Traditional owner groups have emotionally returned a previously-extinct marsupial to land in western Victoria.
The eastern quoll is only found in the wild in Tasmania after it became extinct on the Australian mainland in the 1960s.
But conservation groups are bringing the genetically-bred quolls back, with scientists releasing seven marsupials onto Tiverton sheep station in Dundonnell last year.
Dozens of others have also been reintroduced to regional NSW.
But traditional owners, the Eastern Maar people, this week helped conservation group Odonata bring another 12 quolls to Tiverton.
Eastern Maar woman Vicky Couzens said the experience was unlike anything she had done before.
“It has made me very emotional, to do it with my grandchildren is just so special,” she said.
The reintroduction process on the thousand-hectare property took place during NAIDOC week, a time to recognise the significance of First Nations people and cultures.
Releasing native animals back onto country was an important focus for the Eastern Maar people, chief executive Marcus Clarke said.
“The subsequent management of country that goes with it has social and cultural outcomes that reach far beyond the benefit to biodiversity,” he said.
There’s hope the western Victorian project will lead to the survival of the quoll on the mainland.
“Recent monitoring efforts indicate the eastern quoll numbers are now on the rise,” Odonata’s biodiversity director Annette Rypalski said.
“The 12 new individuals will also supplement genetics of the population and therefore strengthen the population’s ability to deal with threats such as climate change.”