Catch me if you can!
We know they’re still there, but the Idnya (Western quolls) on Arkaba Station proved elusive in an annual cage trapping survey to monitor the population.
In early May trapping was conducted over four nights. with 119 traps set between Wilpena Pound and the Elder Range on Arkaba Station.
The traps were baited with tasty treats to attract the Idnya – either a ball of oats, tuna oil and peanut butter, or piece of rabbit. However, the bait proved less enticing than previous years, with no Idnya captured in the traps.
Following recent high rainfall across the Flinders Ranges, there is a flourish of vegetation, and an abundance in crickets and live rabbits - providing Idnya with plentiful food sources. It is believed the availability of these resources outweighed the perceived risk of entering the traps, reducing the effectiveness of the trapping effort.
The trapping was coordinated by the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board team, which was joined by National Parks and Wildlife SA, Arabana Rangers, Yappala Rangers and staff from Arkaba Station.
In addition to the annual trapping exercise, the board also has monitoring cameras placed on Arkaba Station to monitor Idnya and Virlda (brushtail possums), as well as feral cat numbers as part of its Discovery4Recovery project.
The 28 cameras are scattered across the property, and since September 2024, there have been 94 quoll detections on these cameras, further adding confidence that empty traps do not indicate that quolls are no longer on the property.
In the 2025-26 funding round, Arkaba Station received a Grassroot Grant to support the monitoring and removal of feral cats, which are a direct threat to the Idnya population through predation.
Other threat abatement activities that support the Idnya reintroduction include aerial fox and cat baiting, undertaken in collaboration with the National Parks and Wildlife SA Bounceback program, and goat control operations which will continue in the Flinders Ranges region. These not only benefit the Idnya, but other threatened fauna and flora in the area.
SAAL Senior Community Ecologist Dr Elisa Sparrow said the board will keep monitoring wildlife activity on Arkaba Station through the camera network.
“I hope that next year’s trapping effort proves more successful for capturing Idnya, for population and health monitoring,” she said.
Arkaba Station Owner Charlie Carlow said the recent rains have been amazing and had greatly assisted the regeneration of vegetation and other species at Arkaba.
“On this occasion, they have not helped us with surveying the Idnya’s presence and their recovery in the landscape, but our work, however, goes on to help Idnya disperse across the property.”
The Discovery4Recovery project is funded by the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust and delivered by the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.
For more information, visit www.landscape.sa.gov.au/saal
