Eastern quolls face unusual exposure because they scavenge dead and dying birds, making a bird flu outbreak inside a sanctuary a direct extinction risk for the small mainland populations.
The report argues physical barriers alone are insufficient, warning that concentrating endangered animals in a few fenced sanctuaries creates a single-point failure if the virus breaches one site.
A national inter-sanctuary framework is proposed to spread quolls across more sites, share data and quarantine protocols, and speed wildlife transfers across state borders.
Longer term, the piece says coordinated fox and cat suppression outside fences is essential so conservation can expand beyond isolated strongholds and reduce species-wide collapse risk.