Kangaroo Island Wildlife Soars 100% After Predator Fence

A simple fence is saving some of Australia's most endangered animals from extinction.

The Australian Wildlife Conservancy built a 380-hectare predator-proof enclosure on Kangaroo Island five years ago, and the results have stunned even the scientists behind it. Populations of endangered species like the Kangaroo Island dunnart, a tiny nocturnal marsupial, have jumped by 90 to 100 percent inside the protected area.

Principal ecologist Pat Hodgens admits he didn't expect such dramatic success. The Western River Refuge was supposed to be an experiment, but the devastating 2019-20 bushfires transformed it into an urgent rescue mission.

Those fires destroyed more than 90 percent of vulnerable species' habitats. Feral cats swooped in on the burned landscape, hunting whatever animals survived in the small unburnt patches.

The timing of the fence couldn't have been better. Scientists quickly surveyed the damage and decided that while eliminating all feral cats from the island wasn't realistic, they could create safe havens for struggling populations.

The Western whipbird's return surprised everyone most. These birds hadn't been spotted in the refuge area for years, but they found their way back to the protected zone on their own. Now their numbers have roughly doubled too.

Bassian thrushes, another species heavily targeted by feral cats, have also made remarkable comebacks. The fence doesn't just protect the animals already inside, it creates a magnet for wildlife seeking safety.

The Ripple Effect

The project is sparking something bigger than biodiversity wins. Ngarrindjeri elder Mark Koolmatrie sees the refuge as a model for combining Indigenous knowledge with modern conservation.

Koolmatrie, who runs cultural tours on the island, believes the real restoration work requires collaboration between the Ngarrindjeri People, conservationists, and island residents. "We are the original custodians," he says, emphasizing that traditional land management practices need a place in modern efforts.

He points out that islanders have been working the land for over 200 years and that bringing everyone's knowledge together creates the strongest path forward. For him, the fence represents a beginning, not a finish line.

The dunnart's recovery holds special meaning beyond the numbers. This shy creature was so difficult to track before the fires that scientists struggled to estimate population sizes. Now they're consistently detecting far more activity inside the fence than outside it.

Outside the refuge, some dunnarts and other species still survive in decent numbers, proving the island's ecosystem retains pockets of resilience. But the contrast between protected and unprotected areas shows just how much damage feral predators cause to native wildlife populations.

What started as an ecological experiment became proof that targeted protection can reverse what seemed like inevitable decline, even after catastrophic wildfires.