The Action Plan for Threatened Australian Macropods 2011-2021 Action Plan for Threatened Macropods 2011-2021 Written and edited by Michael Roache. The author is grateful to the following individuals for their help and contributions during the preparation of this action plan: Liana Joseph for her extensive consultation on the project regarding prioritisation of threatened species recovery, and her input to some sections of the text. Katherine Miller of KSR Consulting who contributed substantially to the section on current issues in macropod conservation. Simone Albert who assisted with the compilation of recovery outlines. Lis McLellan, Tony Trujillo and Mina Bassarova for extensive review and comments on the draft manuscript. Finally, many experts provided comments on the manuscript and on the recovery outlines: Andrew Burbidge, Paul de Tores (Department of Environment and Conservation, WA), Michael Driessen (Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, Tasmania), Tony Friend (Department of Environment and Conservation, WA), Matt Hayward (Australian Wildlife Conservancy), John Kanowski (Australian Wildlife Conservancy), Janelle Lowry (Department of Environment and Resource Management, QLD), Nicky Marlow, (Department of Environment and Conservation, WA), (Department of Environment and Resource Management, QLD), Manda Page (Australian Wildlife Conservancy), Barry Nolan (Department of Environment and Resource Management, QLD), David Pearson (Department of Environment and Conservation, WA), Jeff Short (Wildlife Research and Management Pty Ltd), Neil Thomas (Department of Environment and Conservation, WA), Threatened Species Section (Department of Environment and Resource Management, QLD), Adrian Wayne (Department of Environment and Conservation, WA). Distribution maps were prepared using Landsat 7 imagery (Geoscience Australia 2000). Published in August 2011 by WWF-Australia - World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund) Any reproduction in full or in part of this publication must mention the title and credit the above-mentioned publisher as the copyright owner. No photographs from this publication may be reproduced on the internet without prior authorization from WWF. © text 2011 WWF All rights reserved For further information on the WWF Threatened Macropod Program please see our website: http://www.wwf.org.au Or contact: Macropod Program WWF-Australia GPO Box 528 Sydney NSW 2001 Australia Cover image: Brush-tailed rock wallaby (Petrogale penicillata). © Ben Bishop/WWF-Australia Designed by Three Blocks Left For information on all of WWF’s flagship species conservation work, including threatened macropods, see: http://www.panda.org/species Action Plan for Threatened Macropods 2011-2021 CONTENTS 1. EXECUTIVE SUmmaRY 11 Introduction 11 Current Issues in Macropod Conservation 11 Status of Macropods 12 Action Plan Framework 12 Methods 12 Results 13 Conclusions 13 2. INTRODUctION 14 Lack of Resources 16 The Need for More Explicit Recovery Planning 16 3. CURRENT ISSUES IN THREatENED MacROPOD CONSERVatION 18 State of Macropods 18 Socio-Economic Context 18 Human Impacts 18 Conservation Funding 18 How Does Environment Rate as a Priority for Australians? 19 Perceptions of Macropods 19 Regulatory Context 20 Landscape-Scale Issues for Macropods 20 Land Clearing, Fragmentation and Degradation 20 Feral Animals 20 Predator and Competitor Control Strategies 22 Changed fire regimes 23 Climate change 23 Protected Areas 24 Species-Level Issues For Macropods 26 Genetics 26 Translocations and Reintroductions 26 Captive Breeding 26 Monitoring 26 4. ActION PLAN FRamEWORK 28 Action Plan Scope 28 Action Plan Vision 30 Action Plan Goal 30 Action Plan Objectives 30 3 Action Plan for Threatened Macropods 2011-2021 5. METHODS 31 Step 1: Define The Goal 32 Step 2: List Biodiversity Assets 32 Step 3: List Management Projects 32 Step 4: Provide Rationale for the Proposed Activities 33 Step 5: Estimate Cost 33 6. RESULTS 36 7. DISCUSSION 43 8. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDatIONS 46 Future Recommendations 47 Regular review 47 Confidence levels 47 More detailed expert input 47 9. REFERENCES 48 10. APPENDICES 50 Appendix 1: Acronyms 50 Appendix 2: List of Macropods 52 Appendix 3: Conservation Actions 54 Appendix 4: Yearly Costs 56 Appendix 5: Recovery Outlines 57 Recovery Outline – Bettongia gaimardi 57 Recovery Outline – Bettongia lesueur 61 Recovery Outline – Bettongia penicillata 72 Recovery Outline – Bettongia tropica 83 Recovery Outline – Dendrolagus bennettianus 93 Recovery Outline – Lagorchestes hirsutus 97 Recovery Outline – Lagostrophus fasciatus 106 Recovery Outline – Macropus bernardus 115 Recovery Outline – Macropus parma 119 Recovery Outline – Onychogalea fraenata 123 Recovery Outline – Petrogale burbidgei 130 Recovery Outline – Petrogale coenensis 135 Recovery Outline – Petrogale concinna 139 Recovery Outline – Petrogale lateralis 144 Recovery Outline – Petrogale penicillata 154 Recovery Outline – Petrogale persephone 164 Recovery Outline – Petrogale sharmani 174 Recovery Outline – Petrogale xanthopus 178 Recovery Outline – Potorous gilbertii 187 Recovery Outline – Potorous longipes 193 Recovery Outline – Setonix brachyurus 202 4 Action Plan for Threatened Macropods 2011-2021 LIST OF taBLES Table 1: List of changes in IUCN threat status for Australian macropods between 1996 and 2008. 