Chuditch

The Chuditch is Western Australia's largest carnivorous marsupial. It is nocturnal and it eats small lizards, mammals, birds, ground-dwelling insects and other invertebrates.

Their current distribution is in South-west Australia. They have been spotted regularly in the Jarrah forest but are occasionally sighted in the Wheat belt and South coast areas.

The Chuditchs status is Endangered (likely to become extinct if threats to its survival continue.) Another common name for the Chuditch is the Western Quoll. In the past there have been cases of illegal poisoning and trapping. Fewer than 6000 Chuditch remain in the wild, mostly in the Jarrah forest.

Chuditch populations decreased dramatically after the European settlement. In Eastern Australia they disappeared and in about 1950 they vanished from the central desert. In Perth they were regularly seen up until around the 1930's. When they were fairly popular they lived in more than 70% of Australia's mainland. Clearing of land is one of the main threats of the Chuditch. Another threat is foxes, road traffic, illegal poisoning and trapping.

An average male weighs about 1.3 kg about half the size of a house cat. The average female is smaller, weighing in at about 0.9 kg.

The Chuditch usually has 2-6 young being born in early winter, 17-18 days after mating. Newborn Chuditch are about the size of a grain of rice. The young stay in the pouch for nine weeks after then are left in a den while their mother finds food. By six months of age, the young are weaned and leave their mothers home. The average Chuditchs life span in the wild is 3-4 years.