Reintroduction of the greater stick-nest rat (Leporillus conditor) to Heirisson Prong, Shark Bay: an unsuccessful attempt to establish a mainland population

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Short ◽  
Jacqui D. Richards ◽  
Sally O'Neill
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Natural Vegetation ◽  
Birds Of Prey ◽  
Unsuccessful Attempt ◽  
Mainland Population ◽  
Feral Cats ◽  
Shark Bay ◽  
Introduced Predators ◽  
Source Site

Greater stick-nest rats were reintroduced to Heirisson Prong from Salutation Island at Shark Bay to establish the first mainland population in Western Australia in over 60 years. Forty-eight animals were transferred over two years from August 1999 to a 17-ha enclosure of natural vegetation that excluded foxes and feral cats. This refuge from introduced predators was located within a larger 1200-ha area where these predators were controlled. Stick-nest rats were able to disperse from the refuge to the wider area. The reintroduction was unsuccessful, with the last record in August 2007. Rats were reproducing in most years, yet only 28 recruits were detected over the reintroduction. Mean condition of rats was better at the reintroduction site relative to the source site. Survivorship of successive translocation cohorts was poorer than that of their predecessors, and survivorship of recruits was poorer than that of translocated animals. The most likely explanations for the decline are predation from monitors and small birds of prey within the refuge, and from monitors, small birds of prey and feral cats outside the refuge. An irruption of other rodents immediately before and coinciding with the reintroduction and building rabbit numbers likely contributed to elevated levels of predation from predators.

scholarly journals Irruption and collapse of a population of pale field-rat (Rattus tunneyi) at Heirisson Prong, Shark Bay, Western Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Short ◽  
Sally O'Neill ◽  
Jacqueline D. Richards
Keyword(s):  
Birds Of Prey ◽  
Grass Cover ◽  
Broad Area ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Mainland Population ◽  
Source Areas ◽  
Shark Bay ◽  
North East ◽  
Previous Location ◽  
Arid And Semiarid

Pale field-rats have long disappeared from Australia’s arid and semiarid zones, other than for some Pilbara islands and a single mainland population of indeterminate status and extent identified at Shark Bay in 1968. Hence, it was noteworthy when a field-rat was first caught at Heirisson Prong in 1994, 40 km north-east of the previous location at Shark Bay. Further individuals were caught regularly from late 1995. The population peaked in July–October 2000 (with captures of ~190 individuals per month) and had collapsed by July 2001 (with only the occasional animal caught thereafter). None were caught beyond 2006, despite regular trapping to 2013. This irruption and collapse was beyond the established range of the species and was in atypical habitat. Widespread trapping after the collapse suggested that the population inhabited few localised ‘source’ areas and a broad area of ‘sink’ habitat, with the latter occupied only after extraordinarily high rainfall events leading to higher grass cover. A return to dry years and the consequent loss of cover (aided by an abundant rabbit population) and strong growth in predator numbers (feral cats and small birds of prey) in response to the high number of field-rats appears to have facilitated the collapse.

Control of Feral Cats for Nature Conservation. I. Field Tests of Four Baiting Methods

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle A. Risbey ◽  
Mike Calver ◽  
Jeff Short
Keyword(s):  
Nature Conservation ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Field Tests ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Secondary Poisoning ◽  
Feral Cats ◽  
Shark Bay ◽  
Flavour Enhancer

Four methods of baiting were evaluated on a radio-collared population of feral cats on Heirisson Prong, Shark Bay, Western Australia. Dried-meat baits, baiting rabbits to kill cats through secondary poisoning, a fishmeal-based bait and a bait coated in the flavour enhancer Digest were tested. All proved to be ineffective for controlling feral cats. Future research should explore baits more ‘natural’ in appearance and the effect of visual lures, and possibly bait over a larger area to increase the number of cats exposed to baits.

Aerial baiting for feral cats is unlikely to affect survivorship of northern quolls in the Pilbara region of Western Australia

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 589
Author(s):  
M. Cowan ◽  
D. Moro ◽  
H. Anderson ◽  
J. Angus ◽  
S. Garretson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Reference Area ◽  
Acute Effects ◽  
Feral Cat ◽  
Feral Cats ◽  
Introduced Predators ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Wild Dog ◽  
High Level

