Back from the brink: bettongs return to the desert

Researchers are celebrating the release of the once locally extinct burrowing bettong back into the NSW desert – with the aim of training them to survive alongside feral cats and foxes.

The burrowing bettong once thrived across Australia’s arid interior, but within a century of European settlement it had vanished from much of the mainland.

A small population of the kangaroo-like marsupial has just been released into a vast experimental landscape inside Sturt National Park as part of conservation project ‘Wild Deserts’ – though not in safety. The aim of the project is to help native animals relearn to survive alongside their predators.

read more on the UNSW newsroom: https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2026/06/back-from-the-brink-bettongs-return-to-the-desert

For more videos like this subscribe to our channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/unsw?sub_confirmation=1

We're the official channel of UNSW Sydney, a brilliantly located university between the coast and the city.

UNSW Sydney is one of Australia's leading research and teaching universities. We're a welcoming community, promoting lasting knowledge and creating an academic environment where outstanding students and scholars from around the world can be inspired to excel in their programs of study and research.