Introduction
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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 History and status of the Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby The Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby, Petrogale xanthopus , is a species threatened with extinction (IUCN 2000). Two sub-species are currently recognized, P. x. xanthopus occurring in South Australia (Fig. 1.1) and New South Wales (Fig. 1.2), and P. x. celeris occurring in Queensland (Fig. 1.3). P. x. xanthopus is currently listed as Vulnerable C2a as a result of a declining and fragmented total population numbering less than 10,000 individuals (IUCN 2000). P. x. celeris is listed as Lower Risk (near threatened) due to an inferred population of less than 10,000 individuals (IUCN 2000). The two sub-species are reported to have diverged 180 000 years ago (Eldridge 1997c). Edward John Eyre is reportedly the first European to sight P. xanthopus. A diary entry made on August 12, 1840 described him seeing large numbers of rock-wallabies at Mt Aroona (Fig. 1.1), the site of the current South Australian re-introduction. His notes included the remark ‘they leapt and clambered up among the steep sides of the cliffs in a manner quite incredible’ (Eyre 1841). Further early reports from around the 1850’s suggested that vermin-proof fencing would be required to protect vegetable gardens from wallabies at Haywood’s cottage on the Aroona sheep run (Bruce 1902). Despite their common status, the species was not classified until some years later when two specimens were collected from the Flinders Ranges in South Australia by Frederick Strange. Upon returning to England, Strange sent a specimen to the Director of the British Museum of Natural History, J. E. Gray. In 1854 Gray described the species belonging to the genus Petrogale (petra: rock; gale: weasel) he had erected in 1837 and named it xanthopus (xanthos: yellow; pous: foot), thus the Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby. 1 Figure 1.1 Past and present distribution of Petrogale xanthopus xanthopus in South Australia. + P. x. xanthopus recorded pre 1980, P. x. xanthopus recorded post 1980. Map modified from Copley and Alexander (1997). Although only known to science for c.150 years, P. xanthopus or ‘Andu’ has long been entrenched in aboriginal culture and the traditions of the Adnyamathanha or Hills People who occupied the Flinders Ranges. Andu were hunted both for meat and byproducts such as tail sinew used to make ropes and pelts for clothing, and although Aboriginal law did not specify who could kill Andu, only initiated men were allowed to butcher the meat 2 and divide it among the people (Tunbridge 1991). The Adnyamathanha continued to hunt Andu after the species became protected in 1912. The practice however declined throughout the mid 1900’s as mutton and other food substitutes became more readily available, and initiated men allowed to butcher the meat died (Tunbridge 1991). Nevertheless, the numbers taken for food were likely negligible compared to the wholesale slaughter of the species by Europeans earlier in the century. Figure 1.2 Past and present distribution of Petrogale xanthopus xanthopus in New South Wales. Map reproduced from Lim et al. (1987). 3 ‘The best sport we had was in firing at the rock-wallaby from the seat of the buggy, and watching them fall down the cliffs. Fourteen we saw fall, some were wounded, but before reaching the bottom were pretty well dead…We were indeed loathed to leave so pretty a spot. We gazed and feasted our eyes on nature’s handiwork.’ (The Areas Express and Farmer’s Journal, 1 December 1883, as reported in Lim et al. 1987). The above extract was published around the time the naturalist Thomas Ward visited the Flinders Ranges and noted ‘the rock-wallaby is by far the most abundant of animals, and yet it is a much persecuted creature’ (Fountain 1907 from Lim et al. 1987). The persecution of P. xanthopus intensified around the turn of the century. Aboriginal hunters were used and scalp bonus paid to eradicate the species from pastoral properties, with up to 300 wallabies being taken by a group of hunters in a single day (Lim et al. 1987). Hundreds of P. xanthopus skins were exported from Adelaide to London annually for the fur trade. In 1912 P. xanthopus became protected in South Australian through the Animals Protection Act, but the slaughter continued with skins being sold interstate. In 1924 Professor Wood Jones issued the warning: ‘Petrogale xanthopus is a fitting example of an animal which needs sanctuary for its preservation and more stringent legislation efforts to check its slaughter’. The first large-scale census of P. x. xanthopus population size was undertaken by Lim (1987) in 1981. P. x. xanthopus had only