We look out for known numbats including Picasso,
named for his bushy, paintbrush-like tail; Sheriff, who
lives in an area the task force call “Log City”; Speedy
Gonzales, named for his ability to run from the
cameras; and Big Balls (I’ll leave that one to your
imagination). The group searches with two vehicles
in convoy in the expectation that if the first vehicle
misses a sighting the second will pick it up. They laugh
and joke their way through the woodland, stopping
to check on echidnas, snakes and other wild creatures.
Sean knows every bird species that inhabits the
woodland and documents every sighting or call.
Matthew is the quietest of the four and breaks into a
huge infectious smile when a numbat is in his
viewfinder. John lives at Dryandra and has a wealth
of knowledge about numbat quirks and habits. He
points out raised lines of earth on the forest floor
explaining they are shallow termite galleries that the
numbats use to reach the insects.
The numbat’s claws are not strong enough to dig
into the concrete-like termite mounds that dot the
woodland. Instead they attack the termite colonies at
their weakest points, the network of galleries the insects
use to move between dead logs and other food sources.
Dr Tony Friend, from the WA Department of
Parks and Wildlife, has spent a lifetime monitoring
and recording numbats, much of it at Dryandra. He
says the Numbat Task Force has done a fantastic job
in promoting the numbat and raising its status through
lobbying, photography and social media. Tony says
there are about 1000 numbats left in the wild, and he
is optimistic that – if used carefully – a new feral catbait called Eradicat, will help bring down cat numbers,
giving numbats a better chance of survival (see AG
115). He has led a successful translocation program
reintroducing about 500 numbats, many bred at Perth
Zoo, into cat-free fenced sanctuaries in NSW and
South Australia, as well as other smaller reserves in
WA. Dryandra has been the source of the genetic
stock used in the zoo’s captive-breeding program and
the site of a number of releases.
Robert says he is not so sure Eradicat will work in
an area such as Dryandra, with its bounty of fresh food
for cats, and he is worried that not enough is being
done to tackle the scourge of the feral cat.
In July last year, the numbat was named as one
of 20 priority species by Gregory Andrews, the federal
government’s Threatened Species Commissioner.
The numbat is “a remarkable Australian animal and a
unique product of evolution”, he told AUSTRALIAN
GEOGRAPHIC, adding that he is impressed by the
passion of the Numbat Task Force. “We need people
and groups like this to protect their local wildlife.
Government alone can’t tackle the crisis of species
extinction,” he says.
The numbat’s new status means it will have its own
recovery plan and will be placed under the national
spotlight. It is welcome news for the men of the task
force who have vowed to continue their grassroots
campaign to promote and protect this adorable and
engaging creature.FIND more images at: http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/
issue130 and donate to our numbat appeal on page 34.Also known as
banded anteaters,
numbats have long,
sticky tongues,
which they use to
collect the 20,000
termites they eat
daily. Their claws are
not powerful enough
to break directly into
termite mounds,
so they strike just
below the soil
surface as termites
travel between
food sources.In July last year, the numbat was
named as one of 20 priority species.
AGWATCH Use the free
viewa app to scan this
page and see Numbat
Task Force at work.44 Australian Geographic