Conservationists have welcomed the release of the critically endangered smoky mouse into the wild following a captive breeding program.
Thirteen smoky mice — named so because of the smoke colour of their fur — have been released into the South East Forest National Park at Nungatta near the NSW and Victorian border, a region devastated by the Black Summer bushfires.
The animals were bred in Priam Australia’s specialised 18-hectare captive research and breeding facility in Canberra, which replicates the habitat of the forest.
President of the National Parks Association of NSW's far south coast branch David Gallan has welcomed the news.
"Any program to help conserve endangered species is welcome, but we hope those programs are properly resourced long-term," he said.
Mr Gallan said the trial program must be fully resourced for it to be successful, after the attempted reintroduction of the eastern quoll to the south coast had been a "qualified failure".
"It looked like being promising but wasn’t sustainable long-term because the groundwork has to be carefully prepared for long-term success," he said.
Mr Gallan believed the July release of Australia’s State of the Environment Report by the federal government showed there was "a lot of work to be done" in the area of conservation.
The report shows the 2019-20 bushfires tore through more than eight million hectares of native vegetation, killing or displacing three billion animals.
"It just goes to show the pressures on biodiversity in this region, which comes back to the impacts of land clearing, native forest logging and wildfire," Mr Gallan said.
“Each of these have to be managed to have better outcomes on the environment.”
NSW Environment Minister James Griffin said there were fewer than 100 smoky mice left in the South East Forest — which is one of only two known populations in the state.
The other population is found in and around Kosciuszko National Park.
Mr Griffin said the animal, which helps to keep forests healthy by aerating soil, increasing water penetration and spreading truffle spores, had once thrived in the forest.
"This is the culmination of years of painstaking conservation work, which is helping turn back the tide on extinctions and secure this species' survival into the future," Mr Griffin said.
He said the Nungatta region was the latest feral animal-free area in NSW, and more species have been earmarked for release there.
Remote cameras and microchip readers have been set up in and around the initial release pens within the national park, which will provide data on how the released mice fare in the wild.
Linda Broome is the NSW government’s senior threatened species officer with the Saving our Species Program, and says the trial introduction is part of a six-year project to rebuild the population.
“With such low population numbers in the wild, our long-term goal when setting up the breeding facility was to eventually return this species to its wild, natural habitat,” Dr Broome said.
“Now we have reached this milestone, so we are hopeful that the smoky mouse continues to survive in the wild and possibly."
