Flinders Island: From Sheep Farm to Threatened Wildlife Refuge

In 1979, Peter and Pamela Woolford bought Flinders Island, an island of almost 4,000 hectares off the coast of South Australia, and moved there with their children to run a merino sheep enterprise. Nearly half a century later, the sheep have gone and the land is undergoing a dramatic transformation: an AU$4.8 million project is removing invasive species so that threatened small mammals can once again inhabit the island.

How did a sheep farm become a conservation project?

For decades, the Woolford family operated the property as a sheep station while also developing abalone fishing activities. Livestock farming began to be scaled back in the early 2000s, and plans to ecologically restore the island developed over roughly two decades.

The initiative expanded through a partnership involving the owners, the Australian Government, the South Australian Government and the Eyre Peninsula regional environmental board. The AU$4.8 million investment is therefore not a cost met solely by the family.

• The Woolford family purchased the island in 1979;
• Its original main activity was merino sheep farming;
• Livestock operations began to decline gradually during the 2000s;
• The last farm animals were removed in 2025;
• Much of the property will receive protection for conservation purposes.

Why is a 3,854-hectare island so valuable for threatened animals?

Flinders Island lies about 35 kilometres from the Eyre Peninsula and has around 50 kilometres of coastline. Roughly 75% of its land area retains native vegetation, while its separation by sea provides a natural barrier to the arrival of new predators. This removes the need to build kilometres of specialised fencing around the future wildlife refuge.

What had to disappear before native animals could return?

The main challenge was posed by five introduced animals that had profoundly altered the ecosystem: sheep, feral cattle, feral cats, rats and mice. Between May and the end of 2025, a major operation combined livestock removal, carefully managed bait distribution, field searches, cameras and thermal drones.

The direct eradication work was completed in 2025. The challenge now is to demonstrate that no small groups of cats or rodents survived and resumed breeding.

• Sheep and cattle were removed from the property;
• Rats and mice were targeted in a large-scale aerial control operation;
• Feral cats were tracked down to the final individuals;
• Thermal drones supported searches across the terrain;
• Monitoring will continue before the island is formally declared free of these species.

Which threatened animals could inhabit Flinders Island in the future?

Reintroductions did not begin immediately after the invasive animals were removed. The plan is to formally confirm pest-free status around mid-2027. Only once that verification is complete can the first transfers of native mammals begin.

Species under consideration include animals that have vanished from large parts of their historic range and are particularly susceptible to introduced predators.

• Striped hare-wallaby;
• Nuyts southern brown bandicoot;
• Greater stick-nest rat;
• Dibbler, a small carnivorous marsupial;
• Other species may be selected according to the habitat and safety available.

Nature began responding before the new mammals arrived

The first signs emerged soon after the introduced animals were removed. In 2026, teams involved in the project were already reporting regenerating casuarina seedlings, abundant native orchids and breeding coastal birds in areas that had been exposed to predators for decades. Little penguins were also recorded again at locations around the island.

The transformation of Flinders Island is not yet complete. Threatened mammals can only be released once monitoring confirms that cats, rats and mice have genuinely disappeared. Even so, the change is already unusual: a property bought to produce wool is ceasing to be a sheep farm and becoming almost 4,000 hectares of protected habitat, where species absent for decades may finally have the opportunity to return.