Trip Report – Numbats, Bilbies & More in Western Australia
Trip report from December 28th, 2025 to January 7th, 2026 in Western Australia, primarily at Dryandra National Park and Mt. Gibson, containing 16 mammal species, 14 of which being lifers!
This is my first trip report on the site, so please let me know if anything is in error or requires adjustment.
Thank you very much and have a great day!
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13 Comments
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Chad Johnson
Thanks very much for this. I’ll be in Perth in July and am still sorting out my itinerary so this has been very helpful. I need to figure out who to beg to let me into Mt Gibson! Numbat will be my #1 target but, if Bilbies are possible, they would be a co-#1. Dryandra and Rottnest Island will be definites for me.
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Dalton Van Leeuwen
How long do you intend on staying? Depending on the timeframe I might be able to provide additional tips.
I happened to be in the right place at the right time regarding Mt. Gibson, although from May to the end of September the unfenced section of the sanctuary is open to campers, with woylie and chuditch being viewable on the outside of the fence, the chuditch in particular is only present on the outside as to allow populations within to resurge following fearsome droughts the past few years. I can’t speak to the presence of the latter, but from what I was told the woylie should be much easier to spot at the Mt. Gibson campground than anywhere in Dryandra, albeit not guaranteed, and very small (rodents and dassyurids) mammals seemed much more present than at Dryandra. If you are keen on reptiles, Thorny Devil is significantly more prominent here than at Dryandra (although I had no luck), and both Perentie and Argus Monitor can be seen here, of the latter I saw a huge and impressive specimen outside of the fenced area. I also made sure to ask while visiting, camp guests are, at least as of time of writing this, permitted to spotlight into the fenced area from the outside, and the road along the fence was where a great many of my sightings occurred. It might not be the most satisfying way to spot one of these animals, but as far as I am concerned it would still constitute a wild sighting and a tick on a list! Be warned not to approach the fence closely, it has powerful electrical currents to deter unwanted feral animals.
Francois Peron may still have bilbies yet; I definitely plan on checking out Shark Bay for Dirk Hartog and Dugongs in the future, and whenever that happens, I will be checking Francois anyway for my own personal interests / hopes of seeing if any have held on.
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Chad Johnson
Thanks for the detailed reply. I haven’t settled on an exact time frame yet but I will most likely be there around July 10th and staying for a week before driving north to Exmouth with a stop at Shark Bay. So, I am keen on every animal you mentioned! I love them all (even birds, though keep that quiet around here…). I will take all the advice I can get. Also, iff you will be around the area at that time, I’d be happy to team up. I will also be in Tasmania the week before.
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Dalton Van Leeuwen
I’ll have to see what my schedule looks like getting closer but it’s a tempting offer! I have been to Tasmania once and would love to go again, if you haven’t set your plans in stone I thought I’d toss out a few things I found on my trip and subsequently;
– Maria Island is guaranteed sightings on Wombats, Pademelons, and Red-neck wallabies, albeit the latter are not difficult to find on the mainland either. If you can stay the night (or get lucky during the day) it’s also probably the best shot at getting tasmanian devil, and chances at potoroo and brown bandicoots
– I haven’t been, but apparently Bruny island is the place to go for quolls anywhere in AUS, and good for echidna as well. For birds I hear it’s not a bad place to see albatross hunting over the ocean
– I went to Mt.Field National Park in June and aside from stunning jungle scenery saw virtually nothing animal wise, I was told that it’s a bad time of year to check there as it gets so cold at night that the animals aren’t moving around much.
– I saw a platypus and 3 barred bandicoots right at Hobart Rivulet Track near the city center, but for the former the go to spot (once again seemingly for all of AUS) for platypus is the Tasmanian Arboretum about an hour from Launceston. I haven’t personally been but it’s widely known in about any circle I’ve gone too for people seeking platypus; if it holds to the past they should be present in high numbers and across all periods of the day and night.
– Waterworks reserve, right out of Hobart, is apparently the go-to spot for Bettong, Hobart-adjacent devils and has decent chance of yielding barred bandicoot, platypus, and potoroo as well. I briefly visited here but only at dusk, it wasn’t properly dark when I left for another spot so I wasn’t at proper time to see any of these.
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Chad Johnson
Hi Dalton. I’m pretty close to finalizing my travel plans. I think I’ll be flying from Melbourne to Tas on June 27th and spending 8 nights there and then flying to Perth and spending 2 weeks there, going up to Exmouth (one way car rentals in Oz are freaking expensive, unfortunately). If you’re interested in either leg, let me know. I have itineraries in mind but nothing definite yet.
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Dalton Van Leeuwen
Thank you for letting me know! I won’t be able to finalize any international plans until May at the earliest, more likely March. I would plan your trip assuming I won’t be able to meet up, but if it lines up, I would be happy to meet up given we are in similar places at similar time frames!
As soon as I know more, I will let you know, either way I wish you the best of luck on your trip and hope that you will be able to provide a trip report as well!
Last point of advice I would make, given comment on car rentals, is that by orders of magnitude the most expensive part of my trip to (after planet ticket ofc) WA was the rental vehicle. You will save a LOT if you don’t need a 4WD, and for certain locations you won’t need a vehicle at all.
I found that while a vehicle was definitely a great asset at Dryandra (and 4wd very handy, albeit not a necessity if you stick to the main loop) as long as you had lodging at the village and at least 3 days to look for animals, I think going it on foot would still lead to a good amount of success! Not sure on what all your stops are exactly, but if you are staying long periods at certain places, it might be worth it to train + uber to lodging and check the area on foot.
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Chad Johnson
Sounds good. Just let me know when you’re ready. My itinerary will be flexible, only the dates I am there will not be. I think my plan is to rent a small caravan, which isn’t much cheaper than a car, and just stay in campgrounds, mostly, to keep costs down. Seems like the campgrounds are prime mammal watching spots anyway!
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Chad Johnson
Thanks again. I haven’t booked anything yet so let me know if you want to join in on either the Taz or Perth legs. I’m going to start booking flights and making reservations in a few weeks. I do plan on spending one day in Tas scuba diving, though. My e-mail is cqjohnson98@gmail.com if you want to contact me directly.
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Samuel Marlin
Very interesting report with many visiting tips. Thanks for sharing Dalton.