About Bandicoots

The Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus obesulus) is a small marsupial, which was once widespread across much of mainland Australia, but is now classified as nationally endangered.

In some areas of the Adelaide Hills, small populations of bandicoots can still be found on private and public land. At least two colonies are known to inhabit the Valley of the Bandicoots (Aldgate Valley), and Warrawong Sanctuary also includes a large population.

Bandicoots nest in dense thickets of native or exotic vegetation, which are their best protection from their main predators: foxes and cats. To construct a nest, which are usually very hard to find, Southern Brown Bandicoots make a little scrape in the ground under some vegetation, which may be either close to the ground or slightly above the ground. They line the inside of the nest with soft leaf litter and grass, then often cover this with a layer of soil.

Although bandicoots prefer dense vegetation to nest in, they often forage for food on grassy areas or tracks nearby, which is when they are most often sighted. When feeding they dig small conical holes in their search for grubs, insects and funguses in the topsoil (the holes are quite distinctive - see picture to left). Southern Brown Bandicoots are active mainly at night (in the dawn and dusk) but they can also be seen during daylight hours. Shy and difficult to spot, they are sometimes mistaken for very large rats.

In South Australia, the bandicoots breed from late winter-early spring through to summer, and the young (usually two or three at a time) leave the pouch when still quite small (about the size of a small rat) in search of suitable habitat. When fully grown, the Southern Brown Bandicoot is about the size of a small rabbit.

Information on what can be done to protect the bandicoots can be found here.