Rockhampton City Council is supporting an assisted breeding program at Rockhampton Zoo to save the Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat from extinction. The research project is a partnership between Rockhampton City Council, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Central Queensland University and Central Queensland Fertility Clinic.
These groups have formed a Wombat Action Group to harness the knowledge and technical expertise needed to save the critically endangered species. One of Australia’s most endangered animals, there are less than 100 Northern Hairy Nosed Wombats remaining in the Epping Forest National Park near Clermont in Queensland.
There are just 30 females in this group and without an assisted breeding program the Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat probably would have been extinct within a decade.
Council is funding a full time zookeeper with expertise in husbandry techniques to run the Wombat Research Centre at Rockhampton Zoo. The Centre was built by Work for the Dole participants and the Central Queensland Fertility Clinic is contributing a full time PhD student to study the reproductive biology of the species.
Because of its critically endangered status, there were no Northern Hairy Nosed Wombats in captivity and none available for research and development, so 18 of its cousin species, the Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat, were brought to the research centre.
Over the past decade, the research team has gathered new information on the reproductive biology of the southern wombat and pioneered new reproductive technologies in marsupials. Members of the project team were associated with the first marsupial (a koala) born through artificial insemination and have now also pioneered artificial insemination in possums and wallabies.
They have conducted the only research to date on semen collection and storage from wombats and established the only facility in Australia for the sexing of wombat sperm. The project team has achieved world leadership in the general reproductive biology of eutherian mammals and marsupials, with distinguishing expertise in wombats.
Council’s Parks and Recreation Committee Chair, Councillor John Broad, said the project’s success reflected the commitment of all the stakeholders.
“Nothing of a similar scale has ever been undertaken in Australia and we are very proud of our success so far,” Councillor Broad said.
The assisted breeding program won the Environment – Natural Research Management: Partnerships for Biodiversity Conservation Category Award at last year’s National Awards for Local Government.
For further information contact Council’s Director Parks, Sport and Recreation, Tom Wyatt, email wyattt@rcc.qld.gov.au or phone (07) 4922 1654.