Abstract ContextFeral cats (Felis catus) are known predators of northern quolls (Dasyurus hallucatus). Management to suppress feral cat densities often uses the poison sodium monofluoroacetate (compound 1080) in baits broadcast aerially. Eradicat® baits have demonstrated efficacy at reducing feral cat densities in some environments. However, these are not registered for use in northern Australia because their risk to non-target northern quolls remains unknown. AimsWe investigated the risks of aerially deployed feral cat Eradicat® baits containing 4.5mg of the poison 1080 on the survival of free-ranging northern quolls. MethodsThe study was conducted over a 20000-ha area in the Pilbara bioregion in Western Australia. Twenty-one wild northern quolls from a baited area and 20 quolls from a nearby reference area were fitted with radio-collars, and their survivorship was compared following the aerial deployment of over 9700 feral cat baits. Survivorship of quolls was assessed before and after the baiting campaign. Key resultsFive radio-collared quolls died at the baited area; four mortalities were due to feral cat predation, and the cause of one death was uncertain. At the reference area, seven radio-collared quolls were confirmed dead; three mortalities were due to feral cat predation, two from wild dog predation, and the cause of death of two could not be determined. Evidence for sublethal poison impacts on quolls, inferred by monitoring reproductive output, was lacking; average litter size was higher in quolls from the baited area than in those from the unbaited area, and within range of litters reported elsewhere, suggesting that acute effects of 1080 (if ingested) on reproductive success were unlikely. ConclusionsRadio-collared northern quolls survived the trial using Eradicat® baits, and females showed no acute effects of sublethal poisoning on the basis of reproductive output. A lack of quoll deaths attributed to 1080 poisoning suggests that the use of Eradicat® poses a low risk to northern quolls in the Pilbara. Importantly, the high level of mortalities associated with predation by feral cats, and to a lesser extent, canids, validates the threats of these introduced predators on quolls, suggesting that their control in areas where quolls are present is likely to be beneficial for the recovery of this species. ImplicationsLand managers aiming to conserve northern quolls in the Pilbara would see conservation benefits if they introduced an operational landscape-scale feral cat baiting program using Eradicat® baits, with appropriate monitoring.

The impact of cats and foxes on the small vertebrate fauna of Heirisson Prong, Western Australia. I. Exploring potential impact using diet analysis

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Short ◽  
Michael C. Calver ◽  
Danielle A. Risbey
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Food Type ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Feral Cats ◽  
Important Prey ◽  
Introduced Predators ◽  
Small Vertebrate ◽  
The Impact

The diets of cats (Felis catus) and foxes (Vulpes vulpes) killed during predator control at a semi-arid site in Western Australia were studied to see which prey species may be affected by predation from these introduced predators. The number of items, biomass and frequency of occurrence of each food type in the gut contents from 109 feral cats, 62 semi-feral cats and 47 foxes were used to calculate an Index of Relative Importance for each food category for each predator. Mammals were the most important prey group for all three predators, with rabbit being the most highly ranked prey species. The diets of feral and semi-feral cats were similar in dietary diversity but differed in the frequency of occurrence of some food categories. Native rodents, birds and reptiles occurred more frequently and were ranked higher in the diet of feral cats, and food scraps occurred more frequently in the diet of semi-feral cats. The diet of foxes was less diverse than that of either group of cats. Invertebrates and sheep carrion were more important prey categories for foxes than for cats. In the summer–autumn period, foxes ate more sheep carrion and invertebrates than they did in winter–spring. The diet of feral cats was more diverse in summer–autumn, including a greater range of invertebrates and more rodents, birds and reptiles than in the winter–spring period. We predict that cats are more likely to have an impact on small vertebrates at this site and that the control of cats could lead to recoveries in the populations of native rodents, birds and reptiles. By contrast, the control of foxes alone may lead to a rise in cat numbers and a consequent detrimental impact on small vertebrate populations.

Integration of Cretaceous Morro do Chaves rock properties (NE Brazil) with the Holocene Hamelin Coquina architecture (Shark Bay, Western Australia) to model effective permeability

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick W. M. Corbett ◽  
Rayana Estrella ◽  
Andrea Morales Rodriguez ◽  
Ahmed Shoeir ◽  
Leonardo Borghi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Effective Permeability ◽  
Rock Properties ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Shark Bay

scholarly journals "Payneham Vale": integrated whole farm Planning

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
R. S. Watkins
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Natural Vegetation ◽  
The South ◽  
Farm Planning ◽  
South West ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Supplementary Feed ◽  
Eucalyptus Wandoo

IN 1908, Ron's grandfather, Issac Gray, took up an uncleared block of land 15 km north of Frankland in the south-west of Western Australia (see Fig. 1, Hobbs 2003). During that time he ran a few cattle in the bush and clearing of the native woodlands of Wandoo (white gum) Eucalyptus wandoo, J arrah E. marginata and Marri (Redgum) E. calophylla was slow and tedious. Ron's parents took over the farm in 1947, and with the advent of the bulldozer, clearing of Watkin's property and surrounding district began in earnest during the 1950s. Clearing continued as fast "as money permitted", until almost the last natural vegetation was knocked down in 1978 (Fig. 1). Annual pastures with some cropping (for supplementary feed) were the main source of fodder for sheep and cattle.

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