The Perth Zoo is set to release more than 50 endangered dibblers into the wild after the tiny marsupials were almost wiped out by foxes, cats and a loss of habitat.

The carnivorous creatures will be transported to Whiteman Park, in Perth's north, and released in a predator-free 150-hectare parkland area in the hope they will re-establish the local population.

Dibbler populations are difficult to establish because they have a short life span, often due to a voracious sexual appetite.

Department of Parks and Wildlife's Dr Tony Friend says a "live fast, die young" attitude to existence also makes breeding dibblers challenging.

Once breeding season begins, a male dibbler often will not stop mating until it exhausts itself and dies.

Although this phenomenon will not necessarily take place every season, it makes sustaining populations difficult.

The dibbler has been bred at Perth Zoo for nearly 20 years, resulting in the establishment of two new wild populations, including a self-sustaining population on Escape Island near Jurien Bay.

But this is the first time a population will be released in the metro area.

"We have bred dibblers for release into various habitats in the past, but this is the first time they have been returned to metropolitan Perth," said Lisa Mantellato, from Perth Zoo's native species breeding program.

"We hope that through this program we can establish a self-sustaining population of dibblers within the metropolitan parkland."

Weighing as little as 40 grams, the dibbler feeds mostly on ground-dwelling insects and other invertebrates, but also eats small lizards, birds and mammals.

Populations on the brink

Dibblers were thought to be extinct by the early 1900s, until a chance discovery of a pair in 1967 revealed small populations still survived on two small islands off Jurien Bay and in the Fitzgerald River National Park.

The animals are threatened by loss of habitat caused by land clearing, dieback and wildfires.

Foxes and cats also prey on the mouse-like creatures.

Some dibblers will be released carrying tiny radio transmitters weighing just one gram each, so the success of their predator-free release can be monitored.

Researchers from the University of Western Australia will also study the habits of the animals to help inform future recovery plans.

Since 1992, Perth Zoo's Native Species Breeding Program has bred 2,700 threatened West Australian animals for release into natural habitat.