The Shark Bay Bandicoot is the smallest bandicoot and the only one where females are larger than males, although this may be the case only on Bernier and Dorre Islands and be the result of island dwarfism (Short et al. 1998).

On Bernier and Dorre Islands, Shark Bay Bandicoots are particularly common in scrub associated with vegetated dunes behind beaches, but they occur in all vegetation types (Friend 2008, Short et al. 1998). They shelter during daytime in well-concealed nests made from plant material and constructed in a hemispherical hollow scrape beneath a low or prostrate shrub. Near the coast, nests may be made from accumulated dead seagrass (Friend 2008).

As with other bandicoot species, the adult sex ratio of trapped animals is male biased even though pouch young are close to 1:1. This may be due to adult males having a larger home range and being more mobile than females. One to three pouch young are carried between March and November, suggesting that breeding does not occur in summer. Females can reach sexual maturity in 3-5 months of age at a body weight of 175 g, or 74% of average adult weight. Sexual maturity in males occurs a little later, at 4-6 months or 195 g, being 93% of average adult weight. The subpopulation size after a drought on Dorre Island broke doubled in 1.07 years (Short et al. 1998). Winter breeding in this species makes it dependent on adequate late summer and/or winter rainfall. However, the data from Faure Island suggest higher reproductive rate in spring, possibly due to greater resource availability and recent rainfall in the winter months (S. Legge pers. comm. 2014).

Mean longevity in a reintroduced subpopulation at Heirisson Prong in Shark Bay (now no longer present) was eight months for males and ten months for females, although one animal lived to at least 4.25 years; however, this subpopulation was subjected to low levels of predation by feral Cats (Richards and Short 2003). On Faure Island, median lifespan is about 3 years (S. Legge pers. comm. 2014). In captivity longevity has been as high as 8 years (Richards 2011). Adult longevity in the wild is unknown, but is assumed to be about 2 to 3 years, similar to that reported for the Eastern Barred Bandicoot P. gunnii (Seebeck and Menkhorst 2008). As sexual maturity is reached by five months, the generation time is here assumed to be 1 to 1.5 years.

A Bandicoot Papilloma Carcinoma Virus (BCPV1) was detected in Shark Bay Bandicoots from Bernier Island, which was shown to be caused by a previously-unknown virus (Woolford et al. 2007) that can cause death. A workshop held in 2002 (Friend 2002) resulted in management and research recommendations aimed at minimising the spread of the virus from Bernier Island and ensuring that translocated animals were free of the disease. The presence of this disease has meant that only Dorre Island bandicoots were available for translocations until appropriate disease screening of Bernier Island animals was undertaken.

The Shark Bay Bandicoot formerly occurred from Shark Bay and adjacent islands to the western Pilbara region (but in the same bioregion) near Onslow, Western Australia (Richards 2012, Travouillon and Phillips 2018). The species became extinct on the mainland and on Dirk Hartog (Baynes 1990) and Faure Islands (Baynes 2008), becoming restricted to Bernier and Dorre Islands, Shark Bay. It was successfully reintroduced to Faure Island, Shark Bay, in 2005, and Dirk Hartog Island in 2019–2020.

Introduced subpopulations are at the Arid Recovery Project mainland island, Roxby Downs, South Australia (2000) (Moseby et al. 2011) and the Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary mainland island (Western Australia) in 2017–2018. Introductions have also occurred to Sturt National Park (2021), Secret Rocks Mallee Refuge (2021) and Pilliga State Conservation Area (2023), but it is too early to consider the successful establishment of these subpopulations. Note: ‘mainland islands’ are sites at which fencing excludes two introduced predators, the feral Cat (Felis catus) and Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes).

This species is listed as a threatened species under Australian law.

It was translocated to the fenced Heirisson Prong mainland island in 1995 (where it did not persist beyond 2008), to Faure Island, Shark Bay, in 2005, to the Arid Recovery Project mainland island, Roxby Downs, South Australia in 2000 (Moseby et al. 2011), and to Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Australia in 2018-19; the last three being successful. More recent translocations have occurred to Dirk Hartog Island (reintroduction), Shark Bay 2019-20, Pilliga State Conservation Area (2023), Sturt National Park (2021) and Secret Rocks Mallee Refuge in South Australia (2021) (benign introductions).

Bernier and Dorre Islands are a Class A Nature Reserve vested in the Conservation Commission of Western Australia and managed by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA). Faure Island and Mt Gibson are pastoral leases owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy as wildlife sanctuaries. The Arid Recovery site at Roxby Downs is managed by a joint conservation initiative between BHP Billiton, the local community, the South Australian Department for Environment and Water and The University of Adelaide, supported by Friends of Arid Recovery. Dirk Hartog Island National Park is managed by DBCA. Pilliga State Conservation Area and Sturt National Park are managed by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, and the translocations carried out in partnership with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and Wild Deserts, respectively. Secret Rocks Mallee Refuge is owned by Ecological Horizons Pty Ltd. Conservation of Shark Bay Bandicoots is informed by the Shark Bay Mammals Recovery Team.

Conservation Objectives:
1. Maintain island and mainland island subpopulations
2. Further benign translocations to protected sites