings.

Seasonal timing varies between regions and with rainfall, food availability and fire history. Absence during a single survey should not be treated as proof that the species is absent.

  • Breeding and births: Breeding occurs throughout the year, with a general spring peak. In the Mount Lofty Ranges, the main breeding period is June to December.
  • Pouch young and dependent juveniles: Pouch young and dependent juveniles may be present in any month. Young become independent at about 60 days, and females may produce two or three litters in a year.
  • Local movement and dispersal: The species is not described as migratory. Local movements follow food, cover, rainfall and fire history, with home ranges reported from about 0.5 to 5 ha in some studies and larger male ranges in others.
  • Highest survey detection: Detection is typically greatest in late summer to autumn, especially after significant rainfall, when juveniles recruit and fresh diggings are more likely to be present.
  • Highest clearing risk: Clearing can harm the species in any month because breeding is year-round and nests are concealed. Risk is highest during the spring breeding peak and should also be treated as high whenever dependent young, fresh nests or occupied dense cover are detected.

Identification

The southern brown bandicoot is a compact, robust marsupial with a short pointed snout and a grizzled brown coat. It is usually detected by cameras, hair tunnels, diggings or nests rather than by direct observation.

Adults have a long tapering snout, naked nose, small rounded ears, small black eyes, a compact body and a short pointed tail. The back has black spiny bristle hairs over dark grey underfur, giving a brown or grizzled appearance, while the underside is creamy white.

The forelegs are short and strongly clawed for digging. The hind limbs are longer and somewhat macropod-like. Digits 2 and 3 on the hind foot are joined except at the clawed tips.

Head and body: About 300 mm

Tail: Usually 110 to 120 mm

Ears: Small and rounded, generally about 25 to 38 mm in measured specimens

Identification: Distinguishing features

The southern brown bandicoot is generally larger and heavier than a long-nosed bandicoot, and has a shorter nose and shorter, more rounded ears. When the ears of a long-nosed bandicoot are laid forward they can reach the eye, whereas the ears of an Isoodon generally do not.

It can be confused with potoroos. Potoroos are usually larger and have a thick wallaby-like tail. Rabbits and other bandicoots can make similar foraging holes, so holes alone should not be used to confirm presence.

Sexual size difference: Males are generally heavier than females; eastern-form means reported are about 890 g for males and 620 g for females

  • Look for a short pointed snout, small rounded ears, grizzled brown upperparts and a creamy underside.
  • Check the tail shape and size when comparing an animal with a potoroo.
  • Use photographs, cameras or hair identification to confirm records where visual identification is uncertain.

Identification: Signs and survey detection

Foraging produces distinctive conical holes in leaf litter and soil, commonly made while searching for invertebrates, fungi and underground plant material. Southern brown bandicoot holes can be confused with rabbit holes and other bandicoot diggings, so associated tracks, scats, hair or camera records should be used for confirmation.

Nests are concealed on the ground in a shallow depression and are made from shredded vegetation, leaf litter and other plant material. They may be under dense shrubs, grass trees or blackberry, and may be partly covered with earth.

No diagnostic call or eyeshine feature is described in the supplied guidance. Live cage trapping is not the preferred presence method because animals can be trap-shy, may be injured and females may eject pouch young.

Preferred detection period: Autumn, particularly after increased soil moisture and recruitment of juveniles

Camera placement: About 500 mm above ground, with bait 1 to 3 m in front of the camera

  • Search moist soil and dense understorey for fresh conical diggings.
  • Use remote infrared cameras and hair tunnels as the primary presence methods.
  • Use two surveys of at least 14 days each, at least one month apart, with at least one survey after significant rainfall where practicable.
  • Treat an absence of signs outside suitable survey conditions as inconclusive.

Distribution: States and bioregions

The south-eastern form has a fragmented mainland distribution from the Hawkesbury River area of New South Wales through Victoria to south-eastern South Australia, including Kangaroo Island. The taxonomy of the broader Isoodon obesulus complex remains unsettled, and some sources include Tasmanian, Western Australian and island populations within the species or subspecies concept.

In New South Wales, records extend south from the Hawkesbury River, with known strongholds around Ku-ring-gai Chase and Garigal National Parks north of Sydney, and in the far south-east around Ben Boyd National Park, Nadgee Nature Reserve and adjoining state forests and national parks.

