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Project Overview
 The Heirisson Prong Project aims to re-establish
rare and endangered mammals on a mainland peninsula at Shark Bay, Western Australia.
Thirty species of unique Australian mammals have become extinct on mainland
Australia
since European settlement, but of these a third have survived on offshore
islands.
Our aim is to understand why species have
become extinct on the mainland, to develop and implement management techniques
which allow the re-establishment of those species surviving on islands, and
to transfer and husband a number of species to the point where they become
self-supporting and provide a demonstration of how such species can be
effectively re-established on the mainland.
Three species of endangered mammal have been
reintroduced as part of this project: the burrowing
bettong in May 1992, the western barred bandicoot
in November 1995, and the greater stick-nest rat in
August 1999. Considerable research effort has been directed at establishing
effective methods for the eradication of foxes and feral cats from
Heirisson Prong and in establishing effective release techniques that minimise
dispersal of animals once released. The survival of all species is
critically dependent on the absence of exotic predators.
Excluding Predators
 
Management of the Heirisson Prong conservation
reserve for endangered species requires the exclusion of foxes and feral
cats. This is imperative as invading foxes can kill bettongs at the rate of
1 - 2 per night. Feral cats, also, are potent killers of both bettongs and
bandicoots.
Total exclusion requires regular fence
maintenance to protect a core area of 12 square kilometres, and the
tracking, trapping and poisoning of predators reinvading the adjoining
buffer zone. Foxes and feral cats are controlled in this buffer zone of 200
square kilometres to minimise or eliminate reinvasion into the core
protected area. Regular monitoring by spotlighting and track surveys and
trapping in both core and buffer areas provides information on the changing
abundance of foxes, feral cats, and rabbits as well as reintroduced
bettongs, bandicoots and stick-nest rats. Trends in abundance over time
provides information on the interactions between these species and the
effectiveness of management actions.
Why Peninsulas?
The use of peninsulas to conserve reintroduced
wildlife was pioneered on Heirisson Prong. Such peninsulas provide the
opportunity to exclude exotic predators (foxes and cats) from large areas
with greatly reduced costs for fencing. On Heirisson Prong, 12 square kilometres
are protected by a 1.8 km fence. Similar projects have been established on Venus Bay
Peninsula in South
Australia and Peron Peninsula in Western Australia.
Methods developed on site for the control of
feral cats are now being used increasingly at other conservation sites
across Australia.
Useless Loop Community Involvement
In 1989, a group of community members formed
the Useless Loop Community Biosphere Project Group Inc. (ULCBPG) and
initiated a project to convert nearby Heirisson Prong from pastoral
land-use to a conservation reserve for native flora and fauna. Modelled on
the UNESCO “Man and the Biosphere” program, the project sought
to reconcile utilisation of natural resources (salt harvesting, sheep
farming) with the protection and enhancement of natural values (wildlife
conservation, recreation).
The Useless Loop community, with the support
of SBSJV, have taken on vital management roles, including fence
construction and maintenance, track maintenance, predator control through
regular ground and aerial baiting, trapping and shooting, and signage.
Community members have assisted with the reintroduction of three threatened
mammals: burrowing bettongs, western barred bandicoots and greater
stick-nest rats. Quarterly monitoring of the populations by scientists,
community members, student and Earthwatch volunteers has been a necessary
component of the project to gather vital information about the techniques
for population establishment, and ecological data to assist with their
management, both at Heirisson Prong, and future reintroduction sites. The
participants have promoted the use of the project for education and
stimulated media interest to disseminate results at a national and
international scale.
Heirisson Prong provides a safe haven for
threatened mammals, a refuge for local species that are threatened by the
presence of introduced predators, rabbits and livestock in their remaining
habitat, and a source of animals for translocation to other conservation
reserves in Australia.
The hope of the community is that these benefits continue indefinitely.
More information on Shark Bay
marsupials can be found in the Report on Threatened Shark Bay Marsupials (pdf file
1.2 Mb).
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