Should we celebrate the Easter bandicoot?

Significant habitat destruction over the last hundred years and predation from introduced species were the leading causes of the bandicoot being declared extinct in the wild across mainland Australia in 2013.

Through careful management, bandicoots in Victoria and South Australia are back from the brink, now considered 'critically endangered', but this is a journey that Ms Barnden doesn't want to see Tasmania's sub-population of threatened eastern barred bandicoots go through.

"Although more abundant than their mainland cousins, Tasmania's bandicoot numbers have been in steep decline," Ms Barnden said.

"The population is receding into the north and south of the state, and eastern-barred bandicoots have completely disappeared from the Midlands; an area which is actually Australia's only nationally recognised biodiversity hot spot, but where up to 80 per cent of native vegetation has been transformed into agricultural land."

"We know clearance and degradation of native vegetation as well as the impacts of feral cats are damaging numbers, but very little is actually known about bandicoot - cat interactions."

As part of her research, Ms Barnden is looking at the influence that cats and the cat-borne parasite, toxoplasma, has on bandicoot populations, undertaking extensive field work in the process.

She spent 16 weeks through the first year of her PhD trapping bandicoots so she could collect ear biopsies for genetic sampling across the West Tamar, where natural resource management organisation NRM North have conducted a large-scale bandicoot-targeted monitoring and revegetation project.

"It's not easy capturing bandicoots - they're very elusive little animals," she said.

This year she'll be trapping bandicoots every two months in Ulverstone for blood samples so it can been if they are carrying toxoplasma passed on from cats. then her team will work on understanding what impact that might be having on the bandicoot population.

Ms Barnden is also investigating behaviours of bandicoots, like how they respond to the presence of cats around where they forage, building up a broader picture of predator threats for the shy critters.

"It really comes down to awareness," she said.

"The more we know about the needs and challenges of our Tasmanian eastern barred bandicoots, the better we'll be able to manage habitat fragmentation through targeted restoration and educate the community on ways to support them.

"I think any activity that brings the plight of these tiny, very cute marsupials to the forefront in our community is great - and the 'Easter Bandicoot', does have a ring to it."

But she was quick to point out practical measures people in Tasmania could do for the species, including having small shrubs in gardens the marsupials could hide and nest in, and containing pet cats.

Ms Barnden's research project is supported by NRM North and Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment, through funding from the Australian Government's National Landcare Program and the Ecological Society of Australia. Her Ph.D. is supervised by Professor Menna Jones and Associate Professor Christopher Burridge.