In Victoria, records occur in the East Gippsland Lowlands, Gippsland Plain, Otway Plain, Warrnambool Plain, Greater Grampians, Glenelg Plains and Wilsons Promontory. The species also occurs around the Melbourne, Western Port, Mornington Peninsula and south-western Victorian areas, although many populations are small or declining.

In South Australia, records occur in the south-east, the Mount Lofty Ranges, the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island. The consultation material also includes Nuyts Archipelago populations within the broader taxon, while noting unresolved taxonomy.

The broader species account records southern brown bandicoots in Tasmania and south-west Western Australia. Those populations should not automatically be treated as the same listed management unit as the south-eastern mainland form.

  • Check current state databases and the Commonwealth Protected Matters Search Tool for the project area.
  • Do not infer absence from a coarse distribution map because the species occupies only suitable patches within mapped subregions.

Distribution: Strongholds and subpopulations

Important mainland areas include the northern Sydney reserves, the far south-east of New South Wales, East Gippsland, Wilsons Promontory, the Grampians, south-western Victoria, the Mount Lofty Ranges, the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island.

The distribution is discontinuous. In the Mount Lofty Ranges, several former metapopulations have contracted or become undetectable at sites where the species was previously recorded.

Eastern-form extent of occurrence: Estimated at 13,718 km2 using records from 1995 to 2015

Eastern-form area of occupancy: Estimated at 1,900 km2 using records from 1995 to 2015

Area of occupancy change: About 34% lower in records after 1995 than in records after 1980

Population estimate: No reliable total estimate; the 2016 conservation advice considered the mature population likely to exceed 10,000, while an earlier consultation document estimated more than 30,000 for its broader taxonomic unit

Distribution: Population trend

The species has undergone major historical range contraction and remains uncommon in many surviving populations. Trends vary between sites, with some increases after fox control and continuing declines where habitat quality, fire, cats or fragmentation remain limiting.

Recorded declines include 44% at Ben Boyd National Park and 47% at Nadgee Nature Reserve between 1999 and 2008, more than 70% at Port Campbell over about 10 years, and local extirpation at Pines Flora and Fauna Reserve and a northern Mount Lofty Ranges metapopulation.

Habitat: Habitat types

Southern brown bandicoots need dense, continuous ground cover for feeding, nesting, movement and protection from predators. They occur in both native and modified vegetation where suitable cover and food remain available.

Recorded habitats include heathland, shrubland, sedgeland, heathy open forest, woodland, sclerophyll forest, tall shrubland and some grassland. Wetland margins, watercourses and moist forest edges can be used where dense vegetation is present.

The species is often associated with infertile, sandy or friable, well-drained soils, but it also occurs on other soil types. It is generally associated with higher rainfall or moist sites and may be less tolerant of drought than many other marsupials.

Ground cover: Preferred sites generally have more than 50% foliage density between 0.2 and 1 m above ground

Recorded elevation: Up to about 1,000 m in the Grampians

Habitat: Vegetation structure

Important vegetation includes dense native understorey, grass tussocks, sedges, bracken, shrubs, grass trees, tea-trees, banksias and other plants that provide low cover. In South Australia, examples include heathy woodland, open forest, woodland and tall shrubland with species such as Eucalyptus obliqua, Eucalyptus fasciculosa, Leptospermum, Banksia marginata, Pultenaea, Pteridium, Xanthorrhoea and Lepidosperma.

Exotic blackberry, gorse, broom and other dense shrubby plants can provide shelter and movement cover at some sites. Their removal can reduce habitat if it is not staged and paired with established native replacement cover.

  • Map dense understorey separately from canopy cover because low vegetation structure is the main habitat feature identified in the supplied guidance.
  • Assess nearby habitat, connectivity, soil condition, vegetation density and recent fire history before clearing.
  • Avoid reducing suitable understorey below an average of 50% foliage density between 0.2 and 1 m.

Foraging habitat: Food

The southern brown bandicoot is an omnivorous ground forager. It searches leaf litter and soil with its snout and forefeet, leaving small conical foraging holes.

Animal foods include insects, spiders, earthworms, slaters, centipedes, beetles, ants, crickets, earwigs, millipedes, flies, moths and other invertebrates. Small vertebrates such as skinks and frogs have also been recorded in the diet.

