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Behaviour, Group Dynamics, and Health of Free-Ranging Eastern Grey Kangaroos

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Behaviour, group dynamics, and health of free-ranging eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) Jai Mikaela Green-Barber Submitted for the completion of a Doctor of Philosophy (Science) degree at Western Sydney University November 2017 Dedication The following thesis is dedicated to my hero. You instilled in me an appreciation of nature and of knowledge, you showed me the joys of solving puzzles and debating ideas, and you always encouraged me to be daring when the reward was worth the risk. Most importantly you always taught me to laugh along the way, to laugh at myself, and not take life too seriously. These gifts you have given me have led me down this path, and gave me the strength to complete the journey. Your influence will continue to shape the rest of my life. This one’s for you Dad xoxo Acknowledgements I would like to thank Associate Professor Julie Old for the encouragement and support needed to complete this thesis. I really appreciate you putting up with my essay length emails full of questions and all the feedback on the countless draft manuscripts and presentations produced throughout my candidature. To Dr Hayley Stannard, thank you for teaching me to collect blood samples and run blood chemistry analysis, and for the helpful feedback on draft manuscripts. Thank you to Dr Oselyne Ong for teaching me how to run antimicrobial assays, Megan Callander for teaching me how to use various microsatellite analysis software, and Professor John Hunt for providing feedback on draft manuscripts and advice on analysis. To all the volunteers that assisted me in the field your help was greatly appreciated. Thank you to Dr Hayley Stannard, Eden Hermsen, Bradley Evans, Kym Green, Fiona McDougall, Casey Borthwick, Mark Emanuel, Iris Bleach and Tim Finter for their assistance with animal handling, and sample collection. To Rhys Green-Barber and Bradley Evans, thank you for your assistance with tracking collared kangaroos. To Dr Hayley Stannard, Eden Hermsen, Dr Jason Flesch, and Associate Professor Ricky Spencer, your assistance in locating kangaroo road mortalities was extremely helpful. Thank you to Rory Barber and Megan Fabian for providing additional photographs of kangaroos used in this thesis. I would like to thank the technical staff and security staff that helped me with access to the equipment and facilities required for my research. Thank you to Emirates One and Only Wolgan Valley Resort for allowing me to conduct research on their site. This research would not have been possible without the project funding supplied by the School of Science and Health at Western Sydney University. Thank you to Western Sydney University for the Australian Post Graduate Award, Top Up Scholarship, and Completion Scholarship which provided financial support during my candidature. To the friends I have made during my candidature, it has been so wonderful to have the insight and support of others taking a similar path and I want to wish you all the best in your future endeavours. To my scaly, feathered, and furry friends; Legs, Tetris, Blotch, Zeus, Charlie, Elwood, Lucky, Woodstock and Coco, thank you for all the cuddles when the stress got too much. I would like to thank my family for all the support, love and patience that has helped me get to the end of this journey. You all always showed interest in my project and tried to understand what it is about, and you always made sure I knew you were proud of me. I would like to thank my Mum Kym for inspiring me to work hard, to my Dad Rory for always encouraging me to question things, and to my brothers Matthew and Rhys for always believing in me. Thank you to my better half Bradley Evans for holding my hand every step of the way. I couldn’t have done this without you. STATEMENT OF AUTHENTICATION The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material, either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution. … ……….. Jai Green-Barber 30th November 2017 Table of Contents List of tables ................................................................................................................ iv List of figures and illustrations ................................................................................... v Preface ........................................................................................................................ vii Publications ............................................................................................................... viii Conference presentations .......................................................................................... ix Scholarships and awards ............................................................................................. x Executive summary .................................................................................................... xi 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 2 1.1. Marsupials ......................................................................................................... 3 1.1.2. Eastern grey kangaroos .............................................................................. 5 1.2. Population structure ........................................................................................... 8 1.2.1. Levels of social organisation ...................................................................... 8 1.2.2. Group formation ....................................................................................... 11 1.2.3. Group membership ................................................................................... 12 1.2.4. Dispersal ................................................................................................... 14 1.3. Behaviour ........................................................................................................ 15 1.3.1. Activity patterns ........................................................................................ 15 1.3.2. Social interactions .................................................................................... 16 1.4. Management and monitoring ........................................................................... 19 1.4.1. Management issues and strategies ........................................................... 19 1.4.2. Monitoring kangaroo populations ............................................................ 23 1.5. Aims ................................................................................................................ 25 1.6. Thesis outline .................................................................................................. 26 1.7. Chapter references ........................................................................................... 27 2. Is camera trap videography suitable for assessing activity patterns in eastern grey kangaroos? ......................................................................................................... 37 2.1. Chapter outline and authorship ........................................................................ 38 2.2. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 40 2.3. Methods ........................................................................................................... 43 2.4. Results ............................................................................................................. 45 2.5. Discussion ....................................................................................................... 52 2.6. References ....................................................................................................... 60 3. Town roo, country roo: a comparison of behavior in eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) in urban and pristine habitats. ............................................ 65 3.1. Chapter outline and authorship ........................................................................ 66 i 3.2. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 68 3.3. Methods ........................................................................................................... 69 3.4. Results ............................................................................................................. 72 3.4.1. Vegetation ................................................................................................. 72 3.4.2. Time of day and temperature .................................................................... 72 3.4.3. Season ....................................................................................................... 73 3.4.4. Group size and density .............................................................................. 73 3.4.5. Vigilance, feeding, travelling, resting, and self-grooming ....................... 74 3.4.6. Interactions................................................................................................ 74 3.5. Discussion ....................................................................................................... 74 3.6. References ....................................................................................................... 82 4. What influences road mortality rates of eastern grey kangaroos in a semi- rural area? ...............................................................................................................
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