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Scotia Bridled Nailtail Wallaby Trapping 

08/09/2024  - 13/09/2024 

SANCTUARY DETAILS 

Scotia Sanctuary is situated in southwestern NSW, approximately 150km north of Wentworth. The property is 65,000ha in size, bordering South Australia. Scotia has an 8,000 hectare feral predator-free area which is made up of two 4,000 hectare areas known as Stage 1 and Stage 2. 

Accommodation is provided; however you will need to bring your own bedding (see ‘What to bring’). Showers are available, although due to running on desalinated bore water, we ask you to keep them short. Wi-Fi is available in the main office building, but as it is satellite internet and therefore expensive, we ask that use is kept to a minimum and no streaming services are used. There is limited to no phone reception at Scotia, however the office landline can be used if required.  

All meals and snacks are provided. If you haven’t given your dietary requirements via the Better Impact portal, please let us know ahead of time. Please feel free to bring any personal snacks if desired. 

You will arrive at Scotia either with AWC staff departing from the depot in Buronga, NSW (15 Silver City highway Buronga), or you can make your own way to Scotia in your personal vehicle. Please note that some of the driving is on unsealed roads. Please let us know your travel intentions as soon as possible.  

SURVEY DETAILS 

The objective of the Scotia Bridled Natiltail Wallaby (BTNW) trapping is to carry out 3 months post-release monitoring under the conditions outlined in our Translocation Proposal to the Queensland Government. The data of captured BNTW will determine whether the short-term success criteria is being met for condition, i.e. that body weight increased or is maintained within 20% of release weight. This work utilises 78 sites of the existing trap grid, each with four traps at each site (totalling 312 traps). The trap arrangement at each site will include 1 Thomas trap, 1 medium cage trap lined with carpet, and 2 small cage traps. The sites are spaced approximately 300m apart along the road network within the Stage 1 fenced area.   

During the survey, trapping occurs for 4 consecutive nights. Traps are set at dusk between ~3 – 6 pm and checked 3 hours later at ~9 pm. Traps are closed following each check. Captured BNTW are processed, and a health assessment and collar check are conducted before they are released. Any non-targeted species (i.e Burrowing Bettong) that are captured will be checked for pouch young and injury before release. No additional data will be taken. New individuals of non-targeted species will be PIT tagged and DNA samples taken, only if practicable.   

The survey is conducted by 4 teams with 2 team members comprised of at least one AWC ecologist. Please note that the shifts may be long due to high numbers of captures and trapping could run through to 0600.  

SURVEY SCHEDULE