2010
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Summary
The Northern Quoll occurs in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia, where it is confined to a set of disjunct populations. Quolls are carnivorous marsupials and are susceptible to cane toad toxins, fire and introduced predators; foxes and cats. Local populations of northern quolls typically collapse soon after an area is colonised by cane toads. Cane toads now occupy about 60% of the prior range of northern quolls, and are likely to occur across most of the rest of that range in the next 10-20 years. The spread of cane toads poses the greatest current threat to populations on a national scale, but declines have also been recorded in the absence of cane toads. The cause of declines in these areas are not clear but may be related to inappropriate fire regimes, clearing, habitat degradation through over-grazing, predation by feral and domestic animals and destruction by humans. The Northern Quoll is listed as Endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
This recovery plan aims to minimise the rate of decline of the northern quoll in Australia and ensure that viable populations remain in each of the major regions of distribution into the future. Proposed actions emphasise protecting key populations from colonisation by cane toads and cats (especially through quarantine of offshore islands) and include fostering recovery of populations that have collapsed following cane toad arrival; managing secure populations (including captive and translocated); identifying and managing the threats to the northern quoll in the absence of cane toads; and raising public awareness and support of the Northern Quoll.