Threatened Species Investments and Future Opportunities
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Felixer™ Grooming Trap Non-Target Safety Trial: Numbats July 2020
Felixer™ Grooming Trap Non-Target Safety Trial: Numbats July 2020 Brian Chambers, Judy Dunlop, Adrian Wayne Summary Felixer™ cat grooming traps are a novel and potential useful means for controlling feral cats that have proven difficult, or very expensive to control by other methods such as baiting, shooting and trapping. The South West Catchments Council (SWCC) and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) plan to undertake a meso-scale trial of Felixer™ traps in the southern jarrah forest where numbats (Myrmecobius fasciatus) are present. Felixer™ traps have not previously been deployed in areas with numbat populations. We tested the ability of Felixer™ traps to identify numbats as a non-target species by setting the traps in camera only mode in pens with four numbats at Perth Zoo. The Felixer™ traps were triggered 793 times by numbats with all detections classified as non-targets. We conclude that the Felixer™ trap presents no risk to numbats as a non-target species. Acknowledgements We are grateful Peter Mawson, Cathy Lambert, Karen Cavanough, Jessica Morrison and Aimee Moore of Perth Zoo for facilitating access to the numbats for the trial. The trial was approved by the Perth Zoo Animal Ethics Committee (Project No. 2020-4). The Felixer™ traps used in this project were provided by Fortescue Metals Group Pty Ltd and Roy Hill Mining Pty Ltd. This trial was supported by the South West Catchments Council with funding through the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program. ii Felixer™ - Numbat Safety Trial -
Diet of Feral Cats, Felis Catus, on Dirk Hartog Island
Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 98: 37–43, 2015 Diet of feral cats, Felis catus, on Dirk Hartog Island M DELLER 1, H R MILLS 1*, N HAMILTON 2 & D ALGAR 2 1 School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia. 2 Department of Parks and Wildlife, Science and Conservation Division, P.O. Box 51, Wanneroo, WA, 6946, Australia. * Corresponding author [email protected] ABSTRACT Ten mammal species of conservation priority have been lost from Dirk Hartog Island, off the coast of Western Australia, most likely due to predation by the feral cat. We examined the diet of fourteen feral cats from Dirk Hartog Island to understand the potential impact of cat predation on remaining extant species. We examined the contents of the stomach and large intestine, and used stable isotope analysis of faeces, liver and muscle. The vertebrate species identified in the digestive tracts included at least six bird species, including two terrestrial birds and four shorebirds, seven reptile species, and one mammal (introduced Mus musculus). Analysis of δ13C and δ15N determined that the diet of feral cats was primarily terrestrially derived, although samples from the northern area of Dirk Hartog Island showed a skew towards marine derived food sources. The research findings showed that on this island, in the absence of rabbits, cats preyed mainly on terrestrial birds and reptiles. KEYWORDS: Feral cat, diet, Dirk Hartog Island, stomach content and faecal analysis, stable isotopes INTRODUCTION is present on Dirk Hartog Island and, depending upon abundance, could contribute significantly to the feral Feral cats (Felis catus) are found on most major island cats’ diet. -
Bettongia Penicillata Ogilbyi (Woylie)
Advice to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (the Committee) on Amendment to the list of Threatened Subspecies under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) 1. Scientific name (common name) Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi (Woylie) 2. Reason for Conservation Assessment by the Committee This advice follows assessment of information gathered through the Commonwealth’s Species Information Partnership with Western Australia, which is aimed at systematically reviewing species that are inconsistently listed under the EPBC Act and the Western Australian Wildlife Conservation Act 1950. The Woylie was listed as endangered under the former Endangered Species Protection Act 1992, but was not transferred to the EPBC Act threatened species list in 1999, reflecting an increase in Woylie distribution and abundance up to about year 2000. This assessment is in response to reported decline since that time. The Committee provides the following assessment of the appropriateness of the Woylie’s inclusion in the endangered category in the EPBC Act list of threatened species. 3. Summary of Conclusion The Committee judges that the subspecies has been demonstrated to have met sufficient elements of Criterion 1 to make it eligible for listing as endangered and of Criterion 2 as vulnerable. The highest level of listing recommended is endangered. 4. Taxonomy The Woylie is conventionally accepted as Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi . Family: Potoroidae. Other common names include: Brush-tailed bettong, Brush-tailed Rat-kangaroo. Indigenous names include: Woylyer and Karpitchi. 5. Description The Woylie is a small potoroid marsupial weighing 1-1.5 kg. It has a distinctive black brush at the end of its tail. -
Have You Booked Your Table Yet?
