research to improve breeding and reintroduction success and increasing community awareness and support for this rare marsupial. A management plan, developed in 1987 and revised in 1989, recommended the first reintroduction of the eastern barred bandicoot in Victoria at Woodlands Historic Park, northwest of Melbourne. Animals were translocated from the last remaining free-ranging mainland population in Hamilton, western Victoria to captive breeding facilities at Woodlands to establish a population in 1988. The captive-bred offspring formed the basis for reintroductions into the Nature Reserve, known as the Back Paddock, a 400-ha section of the park with a predator-resistant fence to keep out feral predators. Populations at four sites are now extinct (Floating Islands Nature Reserve, Lanark, Cobra Killuc Wildlife Reserve and Lake Goldsmith Nature Reserve), functionally extinct at Woodlands Historic park, declining at Mooramong and increasing at Hamilton Community Parklands and Mount Rothwell. The last remaining wild population, which was once found along the Grange Burn (a creek) in Hamilton, has also been declared extinct. The estimated population size for the Victorian eastern barred bandicoot in 2008 was 150 individuals. Eastern barred bandicoots have been successfully released on Phillip Island, French Island and Churchill Island in Victoria's Westernport. On 15 September 2021, Victoria's Environment Minister Lily D'Ambrosio announced that the conservation status of the Victorian species has changed from "extinct in the wild" to "endangered", as its population had jumped from 150 to 1,500 over the course of thirteen years. This was the first time in Australia's history that such a change in conservation status had been made. The Tasmanian subspecies (P. g. gunni) is vulnerable to extinction. This species is more widespread than its mainland cousin because Tasmania provides large areas of suitable habitat and because the island lacks the bandicoot's main predator, the red fox. Recovery efforts In the state of Victoria, a recovery team oversees actions aimed at conserving the Victorian subspecies. Representatives of government agencies, NGOs and private conservation groups collaborate to develop and implement actions to improve the species' outlook. Groups include Conservation Volunteers, Zoos Victoria, Parks Victoria, Mount Rothwell Biodiversity Interpretation Centre, University of Melbourne, Conservation Enterprises Unlimited, and the National Trust of Australia (Victoria). An effective recovery tactic currently in use is the exclusion of invasive predators from populations of threatened eastern barred bandicoots through the extensive use of conservation fences. Non-native predator species that are fenced out from endangered populations include feral cats