When a bushfire tore through Lungtalanana, also known as Clarke Island, in 2014 and destroyed 98 per cent of its vegetation, many feared its echidnas had been lost. Now trail cameras have picked up echidnas at four separate spots on the island, ABC News reports, and in September Pakana ranger Tasha Cooper found one in person, the first field sighting there in decades.
University of Tasmania echidna expert Stewart Nicol thinks at least a dozen live on the island, and possibly 20 to 30 or more.
The 8,230-hectare island in Bass Strait was returned to Aboriginal ownership in 2005. An Aboriginal-led restoration project, supported by WWF, now aims to bring back at least six species that have disappeared from it, including the Bass Strait wombat and the long-nosed potoroo. Finding a hardy echidna population already in place is an encouraging start.
Source: ABC News