Northern Quoll - Conservation Status

Conservation Status

The Northern Quoll is now absent from many parts of its former range.The Northern Quoll has recently been listed as Endangered under Australian Commonwealth legislation (EPBC Act), although it is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. The current major threat to the Northern Quoll is the spread of cane toads, which were originally introduced in Queensland, but have now reached Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, and are dispersing east towards Darwin.

Other threats are predation by feral cats and foxes, and the destruction, degradation and fragmentation of the Quoll's habitat due to changed fire regimes, mining, land clearing, pasture improvement and grazing. Quolls are also susceptible to being run over on roads.

In two Kakadu study sites, quolls have become extinct at one site and declined from 45 individuals to 5 at the other site. The unconfirmed conclusion to be drawn from this is that the Northern Quoll will cease to exist in most areas in the Top End of the Northern Territory once the Cane Toad population completely overlaps the Northern Quoll's range. There are remnant populations of Northern Quolls still persisting in Queensland where Cane Toads have been present for many years. Scientists do not yet understand the mechanism for their persistence; some will focus on this area in future research.

To help protect northern quolls against cane toads a University of Sydney project, revealed in 2010, is teaching them to avoid eating the invasive amphibians through taste aversion.