Plant and fungal foods include hypogeous fungi, fungal fruit-bodies, roots, bulbs, root nodules, grasses, moss, fruit and seeds. Recorded plant foods in South Australia include blackberry, boneseed, pink ground-berry, flame heath and African boxthorn.

Feeding method: Noses through leaf litter and soil, then digs with the forefeet to locate underground food

Typical digging: Conical holes, often about 35 mm across and 48 mm deep in one study

Foraging habitat: Foraging area

Foraging is concentrated in dense understorey, heath, shrubland, woodland edges, wetland margins and moist soils where invertebrates and fungi are available. Food availability and seasonal conditions influence the area used.

Reported home ranges vary between studies and regions. The conservation advice gives typical ranges of 0.5 to 5 ha, while the New South Wales profile reports males using about 5 to 20 ha and females about 2 to 3 ha.

  • Retain leaf litter, friable soil and dense ground cover within and beside the construction footprint.
  • Inspect moist ground and areas with recent diggings before stripping, grading or trenching.
  • Avoid severing short links between feeding patches and dense shelter.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding can occur in any month, so habitat disturbance can affect pouch young or dependent juveniles throughout the year. Dense ground cover is needed for nests and for protection while young are dependent.

Females have a rear-opening pouch with eight teats arranged in an incomplete circle. Older females may produce more litters, and the number of litters depends on food availability and local conditions.

Breeding habitat is usually within dense heath, shrubland, grass-tree cover, woodland understorey or other vegetation that allows a concealed ground nest. Females may nest beneath blackberry or other shrubs and may use rabbit burrows.

Breeding season: Throughout the year, with a general peak in spring; in the Mount Lofty Ranges, breeding is mainly June to December

Litters per year: Usually two or three; up to four has been reported in some populations

Litter size: One to six young, usually two to four; reported averages are commonly about two to three

Gestation: About 11 to 12 days, with some reports as short as 12 days

Age at maturity: About 60 days

Independence: Young become independent at about 60 days after birth

Lifespan: About three to four years in the wild; records from South Australia give about three and a half to five years

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat protection

Retain dense vegetation, leaf litter and low cover around known nests, recent diggings and camera records. Construction clearing should be planned on the assumption that concealed nests and pouch young may be present even when adults are not detected.

Avoid broad-scale removal of dense exotic cover where it is being used by bandicoots. Stage removal only after suitable native cover is established.

  • Have a qualified fauna ecologist inspect dense understorey, grass-tree bases, blackberry patches and rabbit burrows before clearing.
  • Do not rely on cage trapping to prove that breeding animals are absent.
  • Use night cameras and hair tunnels where direct detection is needed, with autumn surveys after rainfall preferred for detecting recent recruitment.

Sheltering habitat: Nests and burrows

The species shelters at ground level in concealed nests and sometimes in burrows made by other animals. Shelter sites are usually difficult to see without close inspection.

Nests are made from shredded vegetation, leaf litter, grass and other plant material in a shallow ground depression. The nest may have a hollow chamber and the upper surface may be mixed with soil to help waterproof it.

The species generally does not excavate its own burrow, but uses rabbit burrows and other available cavities. Recent observations in the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges suggest that individuals may sometimes construct their own burrows.

  • Search beneath shrubs, grass trees, blackberry, dense grass, bracken, fallen vegetation and other ground cover.
  • Inspect rabbit burrows and similar shelter sites for fresh tracks, scats, hair, disturbed soil or camera evidence.
  • Do not remove cover or enter burrows during clearing without an approved fauna management procedure.

Sheltering habitat: Cover and refuge

Dense understorey protects bandicoots from foxes, cats and other predators and provides concealed routes between nests and feeding areas. Fire can remove this cover over large areas and expose animals to increased predation.

The referral guidance identifies 50% to 80% average foliage density between 0.2 and 1 m as suitable corridor structure. A corridor core greater than 50 m wide is recommended for corridors up to 1.1 km long.

Habitat buffer in referral guidance: More than 30 m between development and known or likely suitable habitat

Corridor core: More than 50 m wide for corridors up to 1.1 km long

  • Keep buffers and construction compounds outside retained habitat and movement corridors where practicable.
  • Prevent machinery, vehicles, lighting and stock from entering retained shelter vegetation.
  • Maintain connected dense cover rather than isolated shelter patches.

