Perth Zoo successfully released 28 more dibblers onto Dirk Hartog Island a few weeks ago.

Never heard of a dibbler? Neither had I until a few years ago…

The Dibbler is the common name for the Parantechinus apicalis – a member of the dasyurid family, as is the Tasmanian devil. They are also referred to as Wyalung (Nyoongar)

They are teeny tiny – and only weigh around 100 grams! Why am I excited? Well - they are the ‘D’ in our flashcards and workbooks.

They are a carnivorous marsupial and slightly larger than a house mouse and their most distinctive feature is the white rings around their eyes. They’re fluffy, super cute with big rounded ears. With long, pointed snouts they can nose their way into nests, burrows and tree hollows to drag out birds, mice, insects and reptiles to feed on. They are crepuscular, which means they are most active at dawn and dusk.

Only breeding during autumn, a mating session may continue for several hours. Males sometimes die after breeding. This phenomenon, however, does not occur every mating season

Young are 2mm long when born and females can carry as many as eight at one time in their pouch! Mamas don’t have a normal pouch like kangaroos and most other marsupials. As they come into oestrous they develop a fold of skin. As the joeys grow, the skin around the edge of that area softens and expands, and the joeys are just hanging onto the teats.

The Dibbler is one of the world’s rarest mammals and was once thought to be extinct until a chance rediscovery in 1967. There are now only four known populations of them around coastal South-West Western Australia. Partnering with the Department of Parks and Wildlife; the successful breeding program at Perth Zoo is vital to improving the conservation of the tiny Dibbler.

They were classified as endangered in 1996 and their remaining numbers are threatened by the usual suspects: feral cats and foxes and habitat degradation.

Under the Return to 1616 project, Dirk Hartog Island has become a predator-free haven for endangered wildlife allowing for the return of other species including rufous hare-wallabies, banded hare-wallabies, Shark Bay bandicoots, Shark Bay mice, greater stick-nest rats and western grass wrens.

Finally some good news!