Eastern quoll

About

The eastern quoll is a medium-sized carnivorous marsupial that went extinct on the Australian mainland by the early 1960s and now survives naturally only in Tasmania (small reintroduced populations exist in fenced mainland sanctuaries). It comes in two colour morphs, fawn and near-black, both marked with white spots but lacking spots on the tail.

How to spot it

Cat-sized but slighter, with a pointed face, large rounded ears, and a thick coat (fawn or near-black) covered in white spots — check the feet, as eastern quolls have four toes on the hind foot rather than five. Nocturnal and ground-dwelling; most likely seen at night around forest edges bordering open grassland.

Found in

• Freycinet National Park
• Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park