Numbat News Issue 32 / February 2018 Welcome to Project Numbat’s first Newsletter of 2018! We hope you have had a great start of the year so far and wish you and your loved ones all the best. This year will be very exciting for Project Numbat, as our fundraising efforts for the Williams Community Numbat are nearing their goal and the large Numbat sculpture is about to become a reality. You can help us reach this unique milestone by joining us for our Quiz Night. You will find all the details below. Further on in this Newsletter we have a fine selection of research projects that all focus on the Numbat. It is truly amazing to see so many people involved in Numbat research on an academic level and it makes us hopeful for the Numbat’s future. After all, Baba Dioum was very right when he said: ‘In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand and we will understand only what we are taught.’ Have you Project Numbat Quiz Night booked your 17 March at Melville Bowling Club table yet? With less than a month to go before our next Quiz Night, now is the time to book your table. Gather a group of friends and family and book now! All funds raised on the night will go toward the Williams Community Numbat: a large Numbat sculpture that will feature in the new Lions Playground in Williams. We have been fundraising big time and now have only $4,000 to go! We need to raise the funds now, as construction of the playground will commence in the next few weeks. -
Northern Quoll ©
Species Fact Sheet: Northern quoll © V i e w f i n d e r Nothern quoll Dasyurus hallucatus The northern quoll is a medium-sized carnivorous marsupial that lives in the savannas of northern Australia. It is found from south-eastern Queensland all the way to the northern parts of the Western Australian coast. Populations have declined across much of this range, particularly as a result of the spread of the cane toad. Recent translocations to islands in northern Australia free from feral animals have had some success in increasing populations on islands Conservation status The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Redlist of Threatened Species: Lower risk – near threatened Australian Government - Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 : Endangered Did you know? Western Australia. They have been associated with the de - mise of a number of native species. • Although they are marsupials, female northern quolls do not have a pouch. At the start of the Conservation action breeding season the area around the nipples becomes enlarged and partially surrounded by a Communities, scientists and governments are working flap of skin. The young (usually six in a litter) live together to coordinate the research and management here for the first eight to 10 weeks of their lives. effort. The Threatened Species Network, a community- • Almost all male northern quolls die at about one based program of the Australian Government and WWF- year old, not long after mating. Australia, recently provided funding for Traditional Owners to survey Maria Island in the Northern Territory for northern Distribution and habitat quolls. On Groote Eylandt, the most significant island for northern quolls, a TSN Community Grant is providing funds Northern quolls live in a range of habitats but prefer rocky to help quarantine the island from hitch-hiking cane toads areas and eucalypt forests. -
The Hunter and Biodiversity in Tasmania
The Hunter and Biodiversity in Tasmania The Hunter takes place on Tasmania’s Central Plateau, where “One hundred and sixty-five million years ago potent forces had exploded, clashed, pushed the plateau hundreds of metres into the sky.” [a, 14] The story is about the hunt for the last Tasmanian tiger, described in the novel as: “that monster whose fabulous jaw gapes 120 degrees, the carnivorous marsupial which had so confused the early explorers — a ‘striped wolf’, ‘marsupial wolf.’” [a, 16] Fig 1. Paperbark woodlands and button grass plains near Derwent Bridge, Central Tasmania. Source: J. Stadler, 2010. Biodiversity “Biodiversity”, or biological diversity, refers to variety in all forms of life—all plants and animals, their genes, and the ecosystems they live in. [b] It is important because all living things are connected with each other. For example, humans depend on living things in the environment for clean air to breathe, food to eat, and clean water to drink. Biodiversity is one of the underlying themes in The Hunter, a Tasmanian film directed by David Nettheim in 2011 and based on Julia Leigh’s 1999 novel about the hunt for the last Tasmanian Tiger. The film and the novel showcase problems that arise from loss of species, loss of habitat, and contested ideas about land use. The story is set in the Central Plateau Conservation Area and much of the film is shot just south of that area near Derwent Bridge and in the Florentine Valley. In Tasmania, land clearing is widely considered to be the biggest threat to biodiversity [c, d]. -
The Epidemiology of Piroplasm Infection in the Woylie (Bettongia
