Student Project Discovers Quenda in Kensington Secondary School
The recent sightings of quenda in Jirdarup Bushland have inspired an upper school student from Kensington Secondary School, with a passion for the environment to investigate whether these native marsupials were also using the school’s bushland area. With support from Mr Grubba a Kensington Secondary teacher, the student began looking for signs of quenda activity, particularly the distinctive conical diggings they create while searching for food.
To confirm their presence, the student deployed a trail camera in areas where fresh diggings had been found. After capturing images of birds, a bobtail, a cat and a rat, the student finally recorded their first quenda on 22 August 2026. A second sighting followed the next day.
The most exciting discovery came on 30 August when the camera captured images of two quenda together (1st video), as well as a small juvenile quenda (2nd video). These observations suggest that multiple quenda are using the area and provide evidence that breeding may be occurring within Jirdarup Bushland.
The student plans to continue monitoring quenda and plans to investigate the habitats that support them. The students hope to present some recommendations to the school on how to enhance and protect quenda habitat within the school grounds.
Our latest update from the School is that the quenda were still around on 17 September 2026. A fox was seen outside the school fence on 11 September 2026.
