Eastern Barred Bandicoot
Perameles gunnii gunnii
Meet the Eastern Barred Bandicoot
Habitat & Range
Eastern Barred Bandicoots occur naturally in Tasmania, where they use grasslands, grassy woodlands, pasture edges and other areas that provide both feeding opportunities and protective ground cover.
They need areas where they can forage in the soil as well as dense vegetation or other sheltered places where they can build nests and hide during the day.
What's on the Menu?
Eastern Barred Bandicoots are omnivores. They feed on a wide variety of foods including insects, beetle larvae, worms, spiders, fungi and plant material.
Their long, pointed snout and strong front feet help them search through soil and leaf litter for food hidden beneath the surface.
Amazing Adaptations
Eastern Barred Bandicoots have an excellent sense of smell that helps them detect food underground.
Their strong front feet and claws create distinctive cone-shaped diggings as they search for insects and other food. These small excavations also help turn and aerate the soil.
The species gets its name from the pale vertical bars visible across the hindquarters of adult animals.
Did You Know?
Bandicoots have one of the shortest pregnancies of any mammal. Eastern Barred Bandicoots can give birth after a gestation period of only around 12 days.
Like other marsupials, their tiny young continue developing inside their mother's pouch.
Behaviour
Eastern Barred Bandicoots are mainly nocturnal. They usually spend the daylight hours resting in concealed nests made from grass and other vegetation.
After dark they emerge to forage, moving across grassy areas and repeatedly stopping to investigate and dig into the soil.
They are generally solitary animals and can be surprisingly fast when moving through their habitat.
Conservation & Threats
The Tasmanian Eastern Barred Bandicoot is an important part of Tasmania's native mammal community.
Habitat loss and fragmentation can reduce suitable areas for feeding, nesting and movement. Road mortality and predation by cats and dogs can also affect individual bandicoots and local populations.
Protecting healthy grasslands, native vegetation and connected habitat helps provide the shelter and food resources these small marsupials need.
Eastern Barred Bandicoots at Trowunna
Eastern Barred Bandicoots are among the small native mammals supported by Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary's Managed Environmental Enclosures.
These carefully managed areas provide habitat for species including bandicoots, bettongs and potoroos and support Trowunna's work in conservation, wildlife rehabilitation and education.
Bandicoots may be small, but their constant digging helps maintain healthy soils. Protecting them also helps protect the ecological processes that support Tasmania's native landscapes.
How You Can Help
- Keep cats contained and dogs under control around native wildlife.
- Slow down when driving, particularly between dusk and dawn.
- Protect native vegetation and dense ground cover where possible.
- Leave leaf litter, fallen logs and natural ground habitat undisturbed where it is safe to do so.
- Never feed wild bandicoots.
- Support conservation programs protecting Tasmania's small native mammals.
Wildlife Welfare Comes First
Please do not feed, touch or attempt to handle Trowunna's Eastern Barred Bandicoots.
Bandicoots are naturally nocturnal and need quiet areas where they can rest and retreat from visitors during the day. Please respect their space and always follow instructions from Trowunna's wildlife keepers.