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New year, new to Odonata? Here’s a snappy 2-ish minute explainer on what we do and why we do it. But if three words is all you have time for… We Save Species.

We’d love you to join us in our mission. Thank you, The Odonata Crew x

#Odonata #OdonataFoundation #WeSaveSpecies #threatenedspecies #endangeredspecies

Who knew a dingo paddock could help grow a thriving native grassland?

At Mount Rothwell, our dingoes help keep rabbits out of this 2-hectare paddock giving native plants the chance to flourish naturally.

One of the stars of the landscape is Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra), an iconic species of Victoria’s plains grasslands. Traditionally, First Nations Peoples ground the seeds into flour for damper, and it’s naturally gluten free. Coeliacs eat your heart out!

#odonatafoundation
#mtrothwellsafehaven
#wesavespecies
#kangaroograss

Introducing Into the Woodlands X Creatures of the Night, our new birding and spotlighting experience at Mt Rothwell Safe Haven.

Explore Mt Rothwell's diverse birdlife though the woodlands and grasslands in the golden hours of the afternoon. Then, as darkness falls, watch as the sanctuary comes alive in a completely different way, with bettongs, bandicoots, wallabies and quolls emerging across the landscape.

The tour includes 2 hours of guided birdwatching, followed by a relaxed 45-minute BYO dinner break, before heading back out for 1.5–2 hours of nocturnal spotlighting.

Dates: 23 May and 20 June with more dates to come.

Link in bio.

#odonatafoundation
#mtrothwellsafehaven
#wesavespecies
#birdwatching
#spotlighttour

📸 Em Vines

Meet the Southern Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata), a small, agile macropod built for rocky terrain with grippy footpads, powerful hind legs, and a distinctive bushy dark-tipped tail.

Once abundant across the Great Dividing Range, they are now critically endangered in Victoria, with fewer than 100 found in the wild.

Odonata holds around 80% of the remaining captive population and runs the most successful semi-wild breeding program for the species in the country. Mt Rothwell is a core site, and Odonata sits on the Southern Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby Recovery Team, shaping the broader recovery strategy for Victoria.

Conservation status: Vulnerable (Global, IUCN Red List), Vulnerable (Australia, 1999 EPBC Act), Critically Endangered (VIC, 1988 FFG Act)

📸 : Pete James Photography
#brushtailedrockwallaby
#odonatafoundation
#wesavespecies
#mtrothwellsafehaven

The beautiful eastern quoll is one of the 9 core species we are working to pull back from the brink of extinction.

As one of Australia's few native carnivores, eastern quolls play a vital role in keeping ecosystems in balance. Once found across mainland Australia, they are now extinct here, surviving only in fenced safe havens and in Tasmania, where they have managed to escape major threats like foxes. Thanks to dedicated conservation efforts, these spotted beauties are getting a second chance.

📸 : @EmVines

#easternquoll
#conservation
#mountrothwell
#odonatafoundation
#wesavespecies

Did you know Mt Rothwell Safe Haven is home to over 130 bird species?

Beyond our bush stone-curlew recovery program, the restoration work happening across our home safe haven is slowly but surely seeing more and more avian species return. They make up part of our beneficiary species list, the fauna and flora that are thriving at Mt Rothwell because of the flourishing native habitats and ecosystems being brought back.

The superb fairy-wren is one such lucky bird, and, between us, one of the prettiest reasons to visit Mt Rothwell Safe Haven.

If birds are your jam, join us for Into the Woodlands Birdwatching Tour, our monthly 3 hour guided bird walk through our old-growth boxes and granite rocky outcrops.

Tours at 8:30am on Sunday 10 May and 14 June with more to come!

Link in bio.

#odonata
#mtrothwellsafehaven
#intothewoodlands
#birdwatching
#twitchers

A world-first genetic rescue program in Victoria has just reached a major milestone. The Eastern-barred bandicoot, once on the brink of extinction, is now making strides on Phillip Island.

Meet the Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus), a compact, pointed-snouted marsupial that has been quietly reshaping soil across southeastern Australia for millennia. Once common across Victoria's woodlands, heathlands, and grasslands, populations are now fragmented and under pressure from habitat loss, foxes, feral cats, and altered fire regimes.

At Odonata's Mt Rothwell Safe Haven, a population descended from just 34 individuals translocated from Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary in 2002 has been steadily growing ever since. By night they undertake the less-than-glamorous but oh-so-important work of digging for insects, worms, fungi, seeds, and tubers, and controlling pests and dispersing plant material in the process.

Odonata works alongside researchers from Cesar Australia and the University of Melbourne on genetic research and recovery strategies, with plans to expand the species to new sites across Victoria.

Conservation status: Endangered (Australia, 1999 EPBC Act)

📸 : @EmVines
#southernbrownbandicoot
#odonatafoundation
\#wesavespecies
#mtrothwellsafehaven

Once extinct on the mainland, bandicoots make a feisty return.

Last week, the team at @odonata_foundation, @phillipislandnp and Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation achieved something that felt like a pipedream a decade ago. In just 24 hours, we successfully moved 100 eastern barred bandicoots from our Tiverton Farm Safe Haven in western Victoria to Phillip Island (Milawul), where they have now begun a new life in a wild environment.

