“We have been and are at all times legally compliant. Aussie Ark has been licensed by the department and transparent with the project since July 2021. We look forward to this now becoming a public discussion and will issue a statement in coming days, in defence of our critical programs, preventing extinctions,” the statement said. “Aussie Ark reiterates its public private partnership with the NSW government to save wildlife from extinction and repopulate wild spaces.”

Aussie Ark said it has built a breeding facility for the vulnerable rodent, following a crowdfunding campaign in 2021, where it would be managed until the animals were ready for release into the wild.

In a video accompanying the group’s social media post, Aussie Ark president Tim Faulkner said the rodents would help create an insurance population.

“The first intake of founders is only six, but that’s all we could get. We will need more - perhaps 12, 16. From there we can start and breed. We can turn that 10 or 20 into 100 or 200... Australia has lost more species of mammal and marsupial to extinction than any country on earth,” he said. “It is not just a rat: it is a rat that has been here since the age of dinosaurs, it lives in the world heritage listed Barrington Tops.”

“We save the rat, we save that area and everything that is valued within it.”

The group’s website said it’s the state’s largest independently owned and operated conservation organisation. It has the largest mainland breeding program of Tasmanian devils, hosting about 52 per cent of the population and also holds over 90 eastern quolls.

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