Movement of urban and peri-urban foxes in the south western metropolitan region of Perth, Western Australia Prepared for: South West Group Version 5. December, 2020 RECORD OF DISTRIBUTION No. of Report File Name Report Date Prepared for: Initials copies Status Electronic 2018-0013-006 GT Draft 1 November 2020 South West Group ST V1.DOCX Electronic 2018-0013-006 GT Draft 12 November 2020 South West Group ST V2.DOCX Electronic 2018-0013-006 GT Draft 17 November 2020 South West Group ST V3.DOCX Electronic 2018-0013-006 GT Final 25 November 2020 South West Group ST V4.DOCX Electronic 2018-0013-006 GT Final 2 December 2020 South West Group ST V5.DOCX Suggested Citation: Terrestrial Ecosystems 2020 Movement of urban and peri-urban foxes in the south western metropolitan region of Perth, Western Australia, Unpublished Report for the South West Group, Perth. Prepared For: South West Group Locked Bag 1 Booragoon WA 6954 Prepared By: Terrestrial Ecosystems 10 Houston Place Mt Claremont WA 6010 Phone: 08 9385 2398, 0407 385 289 Website: www.terrestrialecosystems.com ABN: 40921131346 This project was supported by funding from the Western Australian Government’s State NRM Program and the Cities of Canning, Cockburn, Fremantle, Kwinana, Melville and Rockingham and the Town of East Fremantle. The project was managed by the South West Group and hosted by the South West Corridor Development Foundation Inc. DISCLAIMER This document is prepared in accordance with and subject to an agreement between G & S Thompson Pty Ltd as Trustee for the Thompson Family Trust trading as Terrestrial Ecosystems and the client, South West Group. It has been prepared and is restricted to those issues that have been raised by the client in its engagement of Terrestrial Ecosystems and prepared using the standard of skill and care ordinarily exercised by environmental scientists in the preparation of such reports. Persons or agencies that rely on or use this document for purposes or reasons other than those agreed by Terrestrial Ecosystems and its client without first obtaining prior consent, do so at their own risk and Terrestrial Ecosystems denies all liability in tort, contract or otherwise for any loss, damage or injury of any kind whatsoever (whether in negligence or otherwise) that may be suffered as a consequence. PREFACE | ii REPORT CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background .................................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 Responsibility for fox management ................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Foxes in Australia ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2.1 Reproduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2.2 Foxes in urban and peri-urban areas of WA ................................................................................................... 2 1.2.3 Project initiative .......................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Spatial movement studies ...................................................................................................................................... 3 1.3.1 Home range and activity area .............................................................................................................................. 3 1.3.2 Calculating and reporting home range and activity areas ........................................................................ 5 1.3.3 Issues with home range calculations and analysis ....................................................................................... 6 2. METHODS .................................................................................................................................. 8 2.1.1 GPS collars .................................................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.2 Fox sedation ................................................................................................................................................................. 8 2.1.3 Tracking fox movements ........................................................................................................................................ 8 2.1.4 Data analysis methods for GPS tracking records ........................................................................................ 10 2.1.5 Previous records of fox capture ......................................................................................................................... 10 2.1.6 Fox trapping records from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions ...... 10 2.2 Limitations .................................................................................................................................................................. 10 2.2.1 Local government restrictions on the number of foxes that could be collared ............................. 11 2.2.2 GPS radio collar programming issue ............................................................................................................... 11 2.2.3 Animal ethics approval was delayed ................................................................................................................ 11 2.2.4 Fox deaths .................................................................................................................................................................. 11 3. RESULTS ................................................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Fox spatial movement and home ranges ....................................................................................................... 17 3.1.1 Fox 1AACE511 ........................................................................................................................................................... 17 3.1.2 Fox 1AAD0B7A .......................................................................................................................................................... 18 3.1.3 Fox 1AB46B08 ........................................................................................................................................................... 20 3.1.4 Fox 1AB47BD3 ........................................................................................................................................................... 21 3.1.5 Fox 1AB46AE5 ........................................................................................................................................................... 23 3.1.6 Fox 1AB47BE8 ........................................................................................................................................................... 27 3.1.7 Fox 1AAD2D29 .......................................................................................................................................................... 29 3.1.8 Fox 1AB3C6C ............................................................................................................................................................. 31 3.1.9 Fox 1AB47BDA .......................................................................................................................................................... 33 3.1.10 Fox 1AAD2D22 .......................................................................................................................................................... 34 3.1.11 Fox 1AB47D8D .......................................................................................................................................................... 35 3.1.12 Fox 1AB46AEC ........................................................................................................................................................... 36 3.1.13 Fox 1AB47BEF ............................................................................................................................................................ 37 3.1.14 Fox 1AAD2D30 .......................................................................................................................................................... 41 PREFACE | iii 4. FOX CAPTURES BY COUNCILS AND THE DEPARTMENT OF BIODIVERSITY, CONSERVATION AND ATTRACTIONS ............................................................................................ 46 5. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................ 48 5.1 Home range size ...................................................................................................................................................... 48 5.2 Preferred habitat ...................................................................................................................................................... 49 5.3 Capture and release location relative to the home range ......................................................................