Dubbo Community Men's Shed builds boxes for quoll breeding program

Men's shed members Philip Green and Robert Ferguson have been working on the project three days a week for 15 months.

"We made the 42 original boxes, had a few months break in between and then [the zoo] wanted more because the breeding programme was working so well," Dubbo Community Men's Shed Secretary John Gibson said.

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The two non-profit organisations have a friendly agreement - when animals at the zoo require certain furniture, the men's shed is prepared to provide.

"All they do is send an email with a description of what they need and supply the material. We don't charge to put them together. If we have to buy anything they cover the cost," Mr Gibson, who's made breeding tubes for red-tailed black cockatoos, said.

"We've been doing things for the zoo for about eight or 10 years now."

The quoll is a native predator vital to ecosystems and was found all over the mainland. However, their numbers have largely reduced which led Taronga Zoo to start increasing their populations.

The breeding boxes go wherever the quolls go. So far, boxes made by the Dubbo Community Men's Shed have travelled all the way to South Australia and Western Australia for quoll breeding programs.

Mr Green and Mr Ferguson built the quoll breeding boxes using durable formply since the zoo would keep them outdoors where they would be exposed to the elements. The duo have built so many that they have perfected the template and now its "pretty easy", according to Mr Green.

On Wednesday, a Western Plains Zoo bus will take men's shed members to visit the quolls and admire their handiwork in action. As the quolls are in isolated habitats, cameras will be used to observe them. Men's shed members enjoy zoo visits and are looking forward to the social outing.

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