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Their Status

Vulnerable!

Quokkas are already small in number and found mainly on just 2 islands. And above all, they have been in the vulnerable region of the IUCN Red List with a decreasing population trend. These little fur balls are protected in Australia - the only place they are found.

Wildfire

A large wildfire that raged across southwest Australia in 2015 devastated a significant population of mainland quokkas. The Northcliffe fire burnt 98,000 hectares. Today, around 10,000 Quokkas live on Rottnest Island, with very small populations also surviving in the mainland's south-west forests such as those near Northcliffe. While they're doing relatively well on the islands, mainland populations face much greater threats and continue to decline.

Climate change

As southwest of Western Australia dries due to climate change, there will be more habitat loss at the quokka's expense. Mainland populations have been historically restricted to areas with an annual average rainfall greater than 700mm and their current distribution is almost completely confined to the 1000mm rainfall isohyet (for those of us who are less into geography this simply means an imaginary line on a map connecting all the points having same amount of rainfall in a given period).

Habitat loss

Following extensive population declines in the 20th century, by 1992, the quokka's distribution on the mainland had been reduced by more than 50% to an area of about 17,800 km² from an original 41,200 km². Their vulnerable status was a result of this as well as predation by larger and feral animals such as foxes and cats and several other factors.

Threat from predators

Predators like the fox which was introduced in Australia for hunting purposes are a major threat to cute little quokkas as they evolved without these preadtors and thus lack the required defense strategies. Besides foxes, feral cats, also pose a threat to the species.

50%+
Population Decline
1996
Vulnerable Since
High Risk
Extinction Risk