The original ecosystem of Mt Noorat deteriorated quickly after European settlers cleared native vegetation in the 19th century. Most native wildlife vanished, as many birds and mammals depended on century-old trees for nesting hollows, which disappeared with land clearing. Unfortunately, little documentation exists on the region’s animals before this disruption, but historical letters and journals reveal some species present at the time.

Quolls, bandicoots, gliders, dingoes, kangaroos, koalas, emus, kookaburras, and owls all once inhabited Mt Noorat. Niel Black described abundant kangaroos and emus in 1840, with Eastern Grey Kangaroos dominating the area and emus and black swans common nearby. Koala populations were limited, partly due to hunting by Indigenous peoples, and declined further as large manna gums were logged from the 1840s onward, leaving the slopes bare by 1887.

Common and ringtail possums also lived on the mount. They were valued by Indigenous people but considered pests by Europeans. Quolls (“native cats”) and eastern barred bandicoots were widespread in the early days but rapidly declined, as did several glider species dependent on tree hollows and forest corridors.