Year 5 NAPLAN Reading Prep — Set 2

Bringing Back the Bandicoots

Two hundred years ago, small marsupials called bandicoots were common across southern Australia. Today several species have vanished from the mainland, surviving only in scattered pockets. The main culprits are foxes and feral cats, introduced predators that arrived with European settlers and found the shy, nocturnal bandicoots easy prey.

Conservationists have not given up. Along the coast, researchers built a predator-proof sanctuary — a fenced reserve where foxes and cats are kept out — and released bandicoots captured from a healthy island population. Each animal wore a tiny radio collar so scientists could track whether it was finding food, digging burrows, and raising young.

Bandicoots matter more than their small size suggests. Foraging at night, they dig countless shallow pits searching for insects and fungi, turning over soil as they go. Ecologist Dr Amelia Ross explains: "A single bandicoot can turn over several tonnes of soil in a year. They are the gardeners of the bush, and losing them changes the whole ecosystem."

The project has faced setbacks. One winter, a fox slipped through a damaged fence and killed several bandicoots before rangers repaired the breach. Volunteers now patrol the fence line weekly, and camera traps guard vulnerable points. Despite this scare, the population has slowly climbed, with young bandicoots spotted for three breeding seasons in a row.

Next time you walk through bushland after dark and notice small, cone-shaped pits in the ground, look closer. They may be evidence that a tireless, snuffling gardener has recently passed through, quietly reshaping the soil beneath your feet.