average of 2-3 young per litter, a gestation period of 12 days, and sexual maturity reached a 3 months (females) and 5 months (males). Once having a fairly large distribution on the south-eastern part of mainland Australia, the distribution and abundance of this species has declined significantly since European settlement, primarily due to the invasive predatory fox (Vulpes vulpes). The total number of individuals of this species is now considered to be less than 200 on mainland Australia. Wild populations of the eastern-barred bandicoot still exist, and are stronger, in Tasmania, but distributions are limited to the north and southeast of the state. However, it is thought that those factors threatening populations of the eastern barred bandicoot on mainland Australia also pose significant threats to Tasmanian populations. Consequently, eastern barred bandicoot populations in Tasmania are too believed to be declining, with the species now listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Birds In 2012, eBird recorded 100 bird species. Other reports list that only 70 species are present, but this is a false underestimate. It is one of the last few places where the endangered Forty-spotted pardalote is still found. This species can be found in white gum, in the car park and the trees around the ponds, though Juvenile Spotted pardalote have been mistaken. Other bird species which have been recorded there are the Australian wood duck, pacific black duck, chestnut teal, hoary-headed grebe, brown quail, common bronzewing, cuckoos, tawny frogmouth, Tasmanian native hen, Eurasian coot, Australasian swamphen, masked lapwing, swamp barrier, laughing kookaburra, yellow-failed black-cockatoo, green rosella, superb fairywren, eastern spinebill, little wattlebird, yellow wattlebird, honeyeaters, pardalotes, striated fieldwren, brown thornbill, black-faced cuckoo shrike, grey shrike thrush, golden whistler, dusky wood swallow, grey butcherbird, Australian magpie, grey currawong, grey fantail, satin flycatcher, forest raven, scarlet robin, dusky robin, welcome swallow and European goldfinch. Invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians As is the case with birds of the Peter Murrell Conservation Area, recent comprehensive information on invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians is lacking. Extensive reports and observation in the late 1990s found there to be six reptile, three amphibian and 151 invertebrate species extant in the area. The chaostola skipper (Antipodia chaostola), a species of butterfly, is listed as endangered under Tasmanian state legislation. While found in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, the Tasmanian populations of this species are considered to be a separate subspecies, Antipodia