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| Subspecies: | Unknown |
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| Est. World Population: | 20000-50000 |
| CITES Status: | NOT LISTED |
| IUCN Status: | Near Threatened |
| U.S. ESA Status: | NOT LISTED |
| Body Length: | |
| Tail Length: | |
| Shoulder Height: | |
| Weight: | |
| Top Speed: | |
| Jumping Ability: | (Horizontal) |
| Life Span: | in the Wild |
| Life Span: | in Captivity |
| Sexual Maturity: | (Females) |
| Sexual Maturity: | (Males) |
| Litter Size: | |
| Gestation Period: | |
Mainland animals apparently inhabited open forest with a grassy understorey (Seebeck 1995). In Tasmania, the species occurs in eucalypt and casuarina forests and woodlands with grassy or heath ground cover. During the daytime the animals take refuge in nests built under a fallen limb or among short bushes or tussocks, and sited in a shallow depression dug by the animal. The nests are spherical structures with a side entrance. They are well camouflaged and constructed using nesting material collected by the animal, and transported in bundles held in the prehensile tail. The outer wall of the nest is built with coarse grass and twigs, and the resting chamber is given an inner lining of softer grasses or fibres stripped from the bark of stringybark trees. The diet is mainly hypogeal fungi but also includes seeds, tubers and bulbs (Johnson 1994). Home range is 65-135 ha and an individual can travel up to 1.5 km between its nest and feeding areas (Rose and Rose 1998; Rose and Johnson 2008).
The eastern bettong provides important ecosystem services. Like other bettongs, and potoroos, it digs for its food, creating many small foraging pits (Fleming et al 2014). These create microtopographic variation that promotes regeneration of some plants, and digging contributes to loosening and turnover of soil, which improves soil condition and water infiltration and promotes the breakdown of organic matter. Most of the fungi eaten by the Eastern Bettong are mycorrhiza-forming species. As a result of feeding on their fruiting bodies, the Eastern Bettong disperses the spores of these fungi in its faeces. This is probably a crucial factor in the maintenance of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis in the dry forests inhabited by the Eastern Bettong. This in turn helps maintain the productivity and diversity of plant communities (Johnson 1996).
The Eastern Bettong breeds throughout the year. Individuals reach sexual maturity within their first year, and females can produce up to three young per year.
- maintain surveillance for Red Foxes in Tasmania, and implant rapid response to known or suspected incursions
- establish suitable fire regimes to maintain ecological health of dry forest and woodland habitats in Tasmania
- consider translocation to previously-inhabited islands and further sites on mainland Australia
- monitor at selected sites, and specifically investigate activity and current and potential impacts of feral cats