The epidemiology of Piroplasm Infection in the Woylie (Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi). Photo: Stefania Basile Stefania Basile (30648234) Independent Study Contract Murdoch University 2010 Supervisors: Irwin Peter & Pacioni Carlo i Abstract The woylie (Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi) is an endangered endemic species of the south-west of Western Australia that has experienced a 70-80% decline in the last five years. Among the potential agents for this event, infectious diseases are strongly suspected. The aim of this study was to define the epidemiology of the haemoparasite, Theileria penicillata, in four localities: Karakamia, Keninup, Balban and Warrup. Light microscopy examination (LME) of 274 woylie blood smears was used in the study to establish T. penicillata parasitaemias (via count) and to detect any erythrocyte and leukocyte morphological changes. The protozoa prevalence and average parasitaemias (AP) were considered in relation to gender, location, and body condition; while AP was assessed in relation to haemoglobin (Hb) concentrations, haematocrit (HCT) and red blood cell (RBC) counts to evaluate possible clinical outcomes of the infectious agent. The study highlighted previously unreported morphological findings of the erythrocytic cycle of T. penicillata in the woylie. Parasite infection did not account for any morphological alterations of the RBC and leukocytes. Piroplasm prevalence did not significantly vary between males and females, but was strongly associated with the locality of sampling. Higher and similar AP was detected in Balban and Keninup, while Warrup presented the lowest AP. AP was also strongly associated with Hb only rather than Hb, HCT and RBC count altogether. The reason why this occurred is uncertain and requires further investigation. -
Translocations and Fauna Reconstruction Sites: Western Shield Review—February 2003
108 Conservation Science W. Aust. 5 (2) : 108–121P.R. Mawson (2004) Translocations and fauna reconstruction sites: Western Shield review—February 2003 PETER R. MAWSON1 1Senior Zoologist, Wildlife Branch , Department of Conservation and Land Management, Locked Bag 104 Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6983. [email protected] SUMMARY address this problem, but will result in slower progress towards future milestones for some species. The captive-breeding of western barred bandicoots Objectives has also been hampered by disease issues, but this problem is dealt with in more detail elsewhere in this edition (see The objectives of Western Shield with regard to fauna Morris et al. this issue). translocations were to re-introduce a range of native fauna There is a clear need to better define criteria that will species to a number of sites located primarily in the south- be used to determine the success or failure of translocation west of Western Australia. At some sites whole suites of programs, and for those same criteria to be included in fauna needed to be re-introduced, while at others only Recovery Plans and Interim Recovery Plans. one or a few species were targeted for re-introduction. A small number of the species that are currently the Integration of Western Shield activities with recovery subject of captive-breeding programs and or translocations actions and co-operative arrangements with community do not have Recovery Plans or Interim Recovery Plans, groups, wildlife carers, wildlife sanctuaries, Perth Zoo and contrary to CALM Policy Statement No. 50. In other educational outcomes were other key objectives. cases the priorities by which plans are written does not Achievements reflect the IUCN rank assigned those species by the Western Australian Threatened Species Scientific The fauna translocation objectives defined in the founding Committee. -
Factsheet: a Threatened Mammal Index for Australia
Science for Saving Species Research findings factsheet Project 3.1 Factsheet: A Threatened Mammal Index for Australia Research in brief How can the index be used? This project is developing a For the first time in Australia, an for threatened plants are currently Threatened Species Index (TSX) for index has been developed that being assembled. Australia which can assist policy- can provide reliable and rigorous These indices will allow Australian makers, conservation managers measures of trends across Australia’s governments, non-government and the public to understand how threatened species, or at least organisations, stakeholders and the some of the population trends a subset of them. In addition to community to better understand across Australia’s threatened communicating overall trends, the and report on which groups of species are changing over time. It indices can be interrogated and the threatened species are in decline by will inform policy and investment data downloaded via a web-app to bringing together monitoring data. decisions, and enable coherent allow trends for different taxonomic It will potentially enable us to better and transparent reporting on groups or regions to be explored relative changes in threatened understand the performance of and compared. So far, the index has species numbers at national, state high-level strategies and the return been populated with data for some and regional levels. Australia’s on investment in threatened species TSX is based on the Living Planet threatened and near-threatened birds recovery, and inform our priorities Index (www.livingplanetindex.org), and mammals, and monitoring data for investment. a method developed by World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological A Threatened Species Index for mammals in Australia Society of London. -
The Role of the Reintroduction of Greater Bilbies (Macrotis Lagotis)
