R ISSUE #4 TTE SLE – NEW NTRE SPRING IFE CE HIDDEN VALE WILDL 2019 The quolls’ story is one of dramatic These animals are highly mobile. They decline. Quolls were once relatively can move up to several kilometres in a THE abundant across most of Australia. night and may have quite large territories. Before European settlement at least one However, quoll behaviour will differ species of quoll inhabited most parts of between intact and human modified SPOTTED- the country. Today, quolls are living in landscapes. Current research by Hidden isolated areas that may be too small to Vale PhD student, Kellie Goodhew, is TAILED support viable long-term populations. examining quoll movement and habitat This reduction in distribution and use in grazing landscapes in order to population has been caused by: understand what habitat elements may QUOLL be required to allow their safe movement • loss, fragmentation and degradation of and persistence in these areas. suitable habitat through land clearing, The Spotted-tailed change in fire patterns and logging If you see a quoll, you can record the sighting on the Atlas of Living Australia • loss of potential den sites such as large Quoll (Dasyurus website: ala.org.au hollow logs maculatus maculatus) • foxes and cats which prey on quolls FAST FACTS – Spotted-tailed Quoll has many common and also compete with them for food • Status: Vulnerable (State), names including spotted • persecution by humans, who have Endangered (Commonwealth) marten, tiger cat, tiger often blamed quolls for the loss of • The largest of the six living quoll stock and poultry. quoll and spotted- species (including subspecies) and The Spotted-tailed Quoll is about the size the largest marsupial carnivore on tailed native cat. But of a domestic cat, but has shorter legs mainland Australia. this ‘native cat’ isn’t and a more pointed face than a cat. Its • Related to the Tasmanian Devil fur is rich red to dark brown, and covered and the now extinct Thylacine much like a cat at all. with white spots on the back which (Tasmanian Tiger). Quolls are actually tree- continue down the tail. The spotted tail • Primarily a carnivore that preys on distinguishes it from all other Australian medium-sized mammals including climbing, den-dwelling mammals, including other quoll species. possums, gliders and rodents. However, the spots may be indistinct on • Usually nocturnal, but will bask marsupials. young animals. in the sun on occasions. The average weight of an adult male is • Sightings in Queensland restricted to about 3.5 kilograms and an adult Blackall/Conondale Ranges, southern female about 2 kilograms. Darling Downs (Stanthorpe to Spotted-tailed Quolls live in various Wallangarra), Main Range (Goomburra to Spicers Gap), Lamington Plateau environments including forests, woodlands, and McPherson/Border Ranges coastal heathlands and (Springbrook to Mt Lindsay). rainforests. They are sometimes seen in open country, or on grazed areas and rocky outcrops. They The Hidden Vale team are on the are mainly solitary lookout for signs of the Spotted- animals, and will tailed Quoll, including the make their dens in animal’s distinctive scat, as rock shelters, small well as animal remains SCAN ME TO caves, hollow logs READ THIS or footprints. and tree hollows. NEWSLETTER ONLINE CONNECTING PEOPLE, LANDSCAPES AND ECOSYSTEMS Just 40 minutes drive from the Ipswich CBD and As a large portion of the range is privately owned, a balance is needed bordering the Scenic Rim, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley and between economic productivity and Somerset council areas, lies the Little Liverpool Range. conservation. Properties undertaking mixed-purpose land management, such as Hidden Vale, are playing a Protected from many of the pressures stakeholders including landowners, vital role in trialling and demonstrating associated with urban development, environmental organisations and restoration and conservation activities. the range provides refuge to a variety government bodies. Collectively, Research undertaken at the Hidden of significant species. With large these groups aim to protect areas Vale Wildlife Centre will also assist in areas of intact remnant vegetation of remnant vegetation, encourage threatened species monitoring and stretching approximately 60 sustainable land management, reintroduction programs. kilometres, the range also provides improve habitat connectivity and a corridor of essential habitat, support the re-establishment of rare A series of community information linking Main Range National Park and threatened species. sessions, workshops and excursions and the Great Eastern Ranges. have been scheduled during the next In July, stakeholder representatives year to continue to raise awareness The Little Liverpool Range Initiative met to identify priorities for the of the area. Further info on upcoming (LLRI) was formed to raise awareness initiative and discuss ways to events can be found at https://www. of this remarkable landscape and support landholders with activities facebook.com/littleliverpoolrange conserve regionally significant