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

The main project risks are direct habitat loss, fragmentation, removal of dense understorey, fire, introduced predators and vehicle mortality. Indirect effects can continue after construction through altered drainage, weeds, domestic animals and increased access.

Clearing removes feeding, nesting and refuge sites and can isolate small populations. Roads, easements, compounds, fences and drainage works can interrupt movement between habitat patches.

The referral guidance identifies high risk where an action removes or long-term modifies more than 1% of suitable habitat in patches less than 100 ha, or more than 5% in patches greater than 100 ha. It also identifies reduced connectivity across more than 50 m of natural surface or more than 10 m of artificial surface as high risk.

  • Avoid clearing known or likely habitat and retain dense understorey above 50% foliage density between 0.2 and 1 m.
  • Keep development buffers greater than 30 m from known or likely habitat where practicable.
  • Co-locate services and easements, keep them outside corridor cores and maintain movement links.
  • Treat all populations as important because the species is listed as endangered under the EPBC Act.

Threats: Fire and vegetation change

Frequent or extensive burning can remove the dense ground cover needed for shelter and movement. Populations can remain below suitable density for several years after fire, and post-fire predation by foxes and cats can be severe.

Broad-scale weed removal can also reduce habitat where blackberry, gorse, broom or other dense exotic plants are currently providing cover. Weed management needs to account for both weed impacts and the habitat function of dense vegetation.

  • Use a mosaic fire regime that retains long-unburnt dense cover and avoids burning an entire habitat patch at once.
  • Keep the area with reduced understorey below 20% of suitable habitat at any one time where the referral guidance applies.
  • Stage removal of important exotic cover and establish dense native replacement vegetation before further removal.

Threats: Predators, roads and domestic animals

Red foxes are a severe threat over a large part of the range. Feral and domestic cats take juveniles, and dogs may also kill bandicoots. Fox control can increase bandicoot numbers at some sites, but cat numbers may increase after fox removal, so predator programs need monitoring.

Road mortality has been recorded. New roads and construction traffic can also increase access for predators and domestic animals.

  • Control foxes, feral cats and dogs through an integrated program suited to the site.
  • Keep domestic cats indoors and prevent dogs from roaming into habitat.
  • Use low speeds, signs, fencing and safe crossing structures where roads cannot avoid habitat.
  • Do not use predator exclusion fencing unless it is maintained, monitored and designed to preserve movement and escape routes.

Threats: Disease, hydrology and site disturbance

Toxoplasmosis has been recorded in some bandicoot populations, although its effect on southern brown bandicoots is poorly understood. Phytophthora may alter plant communities and reduce habitat quality.

Construction can change drainage, soil moisture, runoff, soil structure and weed spread. These changes can reduce food resources, degrade understorey and make habitat less suitable.

  • Use vehicle, machinery, soil and personnel hygiene controls to reduce spread of weeds and Phytophthora.
  • Keep altered drainage and stormwater within the development footprint and direct runoff away from retained habitat.
  • Avoid broad-scale herbicide drift, soil compaction, rubbish dumping and uncontrolled access through habitat.
  • Assess indirect impacts even where the construction footprint does not directly clear occupied habitat.

Survey methodology: 1. Remote infrared cameras

Use targeted surveys before clearing or construction where suitable southern brown bandicoot habitat may be affected. The species is difficult to detect, and a failure to detect it does not demonstrate absence unless the recommended methods, timing and effort have been used.

Use remote infrared cameras as the primary detection method, together with hair tunnels and searches for diggings or other signs.

Set cameras about 50 cm above ground, with bait 1 to 3 m in front of each camera. Use a bait mixture of approximately five parts rolled oats, one part honey and two parts peanut butter, secured in an inaccessible bait holder.

For affected areas of 10 ha or less, use one camera per hectare. For areas greater than 10 ha and up to 30 ha, use one camera per 2 ha. For areas greater than 30 ha, use at least one camera per 5 ha and survey at least 50 per cent of the affected area, targeting suitable habitat and recent diggings.

Complete at least two surveys of 14 days each, at least one month apart, with at least one survey following significant rainfall.

Autumn is preferred, although cameras can operate year round when supporting evidence validates detection probability. In north eastern NSW, camera surveys may be undertaken from spring to autumn because summers are generally moist.

