Royal plea for potoroo

An Albany conservation group has been eagerly awaiting a letter, email or phone call from the royal family for the past month, ahead of Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall's visit to the city this week.

Gilbert's Potoroo Action Group chairman Ron Dorn wrote to the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip and the Prince of Wales in October to raise awareness of the plight of the world's rarest marsupial.

The critically endangered species is teetering on the brink of extinction, with only 60 animals estimated to exist. Discovered in 1840 by naturalist John Gilbert, the marsupial was thought to be extinct for more than a century until a small colony was discovered at Mt Gardner in Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve in 1994.

Mr Dorn hopes Prince Philip's involvement in Two Peoples Bay being gazetted as a nature reserve for fauna conservation in 1967 will revive the Royal family's interest in the area and the potoroo's dire status.

Mr Dorn said Prince Philip was an avid bird-watcher and his interest in the re-discovery of the noisy scrub bird at Mt Gardner in 1961 unwittingly saved critical habitat where the last wild potoroo population was found.

The area was under consideration for development at the time of Prince Philip's visit and his interest in the bird, which was also believed to be extinct, lent support to a campaign by local conservation groups. Mr Dorn hopes Prince Charles will follow in his father's footsteps.

"We are desperately hoping Prince Charles might acknowledge the presence of Gilbert's potoroo during his visit," he said.

"We understand time constraints do not allow them to visit Two Peoples Bay, but we implore him to talk about his father's involvement in preserving the noisy scrub bird, which would generate interest in the need for … action for the recovery of Gilbert's potoroo.

"The noisy scrub bird has had quite a successful recovery, and we hope for the same result for the potoroo before it disappears."

Mr Dorn said despite a reply not being received by the time of print, the group was optimistic.