On a garbage dump in Hamilton, Australia, zoologists in the late 1980s found the last 60 Eastern Barred Bandicoots on the mainland—small marsupials that survived on the enclosed, fortuitously fox-free site. By 1991, they were declared extinct in the wild. In April 2026, 100 of their descendants were released on Phillip Island after a 40-year rescue program that genetically reset the species.
1988: Sixty Survivors on a Landfill
The Eastern Barred Bandicoot, scientifically Perameles gunnii, once lived across much of Victoria and Tasmania. On the mainland, two factors decimated the species: habitat loss to agriculture and predation by red foxes. The fox, introduced to Australia in 1855 for sport hunting, preyed on small marsupials that had evolved no defenses against such predators.
By the late 20th century, fewer than 100 animals remained. When zoologists searched for the last ones, they didn't find them in the bush—they found them on a municipal landfill in Hamilton, Victoria: roughly 60 animals surviving there because fencing accidentally kept foxes out. By 1991, Australian authorities declared the mainland population extinct in the wild. What followed was a decades-long breeding program by Zoos Victoria.
The Genetic Problem: Inbreeding and Deformed Jaws
The rescued animals were bred in zoos and wildlife facilities. With tiny founding populations, inbreeding is inevitable. In bandicoots, it manifested as a typical defect: undershot jaw, a forward-shifted mandible that prevents animals from digging and feeding efficiently—lethal in the wild.
When a population becomes too genetically tight, genetic diversity drops and fitness suffers: animals shrink, reproduce less, and become disease-prone. The remedy is called genetic rescue: crossbreeding individuals from another genetically isolated population to dilute harmful recessive alleles and boost fitness. This approach is known in conservation, but rarely successful enough to resurrect an apparently extinct species.
2017: A Genetic Reset with Tasmanian Relatives
Tasmania, separated from the mainland by the Bass Strait for over 10,000 years, had developed its own bandicoot population with different genetic makeup. Tasmanian individuals carried genes the inbred mainland line lacked. In 2017, teams from the Odonata Foundation and Cesar Australia began deliberately crossing both lineages. The result, according to Odonata, was a population that grew from under 50 to roughly 3,000 individuals in controlled programs. Animals were larger, with better sex ratios and far fewer undershot jaws.
By September 2021—33 years after the first captures in Hamilton—Australian authorities reclassified the species from "extinct in the wild" to "endangered." In conservation biology, such uplistings are rare. Today approximately 2,000 animals live in secure facilities on the mainland and on two islands.
April 2026: The Largest Rewilding Yet
Phillip Island was chosen because it has been systematically kept fox-free for decades. In April 2026, 100 bandicoots were released, funded by Amazon's Right Now Climate Fund with 2.5 million Australian dollars (roughly 1.5 million euros). The Recovery Team's goal: establish at least 500 animals across five or more sites within three years.
In Comparison: Conservation Successes of Similar Scale
What makes the bandicoot remarkable is the combination of "extinct in the wild" and successful rewilding—rare in conservation. A comparable case is the Iberian Lynx. In 2001, only 62 adult animals remained in Spain and Portugal. Through intensive protection, feeding programs, and rewilding, the population grew to 2,401 by 2024 and 2,663 by year-end 2025. In 2024, the IUCN downlisted the Iberian Lynx from "critically endangered" to "endangered" for the first time.
Another parallel is the California Condor. In 1987, US authorities captured all remaining 27 wild birds. Bred in zoos, they were gradually released starting in 1991. Today over 500 condors exist, more than 300 in the wild. This case, too, combines tight founding population, rigorous breeding, and stepwise rewilding. The bandicoot follows the same pattern, enhanced by the step of genetic rescue.
What Still Threatens the Phillip Island Herd
The most immediate risk is documented: in the 12-month period ending January 2026, 17 bandicoots on Cowes-Rhyll Road on Phillip Island alone were killed by traffic. This is significant for a population still being established. Speed limits and wildlife overpasses have been discussed but not yet implemented.
The genetic bottleneck remains the structural long-term problem. Genetic rescue combined only two lineages. Diversity is higher than before the program, but far below what a wild population would accumulate over centuries. The Odonata team continues genetic monitoring and decides on future translocations.
Long-term success also depends on whether the population can spread to other fox-free areas. Phillip Island is a refuge. The mainland, where the species once thrived, remains occupied by foxes. Without predator control, a mainland return is unlikely in the foreseeable future.