Conservation of threatened mammals at Shark Bay
The Heirisson Prong project involved scientists working in partnership with a local
community and a mining company to help conserve Australia's precious wildlife in
the Shark Bay region of Western Australia.
The focus of the project was the conservation of reintroduced populations of three
native mammal species - the burrowing bettong, the western barred bandicoot and the
greater stick-nest rat.
In 2001 the Heirisson Prong project won the prestigious Banksia Gold and Community
awards for “leadership, commitment and excellence in protecting and/or enhancing
the environment”. Earthwatch volunteers were fundamental to the success of the project
for many years, assisting with fence construction monitoring of mammal species, and
the monitoring of predator activity.
This has been an ongoing project (see Overview), previously supported by CSIRO (1990
to mid-2005). Wildlife Research and Management has assisted the Useless Loop community
to manage the site since then. Our involvement with field management ceased in mid-2013.
In particular, we have provided support to the Useless Loop Community Biosphere
Project Group, to monitor the status of reintroduced populations, assisted with fence
maintenance, and with predator and rabbit control. The focus is now on data write-up.
Client: Useless Loop Community Biosphere Project Group, Inc. with funding from Shark
Bay Salt Joint Venture (now Shark Bay Resources).
