 |
Western Quoll/ Chuditch The IUCN Redlist lists this animal as The EPBC lists this animal as Vulnerable |
|
Western Quoll/ Chuditch The IUCN Redlist lists this animal as The EPBC lists this animal as Vulnerable |
|
CLICK HERE to go the Northern Quoll |
|
Photographed at Perth Zoo |
This mostly nocturnal marsupial is a hunter. It is approx 26cm-40cm long in its body with a tail approx 21cm-35cm long. Females can weigh up to 1kg and males can weigh up to 2kg. Its found in the south-west of Western Australia. |
|
Upper jaw was 8cmL x 4.3cmW The upper jaw has a total of 8 incisors, 2 canines, 4 premolars and 8 molars. |
Lower jaw The lower jaw has a total of 6 incisors, 2 canines, 4 premolars and 8 molars. |
|
|
It makes a den in burrows or hollow logs. The Western Quoll has 5 clawed toes on the front feet and 4 clawed toes on the back feet. A Quoll walks and bounds. So you may be able to see clear tracks in the sand but usually they live in well wooded or forest areas making tracks impossible to find. |
|
What does it eat? It eats small vertebrates eg birds, freshwater crayfish, large arthropods and carrion (dead animals). |
|
|
Northern Quoll
The IUCN Redlist lists this
animal as
|
|
Photographed at Perth Zoo |
It is the smallest of the Quolls. Its head to body length is approx 200-310mm and its tail is approx 180-340mm long. It weighs approx 300-1000grams. The Northern Quoll has large white spots. |
|
|
It is now restricted to around 6 areas in Australia. In Western Australia it is found in the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara and an area in the Kimberley. When I was here at Hamerley Range in December 2002 a lot of this area had been burnt out. It lives in a rocky eucalypt woodland mostly within 200km from the coast.
|
|
The female develops a flap of skin around the nipples at breeding time. The young cling to her body for eight to ten weeks, then are suckled in the den until about five months old. They make their den in hollow trees or rock crevices for the babies that survive. It has approx 6-8 young. These are the typical trees found inside the Hamersley gorge. They are mostly Northern Paperbarks and River Gums. River gums a good trees for hollows both in the tree or in a dropped branch. If they line their den the Paperbarks would make a good lining as it easily peels of in pieces. |
|
|
Photographed at Perth Zoo |
Apparently the Northern Quoll has a pungent odour which means you could smell one even if you didn't get to see one. You could also hear it hiss in the night if you were sitting around a campfire and it was in a tree near you. |
|
What does it eat? It hunts small mammals, reptiles, arthropods and it also eats fruit. At the Perth Zoo the keepers there have noticed how this Quoll enjoys nectar as well. |
Photographed at Perth Zoo |
|
Go here for some more information on this animal Text; |
|
|
All Content, written
and graphical Copyright © Wildlife Education Services 2003. |
