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National Recovery Plan for the Southern Brown Bandicoot Isoodon Obesulus Obesulus

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National Recovery Plan for the Southern Brown Bandicoot Isoodon Obesulus Obesulus Draft for Comment June 2010 National Recovery Plan for the Southern Brown Bandicoot Isoodon obesulus obesulus Geoff W. Brown and Micaela L. Main Prepared by Geoff W. Brown and Micaela L. Main, Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Heidelberg Victoria. Published by the Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) Melbourne, 2010. © State of Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment 2010 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Authorised by the Victorian Government, 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne. ISBN 1 74152 339 7 This is a Recovery Plan prepared under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, with the assistance of funding provided by the Australian Government. This Recovery Plan has been developed with the involvement and cooperation of a range of stakeholders, but individual stakeholders have not necessarily committed to undertaking specific actions. The attainment of objectives and the provision of funds may be subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved. Proposed actions may be subject to modification over the life of the plan due to changes in knowledge. Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence that may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. An electronic version of this document is available on the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts website www.environment.gov.au For more information contact the DSE Customer Service Centre 136 186 Citation: Brown, G. W. and Main, M. L. 2010. National Recovery Plan for the Southern Brown Bandicoot Isoodon obesulus obesulus. Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria. Cover photograph: Southern Brown Bandicoot, Isoodon obesulus obesulus (M. Johnston) Table of Contents Summary ...........................................................................................................1 Species Information..........................................................................................1 Description ............................................................................................................................. 1 Distribution ............................................................................................................................. 2 Population Information ........................................................................................................... 7 Habitat.................................................................................................................................... 8 Decline and Threats..........................................................................................9 Populations Under Threat.................................................................................................... 14 Recovery Information .....................................................................................15 Existing Conservation Measures ......................................................................................... 15 Recovery Objectives ............................................................................................................ 16 Program Implementation and Evaluation............................................................................. 17 Recovery Objectives and Actions – Detail........................................................................... 17 Management Practices ........................................................................................................ 29 Social and Economic Impacts.............................................................................................. 29 Role and Interests of Indigenous People............................................................................. 30 Affected Interests ................................................................................................................. 30 Biodiversity Benefits............................................................................................................. 30 Priority, Feasibility and Estimated Costs of Recovery Actions..................32 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................35 References ......................................................................................................36 List of Figures Figure 1a Records for the Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus obesulus) in South-eastern Australia, pre- and post-1990 .................................................. 3 Figure 1b New South Wales: records pre- and post-1990. ............................................. 4 Figure 1c Victoria: records pre- and post-1990. .............................................................. 5 Figure 1d South Australia: records pre- and post-1990................................................... 6 Abbreviations Abbreviations ARI Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research (DSE, Victoria) CMA Catchment Management Authority (Victoria) CMB Catchment Management Board (NSW) DECCW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (NSW) DEHSA Department for Environment and Heritage (South Australia) DEWHA Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (Commonwealth) DSE Department of Sustainability and Environment (Victoria) DTEI Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure (South Australia) EPBC Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 FFG Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (Victoria) FNSW Forests New South Wales NRM Natural Resources Management Boards (SA) NSW New South Wales PV Parks Victoria RBG Royal Botanic Gardens SA South Australia SAM South Australian Museum SBBRT Southern Brown Bandicoot Recovery Team TSC Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (NSW) VIC Victoria Summary The Southern Brown Bandicoot (eastern subspecies) Isoodon obesulus obesulus is a medium-sized, terrestrial marsupial that occurs in a patchy distribution along a broad band of south-eastern Australia. This distribution extends from Kangaroo Island in South Australia through southern Victoria and south-eastern NSW to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park just north of Sydney. The species occur in a variety of habitat types, including heath, shrubland, sedgeland and heathy forest and woodland. Extant populations of this species are mostly isolated and relatively small, and their status is of great concern. Major threats include continued habitat loss or modification, inappropriate fire regimes, introduced predators, and isolation of populations. The Southern Brown Bandicoot is listed as Endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. It is also listed as Vulnerable under the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1972 (NPWC Act), Threatened under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (FFG Act) and Endangered under the New South Wales Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act). This National Recovery Plan for the Southern Brown Bandicoot outlines current knowledge about its ecology and the steps necessary to improve its conservation status. Species Information Description The Southern Brown Bandicoot is a medium-sized (0.4–1.85 kg) terrestrial marsupial (Braithwaite 1995; Van Dyck and Strahan 2008). Like other members of the family Peramelidae (bandicoots and bilbies), this species has a long tapering snout with a naked tessellated nose, a compact body and a short tail. The head has small rounded ears that barely extend above the crown and small black eyes. The dorsal surface of the body usually appears grey-brown at a distance but grizzled (with golden-brown flecks) at close range because of banded spiny guard hairs. The underparts and forefeet are creamy white or pale yellow in colour, and the tail brown above and creamy yellow below. The forelegs are short with curved claws on each of the five digits, and the hind limbs much longer. The hind feet have five toes, with the first digit small and clawless, while the second and thirds digits are fused. The Southern Brown Bandicoot is mostly solitary, relatively short-lived (maximum longevity of 3.5–4 years), has a home range of 0.5–10 ha (Heinsohn 1966; Lobert 1990; Moloney 1982; Paull 1993) and can disperse up to 2.5 km. (B. Hope pers. comm. 2009). The Southern Brown Bandicoot is omnivorous, feeding on invertebrates, seeds and hypogeal fungi, with small vertebrates also consumed (Claridge 1988; Claridge et al. 1991; Moloney 1982; NSW NPWS 2001; Paull 1993; Quin 1985). The species exhibits sexual dimorphism, with males having generally longer heads and bodies (mean 330 mm cf. 300 mm) and generally heavier (mean weight 850 g cf. 700 g) (Braithwaite 1995). This dimorphism may become apparent at 12 months of age (Lobert and Lee 1990). Southern Brown Bandicoots have a potentially high reproductive output — the period for gestation is short, less than 15 days, and the lactation period about 60 days (Lobert and Lee 1990; Menkhorst and Seebeck 1995). Both litter size and the number of litters per year (up to three) appear to be related to food abundance (Lobert
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