PEOPLE of the Yarra Ranges take note — you are being put on quoll patrol.

Parks Victoria says there are anecdotal reports of the rare spotted-tailed quoll in the Kinglake and Toolangi areas, but no sightings of have been confirmed since the 1980s.

The area is the closest place to Melbourne that is likely to have a population remaining.

“There had been very reliable signs,” ranger Tony Fitzgerald said.

“We were very close to confirming a sighting in the Kinglake National Park in the months prior to the Black Saturday bushfires — but then the fire destroyed all the evidence.”

About the size of a domestic cat but with shorter legs and a pointier face, the spotted-tailed quoll is mainland Australia’s biggest carnivorous marsupial. Its fur is rich red to dark brown, with white spots on its back that continue down the tail.

Mr Fitzgerald is asking anyone in the region to keep their eyes peeled and ears open.

“Quolls have a distinctive call — a bit like a circular saw cutting through timber,” he said.

Information can be directed to Mr Fitzgerald at Parks Victoria on 13 19 63.