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Saving the Chuditch, means saving its habitat, and thus a whole flotilla of smaller species in its wake. Securing habitat is fundamental to species preservation. The remnant Jarrah forest is the last stronghold of the Chuditch; we must do all we can to convince the Government to put an end to the destruction of this forest home, and save this exquisite animal from extinction.

The Chuditch Dasyurus geoffroii belongs to the Quoll family Dasyuridae and used to be found over 70 per cent of mainland Australia, in every mainland State and Territory. Once abundant throughout its range, it has suffered the largest range contraction of all species of Quolls (Serena et al. 1991; Orell and Morris 1994). The species is now restricted to only five per cent of its former range and is now found only in the South-West of Western Australia.

At present the stronghold of the Chuditch is the Jarrah forest, but the species also sparsely occurs in the Karri forest region, along the South Coast and in the Eastern and Southern Wheatbelt of Western Australia. Recent reports have been made from the Southern and Eastern Wheatbelt: Fitzgerald River National Park, Wellstead, Lake Magenta Nature Reserve, and there are several reports from between Narrogin and Southern Cross and between Katanning and Frank Hann National Park (Orell and Morris 1994).

Although it is difficult to accurately estimate the total number of remaining Chuditch, there are probably not more than a few thousand now in the wild (less than 5,000 individuals according to Serena et al. 1991).

The Chuditch occupies a unique place as the only native mammal at the top of the food web in the South-West (sharing this place with the introduced fox and feral cat). It is the largest native marsupial predator in Western Australia. It is about the size of a small cat (1.3kg for males, 0.9kg for females).

The Chuditch is listed as 'Rare or Threatened with Extinction' under the Western Australian Wildlife Conservation Act and as 'Vulnerable' under the Commonwealth Endangered Species Protection Act using the revised World Conservation Union (IUCN) criteria.

The Chuditch Recovery Plan (Orell and Morris 1994) has achieved some encouraging results in increasing Chuditch numbers in study areas. However the Plan states:

"It is unlikely that the Chuditch will be removed from National and State threatened fauna lists within the time frame of the Recovery Plan (10 years). Chuditch will probably require indefinite management after 10 years."

The Chuditch is a solitary animal with an average life span of two to three years. Its den is usually a hollow log or a burrow dug under a large rock or stump (Serena and Soderquist 1989a). Home ranges are about 15km2 for males and 3-4km2 for females (Serena and Soderquist 1989b), probably smaller in fox-baited Jarrah forest where Chuditch densities are higher (Matthews 1996).

The mating season is from late April to early July (Soderquist and Serena 1990a). Gestation period is three weeks, and newborn young (usually two to six) are about the size of a grain of rice. They leave the den at sixteen weeks, but still follow their mother for a period of two months afterwards (CALM undated).

The Chuditch is a generalist predator which forages mainly at night. It feeds mainly on the ground, but easily climbs trees. Its diet is comprised of invertebrates (centipedes, winged termites), small and medium-sized mammals (Southern Brown Bandicoot, Numbat, Rabbit, Black Rat), birds and lizards, carrion such as dead kangaroos and human litter (Soderquist and Serena 1990b).

The following information is reproduced from 'Qualls of Australia' (ESU 1995):

"The Chuditch is an important part of the culture of Aboriginal people. In the deserts of central Australia, the Chuditch is known by many names. Pitjantjatjara people call it Kuninka (koo-ning-gar), and the Arrernte name is Atjelpe (a-chill-par). In the dreamtime, as Atjelpe travels north through central Australia it transforms into the full moon. Atjelpe's dreaming track links many Aboriginal groups together."

DID YOU KNOW? ... that the name of "Chuditch" is derived from the Noongar Aboriginal name for the animal, possibly because of its aggressive 'chuditch' sounding call?

The major factors that can be identified as possible causes of decline of the Chuditch are related to habitat destruction or disturbance and introduced organisms. Examples include:


	clearing of native vegetation for agriculture or urban sprawl
	logging (for sawlogs, woodchips or charcoal) and associated forest management practices such as roading and regeneration burns)
	prescribed burning
	bauxite and sand mining
	fox and cat predation (Competition with feral predators for resources is also likely to occur)
	dieback

Fox predation has been identified as a major threat to the Chuditch (Orell and Morris 1994) and its effect is likely to be compounded by habitat disturbance