This is the largest movement of genetically recovered bandicoots in the history of this species’ recovery.

And while last week marked a groundbreaking moment for these incredible little ecosystem engineers, it is just one leap in an ongoing and decades-long recovery effort. Many organisations and individuals (see below) have played a critical role along the way – it truly does take a village and many all-nighters to bring a species back from the brink.

This moment was made possible thanks to the decades-long efforts of the Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team and its members, with special thanks to Cesar Australia, @phillipislandnp, @zoosvictoria, @parksvic, @deeca_vic, @conservationvolunteers , and the @unimelb.

These organisations have all contributed funding, time, expertise, and countless hours to the cause.

We also had the privilege of being joined by the Eastern Maar ranger team who supported the safe trapping and monitoring of this significant animal. We would also like to acknowledge the release site as the traditional country of the Bunurong people.

At Odonata, we have been able to catalyse our involvement thanks to an investment of AU$2.5 million from Amazon’s Right Now Climate Fund, supporting efforts to protect critically endangered Australian wildlife from extinction. We thank Amazon for their leadership and for helping raise the profile of wildlife recovery in Australia and globally.

The world needs a good news story right now, we hope this has brightened your day.

*Film, footage and images by James D. Morgan, Getty Images. Additional footage by @joelsharpeprojects, @emvines and Tinderflint.

#wesavespecies #crashbandicoot #easternbarredbandicoot

Meet the Eastern Bettong (Bettongia gaimardi), one of Australia's quieter ecosystem engineers and a species that hasn't been able to call the mainland home since the 1920s. They now survive only in Tasmania and in a handful of reintroduced populations, including at Odonata's Mt Rothwell Safe Haven.

By night they dig for roots, tubers, seeds, and underground fungi, aerating the soil, dispersing fungal spores, and steadily improving the vegetation health of everything around them.

Mt Rothwell's population traces back to 26 individuals relocated from Tidbinbilla during the 2020 bushfires. Since then, the population has steadily grown, and we're now focused on genetic management to build something healthy and lasting, with reintroduction to further sanctuary sites the longer term goal.

Conservation status: Near threatened (Global, IUCN Red List), Regionally Extinct (mainland, 1999 EPBC Act), Extinct in the wild (VIC)

📸 : @EmVines
#easternbettong
#odonatafoundation
#wesavespecies
#mtrothwellsafehaven

Meet the Spotted-tailed Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), a.k.a. the tiger quoll, mainland Australia's largest carnivorous marsupial, it's apex predator.

Once widespread across Victoria's wet forests and coastal woodlands, this solitary, nocturnal predator has been pushed to the margins by habitat loss, feral animals and road mortality. A few now call Odonata's Mt Rothwell Safe Haven home, living alongside an established eastern quoll population.

Reddish-brown with white spots running the full length of their distinctive tail, powerful jaws, sharp climbing claws: they're built for the hunt. By night they take small mammals, birds, reptiles, and carrion.

Odonata is exploring what's next for the species, including research into quolls' potential role in natural rodent control, and a study in East Gippsland investigating population decline to inform future recovery work.

Conservation status: Endangered (Australia, 1999 EPBC Act), Near Threatened (Global, IUCN Red List)

#spottedtailedquoll
#tigerquoll
#odonatafoundation
#wesavespecies
#mtrothwell

100 bandicoots! One big team effort 🐾

We’ve just welcomed the largest-ever translocation of Eastern barred bandicoots to Milawul and it’s all thanks to an incredible partnership.

Reflecting years of work by the Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team, including partners at the @odonata_foundation, @unimelb and Cesar Australia, @conservationvolunteers, @decca_vic, @parksvic, @unimelb and @zoosvictoria working together to restore and future-proof this species.

From near extinction to a stronger future in the wild 💚

Want to help? Create wildlife-friendly gardens, report sightings and keep cats contained.

Images by James Morgan @gettyimages for @amazonaustralia

100 bandicoots! One big team effort 🐾

We’ve just welcomed the largest-ever translocation of Eastern barred bandicoots to Milawul and it’s all thanks to an incredible partnership.

Reflecting years of work by the Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team, including partners at the @odonata_foundation, @unimelb and Cesar Australia, @conservationvolunteers, @decca_vic, @parksvic, @unimelb and @zoosvictoria working together to restore and future-proof this species.

From near extinction to a stronger future in the wild 💚

Want to help? Create wildlife-friendly gardens, report sightings and keep cats contained.

Images by James Morgan @gettyimages for @amazonaustralia

100 bandicoots! One big team effort 🐾

We’ve just welcomed the largest-ever translocation of Eastern barred bandicoots to Milawul and it’s all thanks to an incredible partnership.

Reflecting years of work by the Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team, including partners at the @odonata_foundation, @unimelb and Cesar Australia, @conservationvolunteers, @decca_vic, @parksvic, @unimelb and @zoosvictoria working together to restore and future-proof this species.

From near extinction to a stronger future in the wild 💚

Want to help? Create wildlife-friendly gardens, report sightings and keep cats contained.

Images by James Morgan @gettyimages for @amazonaustralia