recently been discovered in New South Wales (Fox 1966) and the distribution of the species in the state was uncertain. Helicopter surveys throughout the species’ range in both states estimated 6,900-8,300 animals to occur in South Australia and 180-230 in New South Wales. The species was thus classified as Endangered in New South Wales. Recent surveys in South Australia have not been as intensive and no further population estimates have been published. However Copley and Alexander (1997) reported that although the overall range of the species in South Australia has declined little in the last two decades, at least 35 out of 229 known colonies (or 15%) have become extinct since European settlement, eight (23%) of the 35 in the last 30 years (Fig. 1.1). Despite the large colonies that once existed (Lim et al. 1987), only eight (4%) have been recorded with more than 20 animals since surveys commenced. The removal of exotic vertebrates around some P. x. xanthopus colonies on Plumbago and Bimbowrie Stations in the Olary Range (Fig. 1.1) has resulted in local recent increases (Fig. 1.5, 1.6) (Copley and Alexander 1997). P. x. xanthopus has suffered a more significant decline in New South Wales (Fig. 1.2, 1.4). Animal sightings in that state have declined by over 60% since surveys began (Dovey et al. 1997; Sharp and Norton 4 200). Less than 5,000 P. x. xanthopus are now thought to exist in both states (M. Lethbridge pers. comm.; Alexander and Copley 1999). Figure 1.3 Past and present distribution of Petrogale xanthopus celeris in Queensland. Map reproduced from Lim et al. (1987). Petrogale xanthopus celeris was first collected in Queensland in 1922 (Gordon et al. 1993) and described as Petrogale celeris (Le Souef 1924), but later regarded as a subspecies of Petrogale xanthopus in 1934 when reviewed by Iredale and Troughton of the Australia Museaum, Sydney (Eldridge 1997a, c). Surveys for the species were undertaken in 1973-74 by 5 Gordon et al. (1978), with reliable earlier reported sightings being investigated, many unsuccessfully. Gordon et al. (1978), Lim et al. (1987) and Copley (1990) reported that the species’ range was previously more extensive, with at least six known colony extinctions (Fig. 1.4), and that it was a species in decline. A more detailed survey was undertaken between 1980 and 1987, with an intensive survey in June 1984 (Gordon et al. 1993). The species was found at 44 sites over a 250 km2 area and although not calculated with accuracy, the population was estimated to be 5,000 - 10,000 animals (Gordon et al. 1993). No surveys have since been undertaken. While large P. x. celeris colonies are known to exist, the current status of the species in Queensland is best described as unknown. The total population of P. x. celeris is unlikely to be over 10,000 (Lim et al. 1987; Gordon et al. 1993) and thus the sub-species should be classified as Threatened under the IUCN (2000) guidelines of C2a; a declining (Gordon et al. 1978; Lim et al. 1987; Copley 1990; Sharp 1997a) and fragmented population of less than 10,000 adults. Figure 1.4 Mean number of Petrogale xanthopus xanthopus counted by front observer during helicopter counts of the Gap and Cotouraundee Ranges, western New South Wales, between 1980 and 1995 (95% confidence limits shown). Figure reproduced from Sharp and Norton (2000). 6 1.2 Current threats to the species Hunting of P. x. xanthopus is thought to have ceased in the mid 1900’s, however colonies have continued to become extinct since this time (Copley and Alexander 1997). The local extinction of some colonies in the Flinders Ranges was reported to coincide with the arrival of V. vulpes (Lim et al. 1987). Lim et al. (1987) suggested V. vulpes, and possibly natural predators such as Wedge-tailed Eagles (Aquila audax), may be responsible for the continuing rarity of P. x. xanthopus. Both species are known to be abundant throughout the range of P. xanthopus (Lim 1987; Lim et al. 1987; Copley 1990; Parker 2000; Lapidge 2001). Competition for food and habitat by feral goats (Capra hircus) has also been linked with the decline of P. xanthopus, as the two species fill a similar ecological niche (Dawson and Ellis 1979; Lim 1987; Lim et al. 1987; Copley 1990; Maxwell et al. 1996; Allen 2001). Competition for food plants is reported to be most intense between the two species during drought, and may suppress the recovery of P. xanthopus populations post-drought (Lim 1987; Lim et al. 1987; Copley 1990; Allen 2001). Both V. vulpes and feral cats, Felis catus, are known to prey on rock-wallabies (Kinnear et al. 1984, 1988, 1998; Spencer 1991; Hornsby 1997; Lapidge 2001, Appendix I). A study of V. vulpes predation on Black-footed Rock-wallaby (P. lateralis lateralis) colonies in the Western Australian wheatbelt was instigated in 1982.