KJ Martu Rangers - Wiminyji Ninti (Northern Quoll Knowledge)
In a conservation partnership spanning over a decade, KJ Martu Rangers and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) are working together to protect the endangered wiminyji (northern quoll) in one of its last remaining refuges — Martu Country.
In August 2024, KJ Martu Rangers and DBCA visited two long-term wiminyji monitoring sites in Karlamilyi National Park. These sites were established in 2022 when 36 rangers from three teams collaborated with Martu Elders to install ten sensor cameras. The Elders shared valuable cultural knowledge about the wiminyji, teaching younger generations about the animals' cultural significance, historical range, and behaviours.
The story of the wiminyji is one of dramatic change. Martu Elders recall that during traditional Pujiman days, wiminyji thrived across both rocky and sandy territories, including the sand dunes near Percival Lakes — now 300km from their current habitat. This ecological memory provides an insight into the unmapped historical distribution of wiminyji, and the devastating impact of introduced predators like feral cats and foxes on their population.
“They [the wiminyji] went everywhere not just around yapu (hill)”
The observations of wiminyji roaming across diverse bioregions and distances, rawa julyju (a long time ago) paints a vastly different picture to the currently observed distribution. On Martu Country, wiminyji now survive in steep, rocky areas that shelter them from predators and fires. Even in these refuges, sightings are rare.
Through careful monitoring with cameras, traps, and tracking, KJ Martu Rangers have found evidence of wiminyji in Karlamilyi National Park. A breakthrough came in 2023 when rangers identified five different wiminyji at a single monitoring site. A significant discovery considering that the previous wiminyji monitoring events found just one individual on each occasion.
KJ Martu Rangers expressed how happy it makes everyone to find wiminyji and to know that they are still here. As one ranger recalled from 2016, "The old man burst into tears of happiness when they first caught that wiminyji — he was really happy to see it."
During the 2024 wiminyji trip, rangers serviced the sensor cameras at the successful site and moved cameras from the unsuccessful site to a new location. They also established a third monitoring site, selecting locations based on their cultural ecological knowledge of the wiminyji's habitat, behaviour, and culturally significant areas. The rangers shared their understanding of the wiminyji's varied diet, which includes jinyjiwirrily (Solanum centrale), insects, cockroaches, munyjanpa (Ficus platypoda), wiyartajartu (likely Solanum sp.), and other wamawarta (sweet things).
“When they see that animal [wiminyji] they hug it and cry to it, long time good to see you, like that, they been missing that animal for a couple years… like when you go back to your families, yampula (and hug them)”
KJ Martu Rangers will continue their partnership with DBCA to monitor wiminyji and manage threats to the species, including predation by feral cats and foxes, and the impacts of wrong-way fire. This work has been supported by the State Government's Aboriginal Rangers Program funding.
One Elder, Heather Samson, remembers her father telling her that “this is the one you got to take care of when I’m gone, this is the very important one.” She spoke of how the “old people would tell us because they (wiminyji) were special, when they see that one again, they all cry (with happy feelings)”.
