The threatened long-nosed potoroo may be making a comeback in south-east Queensland.
One of the shy marsupials has been photographed on a property near Beaudesert, south-west of Brisbane.
Kerry Valley property owners Mark and Tracy Finnegan were using motion-detecting cameras to audit their native animal population last month when they snapped a photograph of a potoroo.
Tracy Finnegan says it was a remarkable find.
"The potoroo just happened to wander randomly past one of the cameras we had set up here on the top of the hill, which is a really remarkable find because we weren't expecting something like that," she said.
The couple's property is located near the Lamington National Park, which is a stronghold for the struggling marsupial.
The long-nosed potoroo is a shy creature that survives on a diet of fungi, roots and bulbs.
It is a nocturnal animal that lives along the east coast of Australia, but its numbers are dwindling along with its preferred habitat.
The Queensland Environment Department lists long-nosed potoroos as vulnerable, due to loss of habitat from land clearing.
Native mammal keeper at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Lauren Clarke says the species in serious decline.
"We're destroying their soils where they get their foods from and we're destroying the ground cover that they need to protect them from predators," she said.
Native and introduced species threaten potoroos
Habitat destruction is not the only challenge the animal faces.
There are native predators, including eagles and dingos, as well as introduced species such as feral cats, wild dogs and foxes.
"We actually caught a fox on the same camera that we caught the potoroo, which is rather ironic," says Ms Finnegan.
To make their property more potoroo-friendly, the couple accessed funding from the Federal Government's Caring For Our Country program.
The money has been spent fencing off marginal cattle grazing areas and reintroducing native vegetation.
Property owners provide a refuge
SEQ Catchments biodiversity manager Liz Gould says the Finnegans have shown property owners can find a balance.
"We've seen some habitat loss in south-east Queensland and it's really reassuring that here on a private property we've got potoroos back in the landscape," she said.
"It says a lot for how people are managing the land and I guess a change in attitudes towards land management that's allowing a combination as we've seen here of a beautiful productive grazing property and also some fantastic biodiversity."
Tracy Finnegan says propagating potoroos has become a passionate pursuit and they have shown you can mix business with native treasures.
"I would like to think that by providing refuge space for wildlife, we can keep that wildlife," she said.
"We have four kids - I'd like these things to still be around when they have kids and we have grandkids."