Science · Lungtalanana echidnasLungtalanana echidna sightings: Camera records span eight kilometresWritten November 5, 2026 at 12:39 AM UTCWatchTranscript0:07Trail cameras recorded echidna sightings about eight kilometers apart on0:10Lungtalanana.0:12The animals survived on an island where fire and introduced predators had fueled0:17fears.0:17They disappeared.0:19Their wider presence gives Aboriginal rangers valuable information as they restore0:24country.0:25How many echidnas are living there, and what can these sightings tell us about their0:30survival?0:30Lungtalanana, also called Clark Island, lies in Bas Straits Furneaux Group,0:36off Tasmania's northeast coast.0:39It returned to Aboriginal ownership in2005 .0:42The island covers a reported8 ,230 hectares, with Pacana Rangers0:48monitoring wildlife and managing the land.0:50A camera photographed an echidna near the Air Strip on August twenty-third.0:55Another recorded one at Rebecca Bay in the south on October20 th.1:00Those locations are about eight kilometers apart, strengthening the case that1:05several animals live on the island.1:07The November fifth announcement bring together observations gathered over several1:11years.1:12Rangers recently recognized those airstrip and Rebecca Bay records while reviewing1:17camera images.1:18The photographs extend the known spread of sightings beyond the animal, once1:22nicknamed Australia's loneliest echidna.1:25The first photograph dates to August first,2023 3 , with another that1:31November.1:32Rangers identified the images in November2024 .1:36By March20,2025 , the rediscovery was public, along with1:42the question of whether this could be the island's only surviving echidna.1:46Both original pictures came from the same western tea tree scrub location, months1:50apart, and were initially thought to show one animal.1:54Reviewing images had to fit around the rangers' work on country.1:58These were the first reported echidna photographs there in decades.2:01Increased camera monitoring produced records in October2025 .2:05In January2026 , beside a lagoon, thick reeds sheltered those sightings,2:11more than four kilometers east of the original location.2:15Rangers still couldn't tell whether one animal had travelled between them.2:19The dated sequence now contains two camera records from twenty twenty-three, one2:24from twenty twenty-five and three from twenty twenty-six.2:27Six detections give rangers more places to investigate, but they don't identify six2:32different animals.2:33Tasha Cooper found an echidna inside a feral cat trap on September nineteenth,2:38twenty twenty-six.2:40She was learning to trap cats near the lagoon and expected another raven.2:44Instead, she came face to face with an echidna, the first reported direct encounter2:50in decades.2:51The excitement was overwhelming.2:53Cooper said.2:54The animal appeared calm, with its quills raised defensively.2:58She propped the cage open with a stick and continued working.3:02Hours later, it was still inside.3:04She gently encouraged it out, and it dug into the sand to protect its underbelly.3:09University of Tasmania echidna expert Stuart Nichol thinks it's very unlikely all3:14the observations show the same animal.3:17Echidnas can travel several kilometers overnight.3:20He says, and males travel further during breeding season.3:23Even allowing for that movement, he suspects unseen animals remain.3:27Nickel draws on measurements from Tasmania's southern Midlands.3:31There, males made ninety percent of their movements within sixty hectares, and3:37females within thirty-five hectares.3:39That comparison helps explain his judgment about movement.3:43It can't supply a population total for lungtalanana.3:46Nickel says he'd be surprised if fewer than a dozen echidnas lived there, and3:51suggests possibly more than twenty or thirty.3:54Nah, that's a tentative estimate.3:56Their elusive behavior makes counting difficult without tracking, and nobody yet4:01knows the island's population.4:03The photographs show survival across widely separated locations.4:08More cameras and more searching also increase the chance of finding animals.4:13Establishing population growth would require tracking change over time, beyond this4:18growing collection of sightings.4:20Echidnas and Tasmanian potomillans are the largest mammals known to have survived4:24both European colonization and the island's2014 fire.4:29Colonization brought clearing for sheep and cattle, introduced cats that preyed on4:34wildlife, and prevented traditional owners from practicing cultural burning.4:39The2014 bushfire devastated the island.4:42Its damage has been described as ninety-eight percent of vegetation destroyed and4:46eighty percent of the island burned.4:48Those differently worded measures haven't been reconciled, so there's no single4:53reliable percentage to give here.4:55The Tasmanian Aboriginal Center formally launched its restoration project on5:00October20,2026.5:03Work was already underway years earlier, with restoration collaboration publicly5:08described in February and July2022.5:11Rangers remove weeds, conduct cultural burning, and control invasive species5:17while monitoring the wildlife that remains.5:20The project aims to return at least six locally lost species.5:24Then its wallabies, long-nosed potoros, and base straight islands wombats are among5:30the planned returns.5:32Feral cat removal remains a priority before major rehabilitation and species5:37reintroductions.5:39WWF Australia supplied seed funding and trail cameras and continues supporting5:44ranger-led monitoring.5:45Rangers are working through hundreds of thousands of images.5:49Alongside that work, the project creates training and employment opportunities for5:53Palaua people and strengthens connection to country and knowledge shared between5:58generations.5:58Echidnas are called Tramania in Palaua Khani, the language of Tasmania's aboriginal6:04people.6:04Healthy country ranger Touern Brown wants the feral cats gone before major6:09rehabilitation begins.6:11He sees the echidna sightings as a hopeful sign that management is helping.6:16Measuring that effect will require more than additional photographs.6:19The distances between records make several echidnas likely, while their total number6:25remains unknown.6:26Rangers haven't announced a date for a census or tracking results.Read the articleStory timelineHeyDex