Survey methodology: 2. Hair tunnels

Use hair tunnels as a primary method with remote infrared cameras. Place them where recent diggings or suitable dense ground cover are present.

For affected areas of 4 ha or less, use 20 hair tunnels per hectare. For areas greater than 4 ha and up to 10 ha, use 10 hair tunnels per hectare. For areas greater than 10 ha and up to 30 ha, use 10 hair tunnels per 2 ha.

For affected areas greater than 30 ha, use at least five hair tunnels per 2 ha, arranged as transects with 10 tunnels spaced 50 m apart, and survey at least 50 per cent of the affected area.

Complete two surveys of 14 days each, at least one month apart, with at least one survey following significant rainfall.

Conduct hair tunnel surveys in autumn. Do not use them in spring or summer because of detrimental bycatch risks to amphibians and reptiles.

Have collected hairs identified by a trained or experienced person.

Survey methodology: 3. Signs and supplementary detection

Search suitable habitat for conical foraging diggings, tracks, scats, nests and other signs, preferably when soils are moist.

Treat diggings as supporting evidence only because southern brown bandicoot diggings can be confused with those of rabbits and other mammals. Confirm presence with cameras, hair identification or other reliable evidence.

Use raked soil plots along suspected movement paths at two plots per hectare, with each plot 1 m wide by the width of the track, and survey for three consecutive nights. Autumn is preferred, but this method can be used year round.

Use spotlighting or other direct detection methods as supplementary techniques where appropriate. Record the survey conditions, search route, duration and all observations.

Do not rely on wire cage trapping to establish presence. The species may be trap shy, trapping can be inefficient, and females may eject pouch young when trapped.

Survey methodology: 4. Habitat assessment

Have a suitably qualified or experienced person assess soil type, vegetation type, vegetation structure and density, nearby suitable habitat, connectivity and the botanical composition of the site.

Give particular attention to heathland, shrubland, sedgeland, heathy open forest and woodland, especially where dense ground cover occurs on sandy or well drained soils.

Map areas with more than 50 per cent average foliage density between 0.2 and 1 m above ground. Dense understorey provides shelter, nesting sites, movement cover and protection from predators.

Record blackberry and other dense exotic vegetation separately. The species can use blackberry, and broad scale removal may reduce habitat suitability in some areas.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Survey in autumn where practicable and repeat surveys after significant rainfall when local conditions affect detection.
  • Use cameras with either hair tunnels or confirmed sign searches, rather than relying on a single method.
  • Treat a non-detection as inconclusive when the recommended timing, method or effort could not be achieved.
  • Record survey dates, rainfall, soil moisture, effort by method, camera and tunnel locations, bait, habitat condition, photographs, species identifications and all signs detected.
  • Submit verified records and negative survey information, where requested, to the relevant state wildlife database and include the records in the project fauna report.
  • Retain raw camera images, hair identification results, field sheets and spatial data with the project environmental records.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise habitat loss

Plan the work around the species' dependence on dense ground cover and its fragmented populations. Avoid removing occupied habitat, movement links and shelter before the site has been surveyed and the required approvals are in place.

  • Retain all known or likely occupied habitat wherever practicable, including dense understorey, heath, shrubland, sedgeland, heathy woodland, wetland edges, nest sites and dense blackberry that is functioning as shelter.
  • Avoid reducing suitable understorey below an average of 50 per cent foliage density between 0.2 and 1 m above ground.
  • Keep a buffer greater than 30 m between development works and known or likely suitable habitat where practicable.
  • Maintain vegetation corridors with a core greater than 50 m wide for corridors up to 1.1 km long, and keep buffers and asset protection zones outside the corridor core.
  • Avoid creating a gap greater than 50 m over natural surfaces or greater than 10 m over artificial surfaces through suitable habitat or a movement corridor.
  • Do not remove dense exotic vegetation in one operation where it is being used by bandicoots. Stage removal and establish suitable native cover before removing the remaining shelter.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and work planning

  • Check the current EPBC Act status and determine whether the action may have a significant impact on this nationally listed endangered subspecies.
  • Refer the action to the Australian Government environment minister before work starts if it may cause long term habitat loss or modification, reduce connectivity, affect occupied habitat or create uncertainty about indirect impacts.
  • Obtain state or territory permits for surveys, handling, trapping, relocation, vegetation removal and wildlife rehabilitation where required.
  • Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies survey results, retained habitat, exclusion zones, machinery controls, fauna handling arrangements, stop-work triggers, monitoring and reporting responsibilities.
  • Stage clearing so that retained dense vegetation and nearby refuge areas remain connected while works proceed.
  • Avoid scheduling extensive clearing, burning or understorey removal when the site has recently been burned, when cover is sparse or when animals are likely to be concentrated in remaining refuges.