15 Table 2: Australian macropods listed as threatened, near threatened or data deficient according 29 to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN, 2010). Table 3: Summary of the steps undertaken in collecting information for this action plan. 32 Table 4: Projects with dedicated recovery coordinator salary built in to project cost. 34 Table 5: List of threatened macropod recovery projects in order of their affordability. 37 Table 6: Average cost of down-listing by IUCN threat rating. 37 Table 7: Number of species projects that could be funded under nominal recovery budgets to 39 achieve down-listing on the IUCN Red List within 10 years if projects are prioritised based on cost. Table 8: Cost of all 21 macropod projects by category of management activity (Conservation 41 Measures Partnership 2011). For explanations of the categories, see Appendix 3. Table 9: Most costly category of management action by IUCN threat category, and the combined 41 costs of those actions. Table 10: Most costly category of management action for each species, showing percentage of total 42 project cost, and the relevant actions contributing to those costs. Table 11: List of recovery actions for Bettongia gaimardi, and the rationale for their contribution 59 to recovery, and effort required. Table 12: List of recovery actions for Bettongia gaimardi, and their costs. 60 Table 13: List of recovery actions for Bettongia lesueur, and the rationale for their contribution 64 to recovery, and effort required. Table 14: List of recovery actions for Bettongia lesueur, and their costs. 68 Table 15: List of recovery actions for Bettongia penicillata, and the rationale for their contribution 75 to recovery, and effort required. Table 16: List of recovery actions for Bettongia penicillata, and their costs. 79 Table 17: List of recovery actions for Bettongia tropica, and the rationale for their contribution 86 to recovery, and effort required. Table 18: List of recovery actions for Bettongia tropica, and their costs. 90 Table 19: List of recovery actions for Dendrolagus bennettianus, and the rationale for their 95 contribution to recovery, and effort required. Table 20: List of recovery actions for Dendrolagus bennettianus, and their costs. 96 Table 21: List of recovery actions for Lagorchestes hirsutus, and the rationale for their 100 contribution to recovery, and effort required. Table 22: List of recovery actions for Lagorchestes hirsutus, and their costs. 103 Table 23: List of recovery actions for Lagostrophus fasciatus, and the rationale for their 109 contribution to recovery, and effort required. Table 24: List of recovery actions Lagostrophus fasciatus, and their costs. 112 5 Action Plan for Threatened Macropods 2011-2021 Table 25: List of recovery actions for Macropus bernardus, and the rationale for their 117 contribution to recovery, and effort required. Table 26: List of recovery actions Macropus bernardus, and their costs. 118 Table 27: List of recovery actions for Macropus parma, and the rationale for their contribution 121 to recovery, and effort required. Table 28: List of recovery actions for Macropus parma, and their costs. 122 Table 29: List of recovery actions for Onychogalea fraenata, and the rationale for their 126 contribution to recovery, and effort required. Table 30: List of recovery actions for Onychogalea fraenata, and their costs. 128 Table 31: List of recovery actions for Petrogale burbidgei, and the rationale for their contribution 132 to recovery, and effort required. Table 32: List of recovery actions for Petrogale burbidgei, and their costs. 134 Table 33: List of recovery actions for Petrogale coenensis, and the rationale for their contribution 137 to recovery, and effort required. Table 34: List of recovery actions for Petrogale coenensis, and their costs. 138 Table 35: List of recovery actions Petrogale concinna, and the rationale for their contribution 141 to recovery, and effort required. Table 36: List of recovery actions for Petrogale concinna, and their costs. 143 Table 37: List of recovery actions Petrogale lateralis, and the rationale for their contribution 147 to recovery, and effort required. Table 38: List of recovery actions for