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The Return to Dryandra project was established in order to reintroduce five threatened marsupials, extinct in the south-west of Western Australia, to Dryandra Woodland. The target species are the bilby (Macrotis lagotis), western barred bandicoot (Perameles bougainville), boodie (Bettongia lesueur), mala (Lagorchestes hirsutus) and banded hare-wallaby (Lagostrophus fasciatus). Dryandra was seen as a suitable site from which to spearhead the reintroduction of these species into the southwest because: 1. It is a large area where fox control has been shown to cause mammal recovery. 2. It is within the former range of the five selected species. 3. Suitable habitat is present, in good condition. 4. It is close to a District office of the Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM), so District staff can provide necessary support. 5. It is relatively close to Perth and has high ecotourism potential that would be enhanced by the presence of rare mammals. The concept was to establish populations of these five species in a 20-hectare predator-proof enclosure within Dryandra, provided with supplementary food and water, so that mammal densities could rise well above those found in the wild. Thus high numbers of site-adapted animals could be generated in order to provide translocation stock for release into Dryandra. The original concept allowed for spotlight walks through the breeding enclosure as a low-level eco-tourism activity, to provide educational opportunities and to involve the community. The Return to Dryandra project was to be run jointly by CALM's Narrogin District and Science Division staff. Subsequently, the aims of the project were enlarged in two directions:e 1. to include the construction of a separate viewing enclosure and visitor centre, to be built in partnership with a corporate sponsor 2. as well as providing animals for reintroduction to Dryandra Woodland, the breeding enclosure would also supply stock for translocations to other reserves in the south-west under the Western Shield program. The breeding enclosure was built during 1997 and founder groups of the five species were introduced in 1998. Feeding, monitoring and other routine procedures were established. Predation by diurnal raptors and owls caused some early losses, but breeding commenced and the populations, with the exception of the banded harewallabies, which were heavily preyed on by raptors, began to grow. Plans for a visitor centre/viewing enclosure were developed in 1997 and CALM's Executive Director presented a sponsorship proposal to a potential corporate sponsor. This proposal was kept alive for over a year but eventually failed. A funding application for the centre to the Commonwealth Regional Tourism Program was prepared and submitted in 1999 and $85 000 was granted on a dollar-for-dollar basis. During this process the management and planning of the visitor centre concept was separated from the Return to Dryandra project. The visitor centre/viewing enclosure, known as Barna Mia, was opened by the Minister for the Environment on 14 December 2002. This review will deal with the Return to Dryandra project, touching on Barna Mia only where issues of supply and exchange of animals arise. It was prepared for the Western Shield review and information contained within was accurate as at February 2003. Objectives The objectives of the Return to Dryandra project as originally stated, are as follows: 1. Reintroduction of five species of locally extinct mammals to Dryandra, via a large enclosure to breed animals on site for release. These species are: Macrotis lagotis Bilby (dalgyte) Perameles bougainville Western barred bandicoot (marl) Bettongia lesueur Boodie (burrowing bettong) Lagorchestes hirsutus Mala (rufous hare-wallaby) Lagostrophus fasciatus Banded hare-wallaby (merrnine) 2. Use of reintroductions to Dryandra to test alternative reintroduction methodologies. 3. Involvement of the local community, through a Friends of Dryandra group and volunteers from other places, through Landscope Expeditions and possibly Earthwatch. Later, the public involvement aspect was expanded by including the development of an interpretive centre with an animal viewing area within Dryandra. Achievements • Design and construction of the breeding enclosure. • No entry by cats or foxes into the breeding enclosure in five years. • Establishment of intensive captive breeding colonies of western barred bandicoots and bilbies at Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre as part of Return to Dryandra. • Genetic variation in Kanyana bilby colony maintained by exchanges of bilbies with other breeding colonies at Monarto Zoo and Yookamurra Sanctuary, SA; the Territory Wildlife Park and the Alice Springs Desert Park/Arid Zone Research Institute, NT; and the Peron Captive Breeding Centre. • Establishment of breeding populations of all five species within the Dryandra breeding enclosure. • Establishment of suitable feeding regimes within the breeding enclosure. • Establishment of an effective monitoring regime within the breeding enclosure. • Bilby health monitoring program established through collaboration with Murdoch University. • Production of sufficient surplus animals for releases of bilbies, western barred bandicoots and the proposed release of boodies. • Reintroduction of bilbies from the breeding enclosure into Dryandra Woodland. • Comparison of success of 'soft' and 'hard' release techniques for bilbies completed. • Elimination of the use of collars for attaching radiotags to bilbies, in favour of tail mounts, a practice then followed by Project Eden. • Participation in disease investigations on chlamydiosis and a wart-like syndrome found in western barred bandicoots. • No re-appearance of the wart-like syndrome in the western barred bandicoot population within Dryandra breeding enclosure since 2000. • Provision of animals for the public viewing enclosure at the Barna Mia interpretive centre. • Development of strong partnerships with Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre and Pingelly Marsupial Retreat. Difficulties • Predation of enclosure animals, particularly harewallabies, by diurnal and nocturnal birds of prey. • Difficulty in planning releases due to uncertainty about the numbers of animals that could be produced. • Limits to the numbers of animals of each species that can be held in the breeding enclosure. • Occurrence in western barred bandicoots in the enclosure of a wart-like syndrome, also found in other captive and wild populations. • Significant mortality of released bilbies caused by radiocollars • Bilbies proved difficult to monitor by alternative means (e.g. trapping, searches for burrows and sign) once tail-mounted transmitters failed or fell off. Potential economies This project has been run extremely efficiently and has been heavily subsidised from Narrogin District and Science Division resources (see 'Return to Dryandra Draft Strategic Plan') to the extent that it is clear that the base funding of the project is far from adequate. Two ways in which costs to CALM could be reduced are: • Greater use of volunteers in monitoring enclosure populations and animals released outside. This would need to be carefully managed to retain a sense of ownership of the project by CALM staff. On the other hand it would generate more public awareness and community support. However this would only reduce costs marginally as vehicle running has been the greatest cost associated with the monitoring of animal populations, particularly when animals are released from the enclosure into Dryandra Woodland proper. • Reduced frequency of monitoring, recognising that this will reduce the ability to predict numbers available for translocation. However, in order to carry out reintroductions into Dryandra and continue the research to develop better reintroduction techniques that have already benefited other programs such as Project Eden, greater personnel input is required. Similar work is being undertaken as in Project Eden, but with only 0.5 FTE dedicated to captive breeding and monitoring released animals, compared with at least 2.0 FTE at Denham. The operating (non-salary) budget available for Return to Dryandra can support the operation and monitoring of the breeding enclosure, but cannot support the implementation and monitoring of translocations. Potential improvements The requirements of the project have not been recognised in its level of funding, and the project has been heavily subsidised from District and Science Division resources. More resources are required, particularly for monitoring released animals. The many aspects of the project require more than half of one person's time in the District, as well as the input from Science Division. The budget for the project should allow the allocation of at least one FTE, and it would be most efficient if this were a single person. A substantial increase in the operational budget is also required, as the project should not continue to divert resources from other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]