Once caught, the animals were measured and assessed for health indicators such as weight, the diameter of the base of their tail (a good indicator of body muscle), spine prominence, the number of ticks present, and fur, gum, teeth and ear condition, before being released.
The gender and reproductive status of each wallaby was also determined, and many were found to have joeys.
“From my understanding, every female of breeding age that we trapped had at least one joey, which is great news – some even had one in the pouch and one at-foot,” explains Jasmin.
‘At-foot’ joeys, which have already left their mother’s pouch, are kept in a predator-proof nursery on Avocet until they weigh at least 3kg. At this point, they're generally large enough to avoid falling prey to feral cats and so can be safely released into the unfenced Avocet bushland.
The Flashjacks are yet to establish a population on Goonderoo Reserve, but Bush Heritage ecologist Dr Rebecca Diete says the management activities currently being carried out there will benefit the population if it does expand.
“We’re trying to regenerate the habitat, control feral predators and get rid of weeds – especially cactus. And we’ve just repaired a dam so there’s now a water source for the wallabies,” she says. “It’s definitely on our minds when we manage the place that we could eventually have these endangered wallabies calling Goonderoo home.”