Increasing human population size and the concomitant expansion of urbanisation significantly impact natural ecosystems and native fauna globally. Successful conservation management relies on precise information on the factors associated with wildlife population decline, which are challenging to acquire from natural populations. Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres (WRC) provide a rich source of this information. However, few researchers have conducted large-scale longitudinal studies, with most focussing on narrow taxonomic ranges, suggesting that WRC-associated data remains an underutilised resource, and may provide a fuller understanding of the anthropogenic threats facing native fauna. We analysed admissions and outcomes data from a WRC in Queensland, Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, to determine the major factors driving admissions and morbidity of native animals in a region experiencing rapid and prolonged urban expansion. We studied 31,626 admissions of 83 different species of native birds, reptiles, amphibians, marsupials and eutherian mammals from 2006 to 2017. While marsupial admissions were highest (41.3%), admissions increased over time for all species and exhibited seasonal variation (highest in Spring to Summer), consistent with known breeding seasons. Causes for admission typically associated with human influenced activities were dominant and exhibited the highest mortality rates. Car strikes were the most common reason for admission (34.7%), with dog attacks (9.2%), entanglements (7.2%), and cat attacks (5.3%) also high. Admissions of orphaned young and overt signs of disease were significant at 24.6% and 9.7%, respectively. Mortality rates were highest following dog attacks (72.7%) and car strikes (69.1%) and lowest in orphaned animals (22.1%). Our results show that WRC databases offer rich opportunities for wildlife monitoring and provide quantification of the negative impacts of human activities on ecosystem stability and wildlife health. The imminent need for urgent, proactive conservation management to ameliorate the negative impacts of human activities on wildlife is clearly evident from our results.

Wildlife diseases are a recognized driver of global biodiversity loss, have substantial economic impacts, and are increasingly becoming a threat to human health. Disease surveillance is critical but remains difficult in the wild due to the substantial costs and potential biases associated with most disease detection methods. Noninvasive scat surveys have been proposed as a health monitoring methodology to overcome some of these limitations. Here, we use the known threat of Chlamydia disease to the iconic, yet vulnerable, koala Phascolarctos cinereus to compare three methods for Chlamydia detection in scats: multiplex quantitative PCR, next generation sequencing, and a detection dog specifically trained on scats from Chlamydia‐infected koalas. All three methods demonstrated 100% specificity, while sensitivity was variable. Of particular interest is the variable sensitivity of these diagnostic tests to detect sick individuals (i.e., not only infection as confirmed by Chlamydia‐positive swabs, but with observable clinical signs of the disease); for koalas with urogenital tract disease signs, sensitivity was 78% with quantitative PCR, 50% with next generation genotyping and 100% with the detection dog method. This may be due to molecular methods having to rely on high‐quality DNA whereas the dog most likely detects volatile organic compounds. The most appropriate diagnostic test will vary with disease prevalence and the specific aims of disease surveillance. Acknowledging that detection dogs might not be easily accessible to all, the future development of affordable and portable “artificial noses” to detect diseases from scats in the field might enable cost‐effective, rapid and large‐scale disease surveillance.

The mahogany glider is an endangered native marsupial of northern Queensland, Australia. A captive population of seven females and three males was established under a recovery plan for this species to provide progeny for release into the wild. This study aimed to investigate the behaviour of mixed-sex and all-female pairs in this population and determine whether behaviour useful for survival in the wild could be stimulated by environmental-enrichment programs. Gliders spent 56% of their time in their nest box and were essentially nocturnal, except for emerging at 1300 hours when food was offered. They were unresponsive to enrichment programs designed to encourage climbing and play, but increased foraging in response to enrichments designed to stimulate feeding behaviour and increase safety from predators. Females kept in same-sex pairs spent more time climbing than those in mixed-sex pairs. In the latter, males spent more time than females stationary and staring, suggesting vigilance, with less active time outside the nest box. Paternal nurturing behaviour was observed for the first time in this species, and this suggests a dominant caring role for males in this species. Copulation was also observed for the first time, but there was no evidence of courtship. It is concluded that the enrichments designed to stimulate foraging activity were successful, and that males played a major role in the rearing of young in this species, which needs to be recognised in managing captive populations.

2Increasing human population size and the concomitant expansion of urbanisation 3 significantly impact natural ecosystems and native fauna globally. Successful conservation 4 management relies on precise information on the factors associated with wildlife population 5 decline, which are challenging to acquire from natural populations. Wildlife Rehabilitation 6 Centres (WRC) provide a rich source of this information. However, few researchers have 7 conducted large-scale longitudinal studies, with most focussing on narrow taxonomic ranges, 8 suggesting that WRC-associated data remains an underutilised resource, and may provide a 9 fuller understanding of the anthropogenic threats facing native fauna. 10We analysed admissions and outcomes data from a WRC in Queensland, Australia Zoo 11 Wildlife Hospital, to determine the major factors driving admissions and morbidity of native 12 animals in a region experiencing rapid and prolonged urban expansion. 13We studied 31,626 admissions of 83 different species of native birds, reptiles, 14 amphibians, marsupials and eutherian mammals from 2006 to 2017. While marsupial 15 admissions were highest (41.3%), admissions increased over time for all species and exhibited 16 seasonal variation (highest in Spring to Summer), consistent with known breeding seasons. 17Causes for admission typically associated with human influenced activities were 18 dominant and exhibited the highest mortality rates. Car strikes were the most common reason 19 for admission (34.7%), with dog attacks (9.2%), entanglements (7.2%), and cat attacks (5.3%) 20 also high. Admissions of orphaned young and overt signs of disease were significant at 24.6% 21 and 9.7%, respectively. Mortality rates were highest following dog attacks (72.7%) and car 22 strikes (69.1%) and lowest in orphaned animals (22.1%). 23Our results show that WRC databases offer rich opportunities for wildlife monitoring 24 and provide quantification of the negative impacts of human activities on ecosystem stability 3 25 and wildlife health. The imminent need for urgent, proactive conservation management to 26 ameliorate the negative impacts of human activities on wildlife is clearly evident from our 27 results. 28Introduction 29There is substantive evidence to suggest that anthropogenic factors are having 30 devastating consequences on native fauna, both in Australia [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and internationally [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].31 The stability of entire ecosystems is consistently compromised through the process of urban 32 expansion and global population growth, which continue to increase at unprecedented rates 33 [27]. The sustained acceleration in human population growth and resulting expansion in 34 anthropogenic activities appear to be the primary causes of an accelerated increase in extinction 35 rates globally [28][29][30][31][32]. 36Global population growth contributes to the destruction, modification and 37 fragmentation of wildlife habitat, reduced genetic diversity, threats fro...

No abstract