Southern Brown Bandicoot of the 12 Apostles Coast

When and Where

Look for them in the dense clifftop cover around Loch Ard Gorge and along the Port Campbell Discovery Walk.

Please stick to designated tracks and trails to avoid damaging bandicoot habitat. Safety barriers are there to ensure visitor safety; they are also there to protect the delicate clifftop ecology that is home to several threatened species.

Facts

Once common throughout many parts of coastal Australia, sadly the southern brown bandicoot now has a limited distribution and is regarded as ‘threatened’ in Victoria. Habitat fragmentation separating breeding populations impacts on genetic diversity to a point that a local population can stop breeding and disappear within a short period of time.

Southern Brown Bandicoot are generally nocturnal but are often sighted around dusk and dawn in Port Campbell National Park.

Their hair is grizzled and coloured a dark greyish to yellowish brown, with the undersides a creamy-white or yellowish grey and their tail is relatively short.

They are  omnivorous, feeding on insects, spiders, worms, plant roots, ferns, and fungi.

They have a life span of two to three years.

Breeding season is from early winter to summer with females producing two or three litters per year, each of two or three young.

To report injured wildlife call  03 8400 7300.