such as weed and pest management, biodiversity for future generations. water quality management, and – Courtney Morgans, The LLRI represents multiple threatened species monitoring. LLRI Project Officer traditional fox survey methods: sand and Queensland Trust for Nature’s FOXING plots, cameras and scat accumulation property Aroona, to determine if we counts, as well as a fox detection can kill foxes without impacting wild dog. Karmen developed a method dogs. We are characterising our wild FOR A to turn standard presence/absence dog populations to be able to track detections by the dog into relative their changes in dynamics before, FIGHT abundance data which correlated during and after fox baiting. with the other survey methods. The European red fox, Vulpes vulpes, We are then aiming to further is a serious introduced predator, Trapping and camera data on develop fox control methods that implicated in the extensive decline Hidden Vale indicates depauperate do not impact quoll populations, by of Australia’s highly distinctive and populations of ‘critical weight range’ modification of a Canid Pest Ejector largely endemic land mammal fauna. mammals, i.e. those species that are to restrict quoll access to bait. This more susceptible to decline in the will allow expansion of fox control Fox research in The Hidden Vale presence of the fox. Following two into areas we believe still have Project aims to support and assess years of targeted surveys, we now Spotted-tailed Quolls including our the development and implementation have baseline data for several critical properties Mt. Mistake, Thornton of an integrated fox management species, that can be tracked over time View Nature Refuge and Spicers Peak program to assist the restoration in conjunction with fox control and Station & Nature Refuge, as well as of prey species across our Nature other habitat restoration work. other surrounding areas where we Refuges and the broader region. hope the quoll will again flourish in Next steps include developing Initial steps in the program were the future. humane fox-specific control designed to get an indication of methods that have the lowest Various other research projects are fox relative abundance across all possible non-target impacts. The planned. To get further information, the Hidden Vale Project properties. first Honours student in this project, or to get involved, contact megan. An Honours student used three Alex, is working on Hidden Vale [email protected] VOLUNTEERS MAKE THE Up before dawn, four-wheel-driving with the Queensland bush and being to spark her desire to undertake a across the picturesque 4,500-hectare in the present moment. PhD on the ecological role of Rufous Bettongs, to contribute to our long- Old Hidden Vale Nature Refuge, “It’s the way I ground myself,” she said. passing mobs of cattle and kangaroos, term goal of restoring ecosystem side-by-side, to check mammal traps. Rana volunteers on weekends planting engineers and ‘critical weight range’ Measuring and sexing wildlife such as native species to restore a degraded mammals across our 10,000-hectare Yellow-footed Antechinus and Long- section of Franklin Vale Creek. network of Nature Refuges. nosed Bandicoots to contribute to The range of opportunities for As Gloeta found, volunteering can long-term condition monitoring. Once volunteering at Hidden Vale is be a great way to test and refine back at the Hidden Vale Wildlife Centre, vast. Within the Wildlife Husbandry your interests, and suss out potential pressing plants and packaging scats department of the Hidden Vale supervisors, before making the leap collected in the field that morning. Wildlife Centre, a team of volunteers into further study. After lunch, back out to refresh undertake important daily tasks such as preparing feed for our endangered All our volunteers and the work they camera trap baits with chicken necks undertake is highly valued. However, and download images in search of the Mahogany Gliders, pouch-checking Fat-tailed Dunnarts that are part one volunteer this year stood out elusive Spotted-tailed Quoll. of The Queensland Brain Institute for his dedication, enthusiasm, breeding and research program, and methodical nature and just pure weighing Northern Brown Bandicoots. excellence. Luis was handed a That was a typical day in the life of Volunteers also take part in working collection of dusty boxes and plant volunteer Tom Scott, sharing his skills bees to maintain the enclosures and presses, and was given the key to in mammal surveys, gained during his enrichment material for our captive the 4WD and a tablet with a map of Honours in Ecology. Tom volunteered wildlife. Many of these volunteers are the Hidden Vale property. With this on The Hidden Vale Project one day students undertaking the Wildlife meagre assortment, he set about a week, for a year, and now works Science Degree through The University constructing the professional, archival part-time in the Project’s Ecology & of Queensland Gatton campus, just half quality “Hidden Vale Herbarium”. This an hour away. Tyla is one such student Conservation Division.