19 Aug Save the Broad Toothed Rat
Of Australia’s 65 known native rodent species 15 are already extinct and now, tragically, the Broad-Toothed Rat faces the same fate. For years Aussie Ark has been on a mission to save the endangered Broad-Toothed Rat, one of Australia’s most iconic native rodents, from extinction. This winter we finally got our chance.
Tim Faulkner, who led our team on the ground, is passionate about dispelling any stigma associated with the word ‘rat’ when it comes to these gentle creatures. As a matter of fact, Broad-Toothed ‘Rats’ are not even part of the genus Rattus (rat family), they are members of the genus Mastacomys.
“When I look at it, I see a little pygmy wombat!”, Mr Faulkner said, “because they’re so quiet, they don’t bite, they’re timid and shy. They deserve so much more than the connotations people get from ‘rat’.” The ‘pygmy wombat’ thrives in our alpine high county’s wild, cold, wet, primordial environments, eating grass seeds and desperately trying to avoid decimation by feral foxes, cats, horses and pigs.
Help save the broad toothed rat from extinction
This winter, over three weeks, Aussie Ark staff laid 3000 traps across four sub-alpine swamps in the remote Barrington Tops in search of eight viable juveniles. Sadly, our intensive trapping session only affirmed the vulnerability of this species, as we trapped just 12 animals, of which, only 6 were suitable for establishing an insurance population breeding program. Just 3 pairs. Compare this to the catch (and release) of literally hundreds of Swamp Rats and Antechinus in the same period and area!
In the last decade, Barrington Tops’ Broad-Toothed Rat population’s footprint has declined from inhabiting fourteen swamps to just seven swamps today. So naturally, Aussie Ark are thrilled to have secured three males and three females for a vitally needed insurance breeding population. These six precious animals were then transferred to purpose-built, custom enclosures at Conservation Ark, where everything from temperature to diet is specially designed to mimic their unique alpine homeland.
In spring, we’ll have breeding pairs in place; and, all going well, our first babies will be born at Conservation Ark in the summer of 2025! Your generous gift today helps us to care for the parents, raise these babies, and prepare the species for their eventual release back into the wild.
Together we can make a difference!
Give now! All donations directly support the establishment and upkeep of the world’s first ever insurance population to save this unique and precious endangered species. Your generosity today helps cover the costs of raising our six juvenile ‘pygmy wombats’ at Aussie Ark’s specialist Conservation Ark breeding facility.
With your help, we can build a brighter future for our threatened ‘pygmy wombat’, the broad toothed rat, that “deserves so much more…”! To help save this species, simply donate today and make a real contribution to our mission to save Australia’s most endangered wildlife and precious ecosystems.
