Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1229682
ZOONEWS MEMBER MAGAZINE • AUTUMN 2020 • 1 1 BANDICOOT CLUB Where FRENCH ISLAND, SOUTHEAST VICTORIA 70% of French Island is national park – which is an area of 11,100 hectares. Did you know? VISIT See the Eastern Barred Bandicoot for yourself at Healesville Sanctuary in the Nocturnal House. Did you know? The Eastern Barred Bandicoot has the second- shortest gestation period of any marsupial. Conception to birth takes only 12.5 days. case something happens to the released populations. "If it wasn't for the three fenced sites and captive breeding program," Amy adds, "we would have lost the Eastern Barred Bandicoot." Motion-activated cameras at the release site are now monitoring the French Island population's progress, in tandem with regular visits from the Zoos Victoria team. "The French Island community has been fantastic," says Dr Coetsee."The night of the first release, many locals helped carry and release the bandicoots into their new home. They're providing ongoing support and help with monitoring." ZN Ten-year-old Gippsland local Charlotte Lewis is so passionate about wildlife conservation that she started a club dedicated to raising awareness of the issues facing native wildlife. The Bandicoot Club was started a few years ago with her brother James and friend Lucinda. Originally named the Corroboree Frog Club, the group's name was changed after Charlotte's family moved to Longwarry, one of the remaining habitats of Southern Brown Bandicoots. Starting with just three children, the club is now 17 members strong. Members (ranging in age from four to 14 years old) pick up litter, make awareness posters, write articles for newsletters, and attend conferences and excursions to zoos. They even produce The Daily Bandicoot, a magazine that focuses on a different endangered species each issue. "We love helping the bandicoots and other endangered species," says Charlotte. "We were upset that Eastern Barred Bandicoots were Extinct in the Wild. I'm glad that the zoo and a few other people are helping to save them. I think everyone should do their bit to help. I hope that one day there will be no endangered species… and that the planet will be clean because all the people started caring for the animals." fyi