Dasyurus maculatus

Mainland Australia's largest carnivorous marsupial !

Conservation Status

Vulnerable species in New South Wales (Threatened Species Conservation Act). At a national level, both subspecies maculatus and gracilis (the North Queensland form) are listed as Endangered in the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

What does it look like?

The beautiful spotted coat of the Spotted-tailed Quoll is one of its most distinctive features. Its fur is dark brown or reddish with  white spots down its back and tail.  While its body is similar to a possum's, its face has whiskers and a pointed nose like a cat.  A male Spotted-tail Quoll weights about 3.5kgs and the female weighs about 2kg. It is sometimes also called the Tiger Quoll or Tiger Cat.

Where does it live?

The Spotted-tailed Quoll used to be found in many parts of Australia.  Sadly, since European settlement the habitat of this marsupial has contracted dramatically.  It is now only considered common in Tasmania, and it has fragmented habitat in three other states: New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

Spotted-tail Quolls are marsupials that like to roam over a wide area. They have been seen in a range of habitat types including:

• Rainforest
• Open forest
• Coastal Heath
• Inland riparian forest  (forest beside creeks or rivers)

Spotted-tailed Quolls prefer these forest habitats, but they have been seen in farmland and urban areas searching for food.  This can be a particular problem for people keeping birds or poultry, as quolls will hunt birds and eggs for food if available.

In the Pittwater area, Spotted-tail Quolls are most likely to be found in the Ku-ring-gai Chase and Garigal National Parks, and in bushland areas connected to these parks. Our remnant areas of eucalypt forest, eucalypt woodland and rainforest are important habitat for quolls.

Quolls have an extraordinary ability to roam.  In 1993, an adult male was trapped in a chicken coop at Elanora Heights.  It was tagged and released at Deep Creek.  Then shortly afterwards, the same quoll was trapped again.  Amazingly, it had travelled all the way to Granville!

Other sightings in Pittwater include:

• Quolls were observed in Avalon and western Mona Vale
• In the early 1990s, a quoll was seen raiding a guinea-pig pen at Elvina Bay

In the last 10 years records have been restricted to the National Park.

What does it eat?

The Spotted-tailed Quoll is an expert hunter and scavenger. It is at home on the ground, but it is also an excellent climber, using this agility to raid bird nests and possum and glider dens.  But quolls are not just expert hunters - they are swift and speedy travellers as well. One animal may move several kilometres in one night, searching for food. Males in particular are known to cover wide distances, particularly in the mating season. 

The Spotted-tailed Quoll preys on a wide range of native and introducted animals. Its diet includes:

• Gliders
• Ringtail and brushtail possums
• Bandicoots and small wallabies
• Birds and their eggs
• Insects
• Rats and rabbits
• Domestic fowl (chickens, ducks and their eggs)
• Carrion

After a busy night hunting for food, the quoll rests in a hollow log, rock crevice or cave. It leaves its nest to visit a "latrine", often on a flat rock near a rocky cliff-face. Several quolls may use the same site, where they leave distinctive faeces with a twisted shape.

What is its life cycle? Quolls mate in late autumn and winter. Three weeks later, a litter is born in the quoll's nest.  The female quoll will suckle an average of five babies in each litter.  Five months later, the babies are ready to leave the nest and find their own home range.  At about one year old, they are mature and ready to mate with other adult quolls. Sadly, perhaps due to their roaming nature, male quolls are much more likely to be trapped or killed. Female quolls have much smaller territories and are less vulnerable to threats such as being trapped at a chicken coop, or being killed on our roads.

What are the threats?

The Spotted-tailed Quoll is facing many threats to its continued survival. These include:

• Loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitat
• Accidental poisoning during wild dog and fox control programs
• Deliberate poisoning, shooting and trapping may also be taking place
• Competition with introduced predators such as cats and foxes

What can we do to protect it?

• Encourage bird and poultry owners to consult with their local council if their coops are being raided - rather than take direct action by themselves
• Create and maintain wildlife corridors that allow the quoll to roam widely and increase genetic diversity
• Control cat and fox populations using poison-baiting techniques least likely to affect quolls
• Protect our forested areas - especially those with hollow logs and rocky outcrops, dense vegetation and creeks
• Encourage people not to remove bushrock from reserves and national parks
• Educate the community about this rare and endangered marsupial

Updated: 18 Jul 2011