10 Threatened Species Thrive in Australia's Wildlife Comeback

After 10 years of patient work, Western Australia's Wheatbelt looks like a different world, alive with native animals that nearly disappeared forever.

The Australian Wildlife Conservancy transformed Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary into a safe haven for 10 threatened species, protecting them behind a predator-free fence 360 kilometers northeast of Perth. Photographer Brad Leue spent the entire decade documenting their remarkable comeback, capturing hundreds of hours of footage that became the 21-minute film "Back to the Bush."

The documentary recently screened at the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, sharing Australia's largest reintroduction project with global audiences. Leue filmed tiny nocturnal creatures through countless night stakeouts and unmanned camera traps, getting creative to capture animals that preferred staying hidden.

The results speak louder than any camera could capture. Eight of the 10 species now have thriving populations at the sanctuary, and the animals themselves became architects of their own recovery.

The Ripple Effect

The reintroduced species, including energetic woylies and burrowing quolls, completely transformed the landscape through their natural behaviors. Their digging and tunneling created what Leue describes as terrain dotted with pits and burrows everywhere, a glimpse of what Australia looked like before feral predators arrived.

"The country just looks good, it just looks like it's thriving," Leue said. These "ecosystem engineers" didn't just survive. They rebuilt their home from the ground up.

Senior wildlife ecologist Bryony Palmer, involved since day one, watched the transformation unfold gradually. Working on conservation daily can make you lose sight of the bigger picture, she explained, but seeing 10 years compressed into film brought the magnitude into focus.

The challenging filming came with memorable moments. Woylies earned a reputation for their powerful legs, launching one to two meters into the air when released from transport cages. Leue collected "a few nice little bumps" from startled animals leaping to freedom.

Now the team faces their next exciting challenge: establishing some species outside the protected fence. Palmer says the work never stops, but with a decade of success behind them, the future looks bright for these once-endangered animals.

What started as a bold experiment to save vanishing species became proof that dedicated conservation can reverse extinction's trajectory and restore ecosystems to their natural balance.