A farmer caught a quoll thought locally-extinct for 130 years

September 28, 2023 10:21 PM

A farmer set a trap to catch whatever was killing his chooks. He caught a tiger quoll (marsupial carnivore that reaches up to 3.5 kilograms/7.7 pounds) that had been thought to be extinct in South Australia for 130 years. When farmer Pao Ling Tsai set a trap to catch the predator that had been killing his chooks, he expected to catch a feral cat or fox. Instead, he caught a species that was thought extinct in South Australia more than 130 years ago. The quoll has now been vet checked, had DNA samples taken, treated for mange, and will be released into the wild.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (22 comments total)

KEEN
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 10:32 PM on September 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

It is a rare, rare day that one learns of a species of marsupial that is new to oneself. A quoll indeed.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:14 PM on September 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

The species is considered extinct in South Australia and endangered on the mainland

Is South Australia not part of the mainland? Maybe someone who is good at Australia can help me
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 11:39 PM on September 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

Is South Australia not part of the mainland? Maybe someone who is good at Australia can help me

The species was until just now considered extinct in South Australia, and endangered on other parts of the mainland which are far away from South Australia
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 12:03 AM on September 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

The smile of somebody who has been playing hide and seek very very well.
posted by rongorongo at 1:15 AM on September 29, 2023 [12 favorites]

Nice to live in the time-line when a local farmer can go out and check his traps, take a photo with his cellphone, and a short while later get a breathless voice message begging, "For the love of Pete, don't let it go!"
Makes you think about what could be lurking near the trashcans.
posted by TrishaU at 1:28 AM on September 29, 2023 [14 favorites]

Looks like a possum. Now wondering what is a chook.
posted by nofundy at 3:11 AM on September 29, 2023 [4 favorites]

Looks like a possum. Now wondering what is a chook

A chook is a chicken.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 3:27 AM on September 29, 2023 [9 favorites]

It is a rare, rare day that one learns of a species of marsupial that is new to oneself.

Indeed. Made me think immediately of the last of the Tasmanian tigers. The Wikipedia article is really good, reflective of the fact that their path to extinction in 1933 has been quite well documented. It taught me there’s a name for the last of a species: endling.
posted by rh at 5:15 AM on September 29, 2023 [4 favorites]

"Well you see, Farmer Tsai, when we said released into the wild, we really meant right back into your farm." (frantic cackling)
posted by mittens at 5:23 AM on September 29, 2023 [4 favorites]

Now wondering what is a chook

Chook.

As in “I ‘ad a snag and a stubby from the servo for brekkie, then a chook sanger and a heap of goon this arvo”.
posted by rh at 5:28 AM on September 29, 2023 [11 favorites]

If we use too many syllables, the flies have time to get in yer mouth.
posted by zamboni at 5:34 AM on September 29, 2023 [13 favorites]

A great day for cute Australian beasts who’d would as soon bite the sweet liitle chook’s head off as look at it.
posted by waving at 6:23 AM on September 29, 2023

I'm glad that Tsai was interested and excited and out there setting up photo traps to see if there were more, instead of wanting to kill the marauder.
posted by tavella at 7:35 AM on September 29, 2023 [4 favorites]

Now wondering what is a chook

Like a drop bear, only instead of dropping it chucks itself at you.
posted by Phanx at 7:42 AM on September 29, 2023 [9 favorites]

Cool! I assume the genetic testing might be able to determine if this is a new arrival from elsewhere on the continent, or if those '70s/80s anecdotal sightings mentioned in the article we're about a small, persistent population that stayed well-hidden. Remarkable story, either way.
posted by EvaDestruction at 7:44 AM on September 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

Fingers crossed that we find evidence of living chuditch in the south west... there are ongoing rumours of the Nannup Tiger being sighted but smaller marsupial carnivores are also worth imagining.
posted by pipstar at 8:09 AM on September 29, 2023

Oh, this is delightful! I'm so glad it was a live trap, so that the quoll could be treated and released. Chicken theft is really best managed by building a more secure run, so I hope that there are resources available to help Mr Tsai and/or other Australian farmers to do that if the quolls present a problem.

(I also note that the article has a lovely photo of Mr Tsai in his chook yard, holding one of said chooks up to the camera. The bird looks pleasantly disgruntled.)
posted by sciatrix at 9:00 AM on September 29, 2023 [8 favorites]

Is South Australia not part of the mainland? Maybe someone who is good at Australia can help me

The species was until just now considered extinct in South Australia, and endangered on other parts of the mainland which are far away from South Australia

Yup. The next sentence says, Tasmania is home to larger populations of the spotted-tailed quoll. The context you might be missing is that Tasmania is the island state to the south, i.e., not the mainland.
posted by zamboni at 10:39 AM on September 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

"The spotted-tailed quoll is the largest quoll species in Australia, approximately twice the size of the western quoll, which was reintroduced into the Flinders Ranges in South Australia as part of Operation Bounceback in 2019."

You have to get to the end of the article before the quoll gets a proper introduction. This preceding paragraph is completely incomprehensible without the rest of the info after the quote, at least for non-Australians:

They are mainland Australia's largest marsupial predator: a stealthy, elusive nocturnal hunter and scavenger that preys on small kangaroos and wallabies as well as possums, birds, reptiles, frogs and invertebrates.

Although the spotted-tail quoll hunt mainly on the ground, they are very agile climbers with a "live fast and die young" lifestyle, and do not typically live beyond three years in the wild, according to Tenterfield Sanctuary Quoll Headquarters.

posted by Atreides at 2:20 PM on September 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

"Following his incredible discovery, Mr Tsai has laid pieces of fish around his farm and set up a video camera overnight on Wednesday to see if he could get footage of other quolls.

"I definitely think there are more – when I went out this morning [on Thursday], all the food was taken," he said.

"I've given the video to National Parks and Wildlife to see what animal took the food, but I think it was another quoll or quolls.""

Yeah, he's good people. Probably anyone doing aquaculture has at least a bit of training in ecology, or likely a degree in an adjacent field.

> Like a drop bear, only instead of dropping it chucks itself at you.

🤦‍♂️
posted by sebastienbailard at 8:13 PM on September 29, 2023 [3 favorites]

There's now a video of the quoll in question being released back into the wild. It's quite reluctant to leave its cage, they have to tip the cage a bit to encourage it to get out.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 9:06 PM on September 29, 2023 [3 favorites]