Before habitat disturbance: Pre-clearance preparation

  • Complete the required pre-clearance surveys using the recommended cameras, hair tunnels and sign searches before finalising the clearing boundary.
  • Mark retained habitat, nests, recent diggings, movement paths, dense understorey, corridors, buffers and no-go areas in the field and on construction plans.
  • Brief the fauna spotter catcher, supervisors and machine operators on the species' appearance, conical diggings, nests, likely refuge areas and the daily stop-work process.
  • Install exclusion fencing only where it will prevent access to a work area without fragmenting habitat, isolating animals, blocking escape routes or directing animals towards roads.
  • Inspect exclusion fencing daily and keep gates, drains, trenches and other entrapment points managed so animals cannot enter or become trapped.
  • Where fencing is required, remember that southern brown bandicoots can move through 40 to 50 mm diamond mesh.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and machinery coordination

Use a slow, supervised clearing process that allows the fauna spotter catcher to inspect habitat before machinery removes it. Stop work when an animal, active sign or unexpected habitat risk is found.

  • Hold a daily pre-start meeting covering the approved work area, exclusion zones, weather, recent detections, fauna handling arrangements and stop-work triggers.
  • Inspect the work area before machinery enters it, including dense understorey, nests, rabbit burrows, logs, rock piles, drainage lines and recently disturbed soil.
  • Clear progressively towards retained habitat so animals have a clear route to suitable cover and are not pushed towards roads, machinery or open ground.
  • Use a fauna spotter catcher to work ahead of and beside machinery, with the machine operator stopping immediately when directed.
  • Keep machinery, vehicles, workers, dogs and materials outside marked habitat buffers, corridors and retained refuge areas.
  • Cover or fence trenches, pits, pipes and other excavations at the end of each shift, and inspect them before work resumes.

During habitat disturbance: Fauna handling and habitat features

  • Allow only a person authorised under the relevant state or territory requirements to capture, handle or relocate a bandicoot.
  • Do not handle an animal unless it is necessary for its immediate safety, approved fauna management or veterinary treatment.
  • If a bandicoot is found, stop nearby work, keep people and machinery back, and allow the fauna spotter catcher to assess whether it can move safely into nearby retained suitable habitat.
  • Relocate an animal only where authorised and only to nearby retained habitat that provides dense ground cover, shelter and access to food, using the approved method and release location.
  • Treat nests, dense shrubs, blackberry thickets, logs, rock piles, rabbit burrows and other ground refuges as potential shelter features and inspect them before removal.
  • Do not assume that a hollow-bearing tree is a bandicoot refuge. Protect and manage hollow-bearing trees for other fauna where they are present, but focus bandicoot searches on ground cover, nests, burrows and dense vegetation.
  • If an animal is injured, contain it only as directed by the authorised wildlife professional and take it to an approved veterinarian or wildlife carer.

During habitat disturbance: Stop work and records

  • Stop work in the immediate area if a southern brown bandicoot is found, an active nest or refuge is discovered, an animal is injured, exclusion fencing fails, or clearing would breach a marked buffer or corridor.
  • Stop work and obtain ecological advice if fire, machinery, predators, flooding, weed removal or altered drainage leaves animals without dense cover.
  • Record the date, time, location, work activity, animal condition, photographs, identification method, action taken, release or treatment details, people involved and the time work restarted.
  • Report injured, dead, trapped or relocated animals to the project ecologist and the relevant wildlife authority where required by the permit or fauna management plan.
  • Maintain a daily register of cleared area, retained habitat, fauna observations, handling events, incidents, fence inspections and corrective actions.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

Post-clearance work must confirm that no animals remain trapped and that retained habitat and movement links still function. Continue monitoring where the action affects occupied habitat or a fragmented population.

