Woylies in Western Australia: Where can I see brush-tailed bettongs?
The increasingly rare habitat of woylies in Western Australia is limited to a few select locations. Also known as brush-tailed bettongs, these cute marsupials are best found on a tour in the south-west of WA.
The woylie isn’t top of the list of well-known Australian creatures. Visitors to Australia might be more excited to see kangaroos on the Great Ocean Road, get close to wild koalas or swim with dolphins. But there are plenty more marsupials to spot, if you put the effort in.
Woylies, sometimes known as brush-tailed bettongs, are one of these. They look somewhere between a squirrel and a wallaby. Their natural habitat once spread across much of Australia, but introduced mammals and habitat destruction have hit the woylies hard.
These critically endangered little fellas live in only a tiny handful of sites across Western Australia and South Australia.
To book a tour to see woylies at night from Busselton, head this way.
Where to see brush-tailed bettongs
The Dryandra Woodland, south of Perth, is the spot with the healthiest brush-tailed bettong population. But finding them is hard work, especially given that woylies are nocturnal.
Therefore, if you want to hang out with brush-tailed bettongs, it pays to take a specialist tour. South-West Eco Discoveries operate trips to a private, bushland-swathed property in the cave-riddled Margaret River region of south-west WA. Margaret River is a three hour drive south of Perth.
The Meet The Woylies tour heads out in the evening to what has become a secret conservation reserve. Benches are set up and a little food is laid out to see who comes to take it.
✅ Find the best tours and experiences in Western Australia right here. ✅
Quendas and woylies in Western Australia
It’s common for other creatures to make an appearance before the woylies. These include quendas – odd-looking marsupials with long aardvark-ish noses and podgy bodies. They also go by the name of southern brown bandicoots.
When the woylies arrive they are exceptionally skittish, despite there being no cats or foxes around to kill them. They just can’t seem to sit still, and are always on the move whether they’re eating or picking fights with each other.
Kangaroos later join the party, and the three species seem remarkably at ease with each other.
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Western Australian wildife tour
The $85 tour basically consists of sitting down for a couple of hours, partaking in tea and biscuits. You’re just watching cute animals while you do it. It’s not dramatic, it’s not earth-shattering, it’s not an absolute Australian must do. But there’s an incredible degree of charm, and of taking something slowly and peacefully rather than rushing through for a photo op then heading on to something else.
The Meet the Woylies pick-ups are available in the Western Australian towns of Dunsborough, Cowaramup and Busselton – which is also home to unusual undersea helmet walks. Woylies can also be seen on a twilight tour of the Karakamia Sanctuary in the Perth Hills town of Chidlow.
5 Busselton experiences worth booking in advance
- See ultra-cute, rare marsupials on an after-dark visit to a private wildlife sanctuary.
- Taste wines, beers, ciders and gins on a tour of the Margaret River region.
- See whales up close on a whale-watching cruise.
- Tackle ziplines and a ropes course in an adventure through the forest.
- Discover hidden spots on a coast and wildlife tour.
Top Busselton accommodation choices
The best places to stay in Busselton are:
- For resort villas surrounded by parkland: Bayview Geographe Resort.
- For a solid quality, relatively cheap motel: Busselton Ithaca Motel.
- For more a more luxurious stay with a large pool: Sebel Busselton.
- For family-friendly facilities: Big4 Breeze Holiday Park.
Tick off 9 Australian bucket list experiences
- Take Blue Mountains day tour from Sydney – with kangaroo-feeding at a wildlife park, Scenic World tickets and a Parramatta River cruise.
- Snorkel or dive on the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns.
- Do Australia’s most spectacular drive on a Great Ocean Road day tour from Melbourne.
- Drive along the beach on a 4WD day tour of Fraser Island, the world’s biggest sand island.
- Have a dune-top barbecue dinner and stargazing session in the shadow of Uluru.
- See penguins on Phillip Island – and more native wildlife at the Moonlit Sanctuary – on a day trip from Melbourne.
- Go snorkelling, sandboarding and kayaking on Moreton Island from Brisbane.
- Meet gloriously cute quokkas on Rottnest Island near Perth with a ferry and bike hire package.
- Kayak with dolphins in Byron Bay.
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