Endangered antechinus, the native Springbrook marsupial with a suicidal sex life, missing since bushfires

Scientists on the hunt for an endangered native marsupial in the Gold Coast hinterland are worried for the future of the species after last year's bushfires. Key points: No black-tailed dusky antechinuses have been trapped during the 2019 or 2020 survey trips At the end of the breeding season all of the males die from exhaustion and cortisol overdose Extra surveys with detection dogs and cameras will expand with funding from the bushfire recovery fund QUT senior lecturer and mammologist Andrew Baker said he would expect up to 20 captures of the endangered black-tailed dusky antechinus during their winter field trips, but so far they have trapped none. He said they found the first recent evidence of the black-tailed dusky antechinus on an escarpment near Binna Burra last year. "All our data suggests that the black-tailed dusky antechinuses have retracted to the highest and wettest areas in the Scenic Rim and now may have nowhere left to run," Dr Baker said. There is hope for the black-tailed dusky antechinus with highly-trained dogs tracking their scent on two recent field trips in Springbrook National Park.