I'm always keen to help educate others about our unique flora and fauna, especially through
wildlife photography, which has been a passion of mine for some time now. Several years ago I donated a few pictures (mostly of the Baudin's Cockatoo and the Quenda or Southern Brown Bandicoot) to the
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Australia, to use in any media pertaining to these two beautiful native animals. Recently these images have been used in some online articles about the Quenda, which, despite being listened as a priority fauna species in south-west Western Australia, has been increasing in abundance in some parts of its range. Its capability to adapt to and take advantage of habitat in urban areas and backyards which is not necessarily composed of native vegetation seems to have allowed it to do well. Right here in the Mundaring Shire where I've spent most of my life, there has been a noticeable increase in Quenda sightings in the past 20 years, both of live animals and road-killed ones, which, despite being a sad sight, are often an indicator of abundance. Check out this article in
The Guardian and another one on
WWF's website to see the images and read more about how you can get involved in the 'Quenda Count, an initiative to gather important information on these wonderful native marsupials!