  • Inspect the cleared area, retained vegetation edge, trenches, culverts, fencing and stockpiles after each clearing stage and before the next stage begins.
  • Search for injured, dead or trapped bandicoots and inspect remaining nests, diggings and dense ground cover for signs of continuing use.
  • Remove temporary exclusion fencing when it is no longer needed, unless it protects retained habitat from machinery or domestic animals.
  • Repair any damage to retained habitat, corridor vegetation, drainage controls or permanent fencing immediately.
  • Confirm that corridors remain connected and that the action has not reduced a corridor core below 50 m where the guideline applies.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

  • Monitor retained and rehabilitated habitat with remote cameras, hair tunnels and confirmed sign searches using the same locations and effort where practicable.
  • Repeat monitoring after significant rainfall and in autumn where detection probability is likely to be higher.
  • Compare detections, habitat cover, diggings and predator activity with pre-clearance results, and investigate any decline in use of retained habitat.
  • Provide the landholder, consent authority and relevant state wildlife database with the required survey, incident, handling, relocation, rehabilitation and monitoring records.
  • Report any residual significant impact, unexpected population impact or failure of mitigation through the project approval and fauna management processes.

After habitat disturbance: Ongoing controls and offsets

  • Maintain predator, domestic animal, weed, drainage, erosion and vehicle controls for the period specified in the approval or fauna management plan.
  • Continue protecting retained habitat from slashing, grazing, dumping, uncontrolled access and broad scale weed removal.
  • Where an approval requires an offset, manage it for southern brown bandicoot habitat, connectivity and threat reduction, and monitor it against the approved outcomes.
  • Use adaptive management if monitoring shows reduced ground cover, increased predator activity, loss of connectivity or declining bandicoot detections.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore habitat structure

Rehabilitation should rebuild dense, connected ground cover and the food and shelter conditions used by southern brown bandicoots. Establish habitat before removing temporary refuge vegetation or relying on a restored area for release.

  • Regenerate native understorey where possible, or revegetate with locally appropriate dense shrubs, sedges, grasses and ground-cover plants that provide 50 to 80 per cent average foliage density between 0.2 and 1 m above ground.
  • Use habitat types recorded for the species in the region, including heathland, shrubland, sedgeland, heathy open forest, woodland and wetland-edge vegetation.
  • Retain or reinstate fallen logs, leaf litter, dense shrubs, grass hummocks and other ground refuges where they do not create a safety or fire-management conflict.
  • Provide connected native vegetation corridors with a core greater than 50 m wide for corridors up to 1.1 km long, where the project affects a movement link.
  • Design drainage and stormwater controls so altered flows, erosion, nutrient inputs and soil compaction do not reduce ground cover or wetland-edge habitat.

Rehabilitation actions: Manage threats during recovery

  • Control foxes, feral cats and feral or roaming domestic dogs through an approved integrated programme, and monitor whether fox control increases cat activity.
  • Prevent stock and rabbits from entering rehabilitation areas where grazing or browsing would reduce dense ground cover.
  • Control weeds and Phytophthora with hygiene, quarantine and targeted treatment. Avoid broad scale removal of blackberry or other exotic shelter until suitable native cover is established.
  • Apply a site-specific fire regime that maintains dense ground cover and mixed-age vegetation. At any time, keep more than 80 per cent of suitable habitat above the guideline's 50 per cent foliage-density threshold where the fire guideline applies.
  • Use mosaic burning only where it is approved and retain unburnt refuges and movement links. Do not burn an entire habitat patch at once.

Rehabilitation actions: Monitoring and success measures

  • Monitor planted and naturally regenerating areas for foliage density between 0.2 and 1 m, native plant establishment, shelter availability, connectivity, weed cover, predator activity and signs of bandicoot use.
  • Use remote cameras, hair tunnels and confirmed diggings to test whether bandicoots occupy restored habitat. Apply the recommended survey effort where monitoring is intended to establish presence or absence.
  • Treat successful rehabilitation as established when dense ground cover is sustained, movement links remain usable, threats are controlled and monitoring detects bandicoot use or confirms a documented improvement in habitat condition.
  • Replace failed plantings, repair erosion, reinstate lost logs or shelter and adjust predator, weed, grazing or fire controls when monitoring shows that habitat function is not returning.
  • Keep monitoring results and maintenance actions in the project environmental records and submit required outcomes to the approval authority and relevant state wildlife database.

Sources