Finding a Northern Quoll is like finding a needle in a haystack.
These small, spotty native predators once roamed from the Pilbara to Brisbane.
Today, They’ve disappeared from over 75% of their former range and are nationally endangered. Feral cats, cane toads and habitat loss have driven their decline.
That’s where Yourka Reserve comes in. It's vast, wild, rugged – and resilient. I knew this the first time I stood on Tiger Hill – one of the reserve’s highest points – and looked out across the 43,500 hectares of savanna woodlands and wet eucalypt forests on Jirrbal and Warrungu Country, 130km south-west of Cairns.
This is perfect Northern Quoll country.
So where are they?
There’s still hope that we can find them on Yourka. But we need your help to:
- set motion-sensor cameras at bait stations in remote areas when quolls are most active.
- use specialised AI to help sort through the thousands of images captured.
- take to the skies. A helicopter may be our best chance to deploy cameras in remote, unexplored areas where it’s too rugged for foot or vehicle access.
Finding a Northern Quoll here would be a major breakthrough – a hopeful sign that even in the face of loss, life is still holding on… because we looked after their habitat.
Donate today and help fund our critical species monitoring at reserves like Yourka — so we can protect what survives, and find what’s missing.
Your gift today could be the difference between species rediscovery and species loss.
Please don’t wait to help us, it could be too late.
Your tax-deductible gift, big or small, can help bring them home.
Christine
Ecologist - North Region