Thousands of feral cats have been culled at a national park in far south-west Queensland to try and save the state's largest known wild bilby population.
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service has run a concerted control effort in the past three months on Astrebla Downs near Bedourie, because of concern about cats eating bilbies.
The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection says feral cats started eating bilbies after a big drop in the number of native rats due to drought.
Department spokesman Wolf Sievers says the cull has dramatically reduced the feral cat population.
"I think the numbers are about 2,800 cats and in the period last year there would have been a further 3,000 shot there and some at Currawinya," he said.
"The importance of Astrebla is just that, that it is the core of the last or the only known wild population we have in Queensland.
"We lose it, we lose the bilby potentially altogether.
"I am confident there are enough bilbies there now for a population to be re-established given all things are equal."