Alice Springs Desert Park

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The Western Quoll (Dasyurus geoffroii) are the largest endemic carnivore in Western Australia. They were once found across two thirds of the Australian continent, but since the arrival of Europeans and due to the threat of predation by feral cats and foxes, their range have now been confined to the south-western corner of Western Australia.

In Western Australia it is also known as the chuditch (from Noongar Australian Aboriginal people from the south-west of Western Australia).

The quolls have a rufous brown fur with numerous white spots on their back and sides. They have a black brush on the tail, that extends from half-way down their tail to the tip. The size of a domestic cat, the Western Quolls males weight approximately just over 1 kg, with the females slightly smaller just under 1 kg.

They are mostly a solitary, terrestrial nocturnal predator, being most active around dusk when hunting. During daylight they are found retired to hollow logs or burrows.

Images © Ausemade PL


  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
  • Class: Mammalia
  • Infraclass: Marsupialia
  • Order: Dasyuromorphia
  • Family: Dasyuridae
  • Genus: Dasyurus
  • Species: D. geoffroii
  • Binomial name: Dasyurus geoffroii

Footnote & References

  1. Western quoll, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_quoll (last visited Apr. 18, 2021).
  2. Western Quoll, Australian Government, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/20-mammals-by-2020/western-quoll

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