Northern quolls on WA's Kimberley coast are being taught to avoid cane toads by an Indigenous-led project recognised nationally for "right-way science".
Dambimangari Rangers Peter Cooper and Cherylyn Ozies travelled from Dambimangari Country, north of Derby, to Adelaide last week to present their work at the Ecological Society of Australia conference, attended by more than 700 delegates.
Alongside Australian Wildlife Conservancy ecologist Larissa Potter, they outlined a project trialling conditioned taste aversion to prepare Wijeengaddee - northern quolls - for the arrival of cane toads on their Country.
The method works by giving quolls a bait that mimics the look and smell of a cane toad but contains a nausea-inducing agent, allowing them to learn to avoid the real animal.
Cane toads pose as a dangerous threat to native wildlife across the Kimberley. The species have already transformed ecosystems across northern Australia and are steadily moving into the west Kimberley, killing predators that attempt to eat them.
Northern quolls, listed as endangered, have suffered some of the steepest declines.
Dambimangari Country, home to Worrorra people, spans more than 800,000 hectares of rugged coastline, islands and escarpments. It remains one of the last refuges for several small mammals that have disappeared from much of northern Australia.
Rangers there work in partnership with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy on fire management, feral animal control and detailed wildlife monitoring.
The quoll project was highly commended in the conference's national prize for "outstanding right-way science", which recognises conservation led by Aboriginal knowledge, guided on Country and supported by Western science.
The award reflects a body of work in which rangers shape field methods, while ecologists contribute technical support.
Mr Cooper and Ms Ozies told the conference the challenge now is scale: applying quoll training across a remote, tide-dependent landscape where helicopter access, weather and cultural sites all shape what is possible.
For Dambimangari leaders, the recognition is a sign that long-term, Aboriginal-led conservation is central to protecting Wijeengaddee as cane toads move west - and that the next stage will rely on sustained funding, partnerships and time on Country to keep them there.
