Dibbler
             They were presumed to be extinct in the wild for 63 years until an individual was captured in 1967 in a trap set for Honey Possums at Cheyne Beach, east of Albany, on the south coast of Western Australia.

Apperance
      Dibblers can be identified by a very distinct white ring around each eye, and by a tapering, hairy tail. Their fur is brownish-grey freckled with white on their upper body, and grey-white fur tinged with yellow below. Being a marsupial, females have a shallow pouch. 

Weight
The Dibbler is a small marsupial weighing around 40-100g.
Length
The length of the head and body is usually 140-145 mm.

Breeding Habits
          The dibbler breeds once a year during Autumn and the female can carry as many as eight young in their pouch. When they are born they are only 2mm long. The males will die off after mating season, they will breed and then die. Yet this is known not to occur in captivity. The young remain dependent on their mother for three to four months, and disperse during September and October each year.  

Eating and Diet habits
         Dibblers have been reported to be semi-arboreal, and love to forage amongst dense leaf litter. They have been found to feed on insects such as moths, spiders, some reptiles, and on berries.

Predators
        On the mainland, feral cats have been known to kill Dibblers, and it is highly likely that foxes do so as well and many other feral animals.

Enviroment
        Dibblers are usually found in dense, long unburnt vegetation with a thick litter layer and sandy soils. Dibblers typically occupy heath and mallee-heath vegetation communities, where they have been located on the south coast of Western Australia. The presence of flowering shrubs seems also to be an important habitat requirement.

Remaining Locations
      Reports have failed to find them outside the Fitzgerald River National Park and on Boullanger and Whitlock Islands. In the Fitzgerald, Dibblers appear to be distributed over much of the 3420 sq km National Park, but at low densities.

Numbers
     The total population of the islands is known to be less than 200 and they are only in small densities in the National Park and they are more safer on the islands isolated from logging and feral animals.

Problems

• They are killed by feral animals like cats and foxes on the mainland.
• land clearing of important vegetation such as Banksia woodlands.
• dieback disease that can alter the vegetation structure of a plant community.
• Fires that reduce thick vegetation reducing hiding area's.
• Dibblers have been taken by cats and dogs.

Solutions

• The prevention of feral predator introduction, land clearing, or fires, is recognised as an important management action of these islands, so the dibbler can survive there.
• implementation of a Research Plan.
• protect island and mainland populations of Dibblers and attempt to locate other populations. 
• breed and manage captive animals and establish a new island population from their progeny . Currently a population of Dibblers has been established on Escape Island near Whitlock Island. Dibblers bred in captivity at Perth Zoo were released onto Escape Island in late 1998, and this population is being monitored over the Dibbler breeding season to see if the translocation has been successful.
• Acquire knowledge needed to write a full Recovery Plan.
• If you think you have seen a Dibbler, contact your local Department of Conservation and Land Management office to report the sighting.                                                                     -Perth Ph (08) 9405 5100 or Albany Ph (08) 9842 4500
• Community members can help by keeping cats inside at night, and keeping dogs on a leash when going for walks in bushland.
• Take care not to start bushfires, follow dieback hygiene procedures, and keep off tracks closed to prevent the spread of dieback.
• Land managers can help by eradicating feral cats and foxes, and protecting remnant vegetation, especially long unburnt vegetation, that can offer good habitat for Dibblers.
• Cleared land can be revegetated to encourage habitat for other species of plants and animals. Join some land care group. 

Solutions to main problems have their own page.