Corrugated iron sheeting has emerged as a surprising and effective shelter for an endangered Australian mammal, providing new hope for the endangered species.
Kangaroo Island dunnarts were left on the brink of extinction after the devastating bushfires across the 2019/20 summer which destroyed 96 per cent of their habitat.
Their dire circumstances prompted Zoos SA and the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board to trial different trapping techniques to capture the extremely elusive animals.
Unexpectedly, corrugated iron sheeting proved to be the most effective.
Since then shelters using the sheeting have been established at 14 sites, with dunnarts observed visiting every one.
“In the space of three months we captured 31 dunnarts under these refuges, 20 of which were previously unknown to us,” project manager Paul Jennings said.
“We’re detecting dunnarts at more sites than ever before and we’re detecting them more frequently. The results have exceeded our expectations.
"The future is looking much more positive for the species than we ever anticipated.”
Mr Jennings said Kangaroo Island dunnarts were previously thought to be primarily solitary animals.
“But for us to be able to come out to these sites and lift a sheet of iron and find two, three, four dunnarts denning together communally under these artificial refuges has really rewritten our understanding of what we know about this species," he said.
The dunnart recovery team has also tested the protective effect of the corrugated iron shelters during prescribed burns to gain an insight into how they might perform during a bushfire.
They found the temperatures reached 40C for only a few minutes after the fire passed.
Mr Jennings said with climate change predictions including more frequent and intense bushfires, it was important to offer protection during fires and also post-fires when the species were most vulnerable.
