Zoo chat | Taronga Western Plains Zoo Wildlife Hospital helps tiny common dunnarts

On New Year's Day, four Common Dunnarts - nocturnal, carnivorous marsupials - were found on a property in the Dubbo area.

Two were found on their own and a further two discovered beside their mother, who had sadly passed away.

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People often confuse Dunnarts for mice, but they are actually a member of the Dasyuridae family, found across Australia, the same family as quolls and Tasmanian Devils.

The property owners knew they had discovered some precious little native animals and brought them to the Wildlife Hospital. On arrival, the Dunnarts weighed in at just 2.5-3 grams each.

The zoo's vet Jessica McCutchan took on the role of hand-rearing.

This involved re-hydrating the three males and one female in the first few days after their arrival, with feeds every three hours.

Once they started putting on weight and were strong enough, they started lapping a special hand-rearing carnivore slurry along with their three hourly feeds.

Two weeks after arriving at the hospital, their weight had doubled to around 7 grams each, with their diet including different types of insects including mealworms, larvae, beetles, crickets and grasshoppers.

As the Dunnarts were being weaned off milk, Jessica and the team set up a little habitat for them in the Wildlife Hospital that included leaf litter and bark curls they could hide under and search for bugs in, to fine-tune their bug hunting skills.

In late February the Dunnarts had a final check, weighing in at between 11 and 14 grams each, and were deemed suitable for release back onto the property they were found. With the assistance of the property owners, the team was able to use a soft release pen to give them the best chance of survival, with the Dunnarts choosing to leave the pen after five days.

No two days are ever the same at the Wildlife Hospital.

If you see sick or injured wildlife, always make sure you stay safe, monitor the animal from a distance and call WIRES for assistance.

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