Our natural engineers, Southern brown bandicoots

Fifty years ago, many residents of South-East Melbourne would have regularly seen the long, pointy nose, humped back and stumpy tail of the Southern brown bandicoot, snuffling around searching for bugs and fungi to eat.

If you're not familiar with Southern brown bandicoots, they have:

• short, rounded ears, pointy snout, strong feet and a stocky body

• a body around 40cm to 50cm long nose to tail, weighing up to 1.2kg

• a taste for insects, spiders, ferns and fungi

• a preference for habitat with low, dense plants

As Melbourne has grown, our now nationally endangered bandicoots are getting harder to find. Due to the removal of habitat, introduced predators like foxes and cats, and big, busy roads isolating populations, bandicoot populations are facing trouble quickly.

Retaining wildlife within residential areas helps people connect with and value their environment. It also keeps plants healthy and ecosystems functioning. 

While the Southern brown bandicoots are dependent on low, dense plants for habitat, they return the favour as ecological engineers. With their unique characteristics contributing to nutrient cycles - just one Southern brown bandicoot can turn over 3.9 tonnes of soil in a year. This helps spread beneficial fungi, increases nutrient turnover and improves water penetration into the soil.

“The Southern Brown Bandicoot is an integral part of Cranbourne’s biodiversity. They are common throughout the site, busily digging up soil invertebrates and truffle-like fungi,” says Dr. Terry Coates, Ecologist at the Cranbourne Botanic Gardens. 

“Adults and their babies are well protected from foxes and cats within the site’s predator fence and have special fauna crossings to prevent them getting killed on the road. However, some brave individuals have left the site and made new homes in the gardens and parks of neighbouring suburbs.”

You can help with conservation of these bandicoots by keeping pets contained, looking out for bandicoots on the road or creating a bandicoot-friendly patch in your garden if you live in or around these Victorian bioregions:  

• East Gippsland Lowlands 

• Gippsland Plain 

• Otway Plain 

• Warrnambool Plain  

• Greater Grampians 

• Glenelg Plains 

• Wilsons Promontory.

If you spot a Southern brown bandicoot, log it on VBA Go or iNaturalist, or contact the Cranbourne Gardens to learn about the species and what it needs to thrive in a heathland environment.

Learn more at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Southern Brown Bandicoot Initiative page.