You would be hard pressed to find someone else in the community as passionate about conserving Australian wildlife as Sally Stutsel.
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Each winter Sally lends a helping hand in the regeneration of an Australian native animal that was once considered extinct.
By the 1930s the species had all but disappeared when the last animal was documented in 1937 and wasn't seen again until 1973.
But Sally is doing what she can to help bring the bridled nail-tail wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata) back from the brink of extinction again.
The nail-tail wallaby is a nocturnal macropod, distinctive because of the unusual bridle-like white stripes that run across its shoulders and the 3-6mm-long, nail-like spur at the tip of their tails which is believed to facilitate sharp turns at high speed.
Unlike most macropods, nail-tails attempt to hide by laying prone on the ground, a strategy that likely contributed to their demise as it is not an effective way to avoid its common predators like foxes and cats.
Sally has just returned from a 2600 kilometre round trip to her day job as the MidCoast Council catchment officer after assisting with the winter census at Avocet Nature Refuge near Emerald (Qld).
While she was there Sally worked closely with the Queensland Department of Environment and Science (DES) threatened species unit to conduct the annual nail-tail capture, mark and release census and mentor students.
Once adult females within the nursery are not carrying any young or lactating, and juveniles have reached three kilogram weight, they are soft released into the wild at Avocet.
- MidCoast Council catchment officer, Sally Stutsel
She is delighted to report this year's population census recorded the greatest number of wild individuals ever recorded at the site and included new mums with joeys still at foot and jellybeans in the pouch.
"Avocet was also chosen as the site for a novel head starting program because the population there seemed to be persisting and there is suitable nail-tail habitat consisting of endangered Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) and native currant bush (Carissa ovata)," Sally said.
"Once adult females within the nursery are not carrying any young or lactating, and juveniles have reached three kilogram weight, they are soft released into the wild at Avocet."
But it's not just the nail-tail wallaby that Sally is so committed to protecting, she also is trained and authorised under DES to monitor threatened marine turtles, including the endemic Flatback (Natator depressus).
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