The bushy-tailed bettongia, a rare rabbit-sized kangaroo-like marsupial, is returning to Australia, more than 100 years after disappearing from the south of the continent. The one also called the Tasmanian bettong jumps on its hind legs like a kangaroo, but it has nothing to do with the more famous "Tasmanian devil".
These mini-marsupials once inhabited more than 60% of Australia before being victims... cats, foxes and land clearing after European colonization more than two centuries ago. From tens of millions, their population has grown to about 12,000 to 18,000 today, mostly in the Australian islands, in protected pens and in some pockets of Western Australia.
But now they're making a comeback on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula after scientists released 120 of them over a two-year period to see if they could survive.
Small creatures thrive, the researchers said Friday. They said they trapped 85 bushy-tailed bettongies, and found that 40 percent of them were born on the peninsula, while 42 of the 45 females carried cubs in their pouches.
"It's fantastic to see so many new animals," said Derek Sandow, an environmentalist with the Northern and Yorke Landscape Committee. Their return to South Australia has been aided by an intensive cat and fox control program, the environmentalist said, as well as a "non-waterproof" fence meant to reduce the passage of predators - but not totally excludes it.
"Zigzag at high speed in the bush"
"It's a little kangaroo the size of an ankle, a mini kangaroo on steroids if you will. They have very powerful hind legs, they carry their young in their pocket, like a kangaroo does, but they only weigh a kilo and a half," he explains. And they play an important role in the Australian environment, he explained. "They dig a lot. A small bettongy can move tons of soil per year. They dig the soil, creating small microhabitats for water infiltration and seed establishment. So they play a very important role in the ecosystem," he says.
VIDEO. This fisherman is attacked by a tiger shark on the Hawaiian coast and it's terrifying
In case of attack, females have an unusual but effective defense mechanism. To escape, not only "they zigzag at high speed in the bush" but they throw their young out of their pockets in the hope of escaping while the predator preys on their offspring.
"It may sound like horrible parenting, but it's a real achievement," says Sandow, who points out that females often have embryos ready in their pouch, when their young go away naturally or die. "They can have their baby ready to go in their pocket and then replace him."
