Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00432:reg:3:p9
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00432
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 3 (pt 9/14)
Character Range: 41993–45004

some of these locations is reintroduction 'outside the fence', provided threatening processes (in particular, introduced and feral predators) can be sufficiently reduced, and provided that antipredator behaviours can be maintained in fenced wild populations (Jolly et al. 2018; Ross et al. 2019).

Introductions
Captive bred bilbies were introduced to Thistle Island (SA) in 1997, a location that they did not historically occupy. Surveys undertaken on the island a decade after their release indicated that the population size had increased and occupied the entire island (Berris et al. 2019).
Photo: Christine Ellis, Australian Wildlife Conservancy Land Management Officer, with students from Nyirripi School release a Bilby into Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary © Australian Wildlife Conservancy.
Photo: Cassandra Arkinstall and Save the Bilby CEO Kevin Bradley releasing captive-bred bilbies into Currawinya National Park in 2019 © Cassandra Arkinstall.

3.7.3             Wild management
Bilbies have been reintroduced at Matuwa (WA) into a 2,500 km2 intensively managed area. This area has been collaboratively managed by DBCA and Martu Indigenous Rangers for fire and feral cats (Felis catus) (annual Eradicat baiting and trapping since 2004) and has been fenced to exclude domestic stock and camels since 2000. Between 2007 and 2009, 128 bilbies were reintroduced, and bilbies have since spread throughout most of the intensively managed area and has also colonised adjacent areas.
Bilbies were reintroduced to an unfenced 'Wild West Zone' adjacent to Arid Recovery Reserve in 2004 and 2007. Predators such as cats and foxes were present in this zone but their numbers controlled through baiting. While some short-term success criteria were met, none of the medium-term success criteria were met due to mortality attributed to fox and feral cat predation (Moseby et al. 2011).
As noted throughout this plan, there are many locations where the Greater Bilby persist as wild non-translocated populations. Each of these is subject to own set of specific challenges and management opportunities that places them at risk.

3.8                 Important populations and populations under particular pressure
The former distribution of the Greater Bilby was effectively continuous across its former range (Abbott 2001) where suitable habitat was present, and molecular DNA analysis does not show strong genetic structure indicating that there is a single 'evolutionary significant unit' (Southgate & Adams 1993; Moritz et al. 1997). The Greater Bilby is considered a single population even though fragmentation and isolation may have resulted in local adaptation. Managing the Greater Bilby as a single genetic unit is likely to maximise conservation outcomes for the Greater Bilby (Bradley et al. 2015). The Greater Bilby largely now occurs as small groups which are fragments of the former distribution across which gene flow occurred. Each of these groups is important and under pressure.
As the Greater Bilby is