The Role of the Reintroduction of Greater Bilbies (Macrotis lagotis) and Burrowing Bettongs (Bettongia lesueur) in the Ecological Restoration of an Arid Ecosystem: Foraging Diggings, Diet, and Soil Seed Banks Janet Newell School of Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Adelaide May 2008 A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Table of Contents ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................................I DECLARATION.......................................................................................................................................III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................... V CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................1 1.1 MAMMALIAN EXTINCTIONS IN ARID AUSTRALIA ...............................................................................1 1.2 ROLE OF REINTRODUCTIONS .......................................................................................................2 1.3 ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS.............................................................................................................3 1.4 ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS OF BILBIES AND BETTONGS .....................................................................4 1.4.1 Consumers..........................................................................................................................4 -
Wildlife Parasitology in Australia: Past, Present and Future
CSIRO PUBLISHING Australian Journal of Zoology, 2018, 66, 286–305 Review https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO19017 Wildlife parasitology in Australia: past, present and future David M. Spratt A,C and Ian Beveridge B AAustralian National Wildlife Collection, National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. BVeterinary Clinical Centre, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Werribee, Vic. 3030, Australia. CCorresponding author. Email: [email protected] Abstract. Wildlife parasitology is a highly diverse area of research encompassing many fields including taxonomy, ecology, pathology and epidemiology, and with participants from extremely disparate scientific fields. In addition, the organisms studied are highly dissimilar, ranging from platyhelminths, nematodes and acanthocephalans to insects, arachnids, crustaceans and protists. This review of the parasites of wildlife in Australia highlights the advances made to date, focussing on the work, interests and major findings of researchers over the years and identifies current significant gaps that exist in our understanding. The review is divided into three sections covering protist, helminth and arthropod parasites. The challenge to document the diversity of parasites in Australia continues at a traditional level but the advent of molecular methods has heightened the significance of this issue. Modern methods are providing an avenue for major advances in documenting and restructuring the phylogeny of protistan parasites in particular, while facilitating the recognition of species complexes in helminth taxa previously defined by traditional morphological methods. The life cycles, ecology and general biology of most parasites of wildlife in Australia are extremely poorly understood. While the phylogenetic origins of the Australian vertebrate fauna are complex, so too are the likely origins of their parasites, which do not necessarily mirror those of their hosts. -
Spotted Tailed Quoll (Dasyurus Maculatus)
Husbandry Guidelines for the SPOTTED-TAILED QUOLL (Tiger Quoll) (Photo: J. Marten) Dasyurus maculatus (MAMMALIA: DASYURIDAE) Author: Julie Marten Date of Preparation: February 2013 – June 2014 Western Sydney Institute of TAFE, Richmond Course Name and Number: Captive Animals Certificate III (18913) Lecturers: Graeme Phipps, Jacki Salkeld, Brad Walker DISCLAIMER Please note that this information is just a guide. It is not a definitive set of rules on how the care of Spotted- Tailed Quolls must be conducted. Information provided may vary for: • Individual Spotted-Tailed Quolls • Spotted-Tailed Quolls from different regions of Australia • Spotted-Tailed Quolls kept in zoos versus Spotted-Tailed Quolls from the wild • Spotted-Tailed Quolls kept in different zoos Additionally different zoos have their own set of rules and guidelines on how to provide husbandry for their Spotted-Tailed Quolls. Even though I researched from many sources and consulted various people, there are zoos and individual keepers, researchers etc. that have more knowledge than myself and additional research should always be conducted before partaking any new activity. Legislations are regularly changing and therefore it is recommended to research policies set out by national and state government and associations such as ARAZPA, ZAA etc. Any incident resulting from the misuse of this document will not be recognised as the responsibility of the author. Please use at the participants discretion. Any enhancements to this document to increase animal care standards and husbandry techniques are appreciated. Otherwise I hope this manual provides some helpful information. Julie Marten Picture J.Marten 2 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY RISKS It is important before conducting any work that all hazards are identified.