Western barred bandicoot (Perameles bougainville)

Adult western barred bandicoot
Adult western barred bandicoot

Western barred bandicoot fact file

Western barred bandicoot description

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderPeramelemorphia
FamilyPeramelidae
GenusPerameles (1)

This small marsupial has light brown-grey fur fading to white fur on the belly, as well as on the feet. It gained its common name as a result of two or three bars of alternating paler and darker bars across the hindquarters. As with all bandicoots, the ears are large and the snout is long and pointed (6). The tail is also long, making up almost a third of the total length of the western barred bandicoot (2). The pouch faces backwards as this prevents dirt from entering when this bandicoot is digging (4).

Also known as
barred bandicoot, long-nosed bandicoot, marl.
French
Bandicoot De Bougainville, Péramèle À Bandes De L´ouest.
Spanish
Tejón Marsupial Rayado.
Size
Total length: 28 cm (2)
Length at birth: 1 cm (3)
Weight at birth: 0.25 g (3)
Weight
190 - 250 g (4)
Top

Western barred bandicoot biology

Primarily a solitary species, the western barred bandicoot tends to occupy a nest alone. The nest is constructed in a scrape and is lined with leaves (6). The entrance is concealed from predators and this nocturnal animal will spend the day sleeping in it (4). Usually individuals will fight when they encounter others, but occasionally two bandicoots are seen to nest together (2). Mating occurs in autumn and winter and just 12 days later a litter of between one and three tiny young is born (4). This is one of the shortest gestation periods of any mammal. Western barred bandicoots will breed opportunistically at other times of year if conditions are suitable. The young remain in the pouch to suckle and develop further for 45 – 60 days, and by 80 days they disperse (3).

This species is omnivorous and will find insects, seeds, roots, herbs and small invertebrates by digging (4).

Top

Western barred bandicoot range

Having inhabited much of southern and western Australia, the western barred bandicoot has now lost most of its previous range, and is restricted to just Bernier and Dorre Islands off the western coast of Australia. The species was thought to have gone extinct, but the populations of these two islands were discovered in the 1970s (4).

Top

Western barred bandicoot habitat

In its former range, the western barred bandicoot occupied semi-arid and arid areas on plains and sand ridges with woodlands, as well as open bush plains, dense scrub and heathland. Now, the preferred habitat appears to be sand hills, grasslands and scrublands (4).

Top

Western barred bandicoot status

The western barred bandicoot is classified as Endangered (EN B1 + 3a) on the IUCN Red List 2004 (1), and is listed on Appendix I of CITES (5).

IUCN Red List species status – Endangered

Top

Western barred bandicoot threats

The massive decline suffered by this species is mainly a result of predation by introduced foxes and feral cats, as well as competition from introduced livestock and rabbits. Habitat clearance and human influence over fire regimes has also contributed (1) (4).

Top

Western barred bandicoot conservation

The Department of Conservation and Land Management, in collaboration with Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Australia are working to study this species and have undertaken captive breeding programs and begin a re-introduction program in an area of the mainland where introduced predators have been drastically reduced under an eradication program. More introductions are planned, dependent on continued progress in predator eradication (2) (3).

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Top

Find out more

For further information on this species see Animal Info:
http://www.animalinfo.org/species/peraboug.htm

Top

Authentication

This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact: arkive@wildscreen.org.ukTop

Glossary

Marsupial
A diverse group of mammals characterised by their reproduction. The embryo is born 11-35 days after conception. The tiny neonate crawls into the marsupium (pouch) and attaches to a teat where it stays for a variable amount of time. They also differ from placental mammals in their dentition.
Nocturnal
Active at night.
Omnivore
An organism that feeds on both plants and animals.
Top

References

  1. IUCN Red List (November, 2004)
    http://www.redlist.org
  2. Australian Fauna (November, 2004)
    http://www.australianfauna.com/westernbarredbandicoot.php
  3. CSIRO Threatened Species Research (November, 2004)
    http://www.cse.csiro.au/Research/program2/threatenedspecies/wbb.htm
  4. Animal Info (November, 2004)
    http://www.animalinfo.org/species/peraboug.htm
  5. CITES (November, 2004)
    http://www.cites.org
  6. Western Wildlife (November, 2004)
    http://www.westernwildlife.com.au/western/mammals/peramele.htm

More »Related species

Eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunnii)Golden bandicoot (Isoodon auratus)Greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis)Pig-footed bandicoot (Chaeropus ecaudatus)

This species is featured in:

This species is affected by global climate
change. To learn about climate change
and the species that are affected,
visit our climate change pages.

Please donate to ARKive today

Help us share the wonders of the natural world. Donate today!

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.

Get involved

ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!

X
Close

Image credit

Adult western barred bandicoot  
Adult western barred bandicoot

© Babs Wells / gettyimages.com

Getty Images
101 Bayham Street
London
NW1 0AG
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 800 376 7981
sales@gettyimages.com
http://www.gettyimages.com

X
Close

Link to this photo

ARKive species - Western barred bandicoot (Perameles bougainville) Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.

Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.

Read more about

X
Close

MyARKive

MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.

X
Close

Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials

Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.

Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:

  • view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
  • download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
  • teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.

End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.

Additional use of flagged material

Green flagged material 

Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.

Creative commons material

Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.

Any other use

Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.

Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.