Reintroduction of Bridled Nailtail Wallabies Beyond Fences at Scotia Sanctuary – Phase 1

Forty male bridled nailtail wallabies Onychogalea fraenata were translocated from an on-site captive breeding compound to two release areas beyond the 8000 ha conservation fences at Scotia Sanctuary (far western New South Wales) in late July 2010. We tested the hypothesis that site fidelity (facilitated by spreading soil laden with female bridled nailtail wallaby odour at the release site) would increase survivorship by restricting animals to Scotia where intensive pest animal control has occurred. Two groups of fifteen animals were fitted with radio collars and released at the two areas (odour-added and odour-free) and monitored intensively for three months. Seven of the bridled nailtail wallabies survived this period, 19 died and four remain unaccounted for. Of the 19 that died, three were killed by introduced red foxes Vulpes vulpes, two by wedge-tailed eagles Aquila audax and one by a dingo/dog Canis lupus dingo. Two bridled nailtail wallabies died from pneumonia. The causes of death for the remaining 11 individuals are unknown. Following their release, 13 bridled nailtail wallabies remained on Scotia whilst the other 13 left the sanctuary (excluding the four that were censored). Those individuals that stayed on Scotia had much higher survival (46%) than the dispersers (8%). This result demonstrates the importance of encouraging the released animals to remain within the area that is subject to intensive predator control. The bridled nailtail wallabies were released at two sites: in an attempt to encourage site-philopatry we added soil laden with bridled nailtail wallaby urine and faeces at one of these sites. Males released here tended to travel less far, and had higher survival, than the males released at the ‘odour-free’ site. We believe the wandering males were searching for mating opportunities. Philopatry may be encouraged and survival increased if females are released with males in future phases of the project. We note that the bridled nailtail wallaby population in Scotia’s 8000 ha feral free area, and also in Scotia’s captive breeding colony, continued to increase during the initial three months of the translocation

Using the IUCN red list to determine effective conservation strategies

Threatened species lists continue to grow while the world’s governments fail to meet biodiversity conservation goals. Clearly, we are failing in our attempts to conserve biodiversity. Yet 37 mammal species genuinely improved in status in the 2009 IUCN Red List, suggesting there are ways to successfully conserve biodiversity. Here, I compare the threats and conservation actions (proposed and implemented) by the expert assessors of the Red List of improving species to a further 144 declining mammal species to determine whether specific threats were more easily remedied, and whether certain conservation actions were more successful than others. Declining species were faced with different threatening processes to mammals improving in status suggesting some threats were easier to treat (e.g. hunting) than others (climate change, invasive species). Declining species had different proposed and implemented conservation actions than improving species suggesting some actions are more successful than others. Threatened species were invariably found in conservation areas, suggesting protected area creation alone is not an overly successful strategy for species at risk of extinction. Conservation actions were more frequently implemented for improving than declining species suggesting active conservation is effective in improving the status of biodiversity. There were significant differences between proposed and implemented conservation actions suggesting some actions are easier to implement than others. Reintroduction, captive breeding and hunting restriction were more effective in conserving mammals than site creation and invasive species control. These findings highlight effective conservation actions for mammals worldwide and allow the rationalisation of threat mitigation measures to ensure economically justifiable biodiversity conservation strategies.http://www.springerlink.com/content/0960-3115/nf201

Do Differing Levels of Boldness Influence the Success of Translocation? : A Pilot Study on Red Squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris)

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Scotia Science Symposium 2011

Introduction to the Scotia Paper

Will systematic reviews facilitate translational behavioral ecology? With a few conditions: a comment on Berger-Tal et al.

No abstract available.https://academic.oup.com/behecohj2020Centre for Wildlife Managemen

A method to predict overall food preferences

Most natural ecosystems contain animals feeding on many different types of food, but it is difficult to predict what will be eaten when food availabilities change. We present a method that estimates food preference over many study sites, even when number of food types vary widely from site to site. Sampling variation is estimated using bootstrapping. We test the precision and accuracy of this method using computer simulations that show the effects of overall number of food types, number of sites, and proportion of missing prey items per site. Accuracy is greater with fewer missing prey types, more prey types and more sites, and is affected by the number of sites more than the number of prey types. We present a case study using lion (Panthera leo) feeding data and show that preference vs prey size follows a bell-curve. Using just two estimated parameters, this curve can be used as a general way to describe predator feeding patterns. Our method can be used to: test hypotheses about what factors affect prey selection, predict preferences in new sites, and estimate overall prey consumed in new sites.The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and a Hugh Kelly Fellowship from Rhodes University, Grahamstown, SA.http://www.plosone.orgdm2022Mammal Research Institut

Reintroduction of Top-Order Predators: Using Science to Restore One of the Drivers of Biodiversity

CIB, University of Pretori

Market-Based Incentives and Private Ownership of Wildlife to Remedy Shortfalls in Government Funding for Conservation

In some parts of the world, proprietorship, price incentives, and devolved responsibility for management, accompanied by effective regulation, have increased wildlife and protected habitats, particularly for iconic and valuable species. Elsewhere, market incentives are constrained by policies and laws, and in some places virtually prohibited. In Australia and New Zealand, micro economic reform has enhanced innovation and improved outcomes in many areas of the economy, but economic liberalism and competition are rarely applied to the management of wildlife. This policy perspective examines if commercial value and markets could attract private sector investment to compensate for Government underspend on biodiversity conservation. It proposes trials in which landholders, community groups, and investors would have a form of wildlife ownership by leasing animals on land outside protected areas. They would be able to acquire threatened species from locally overabundant populations, breed them, innovate, and assist further colonization/range expansion while making a profit from the increase. The role of government would be to regulate, as is appropriate in a mixed economy, rather than be the (sole) owner and manager of wildlife. Wide application of the trials would not answer all biodiversity-loss problems, but it could assist in the restoration of degraded habitat and connectivity

Prey preferences of the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)

The common chimpanzee Pan troglodytes is the closest extant relative of modern humans and is often used as a model organism to help understand prehistoric human behavior and ecology. Originally presumed herbivorous, chimpanzees have been observed hunting 24 species of birds, ungulates, rodents, and other primates, using an array of techniques from tools to group cooperation. Using the literature on chimpanzee hunting behavior and diet from 13 studies, we aimed to determine the prey preferences of chimpanzees. We extracted data on prey-specific variables such as targeted species, their body weight, and their abundance within the prey community, and hunter-specific variables such as hunting method, and chimpanzee group size and sex ratio. We used these data in a generalized linear model to determine what factors drive chimpanzee prey preference. We calculated a Jacobs’ index value for each prey species killed at two sites in Uganda and two sites in Tanzania. Chimpanzees prefer prey with a body weight of 7.6 ± 0.4 kg or less, which corresponds to animals such as juvenile bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus) and adult ashy red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus tephrosceles). Sex ratio in chimpanzee groups is a main driver in developing these preferences, where chimpanzees increasingly prefer prey when in proportionally male-dominated groups. Prey preference information from chimpanzee research can assist conservation management programs by identifying key prey species to manage, as well as contribute to a better understanding of the evolution of human hunting behavior.The University of Newcastle.http://www.ecolevol.orgam2022Mammal Research Institut