The Perth Zoo is responsible for the world's only dibbler breeding program, with 888 of the tiny, rare mammals released into the wild since the program began in 1997.

The small marsupial, which weighs between 40 to 100 grams, was thought to be extinct for more than 50 years until a chance discovery on Cheyne Beach near Albany on the WA south coast in 1967.

Reaching a length of no more than 15 centimetres, the dibbler is part of the dasyurid family, which includes the Tasmanian Devil.

More than 1,000 dibblers have been bred at the program at Perth Zoo, with 54 joeys born this year.

Some are kept to continue the breeding program, most are released into areas of the state's south-west.

Perth zookeeper Lesley Shaw said they were a feisty and curious mammal and, being native to WA, played a critical role in the ecosystem.

Zookeeper Lesley Shaw has worked with dibblers for eight years and says they are tenacious and curious animals. ( ABC News: Briana Shepherd )

"As we know, you take one species out of the system and it can have quite disastrous effects," she said.

"So you look at dibblers — 70 per cent of their diet is insects, so they help control populations of insects.

"And they're also nectar feeders, so they're possibly dispersing pollen and helping to pollinate plants as well."

Ms Shaw said being so small made them particularly easy prey to feral cats.

"They live in leaf litter so need to be able to hide under that and they're crepuscular — so they're only active during the early hours of the morning and into dusk in the evening — so they're only visible to birds of prey such as owls and other nocturnal raptors," she said.

"And they're very quick, very alert so one would think they should be able to get away from a predator coming down on them."

Self-sustained dibbler population the goal

The dibbler is native to WA, weighing no more than 100 grams and growing no bigger than 15cm. ( ABC News: Briana Shepherd )

The program is ultimately working towards having a self-sustained population of dibblers.

While there has been some success, with cameras in Gunton Island recently showing evidence of young being born in the wild, Ms Shaw said there was still some work ahead.

"I would imagine the population needs to become really well established in order to take them off the endangered list," she said.

"I think we're still quite a few years away from that.

"Habitat is critical to these animals … and there's also the problem of feral cats and foxes that need to be dealt with."