Predator swamping and supplementary feeding do not improve reintroduction success for a threatened Australian mammal, Bettongia lesueur

Bannister, Hannah; Lynch, Catherine E.; Moseby, Katherine E.

doi:10.1071/am15020

Cited by 47 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Bettongs within Arid Recovery are protected from introduced mammalian predators by the exclusion fence but are still exposed to wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax) if they emerge during the day from their burrows. Reintroductions of burrowing bettongs to nearby areas outside the Arid Recovery Reserve have failed due to predation from predators including cats, foxes and dingoes (Bannister, Lynch, & Moseby, 2016;Moseby et al, 2011). Similarly, reintroductions of burrowing bettongs and related bettong species outside fenced reserves at other locations on mainland Australia have failed due to predation (Bellchambers, 2001;Christensen & Burrows, 1995;Priddel & Wheeler, 2004;Short, Bradshaw, Giles, Prince, & Wilson, 1992;Short, Kinnear, & Robley, 2002).…”

Section: Study Site and Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predator exposure improves anti‐predator responses in a threatened mammal

West

Letnic

Blumstein

et al. 2017

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Abstract1. Incorporating an understanding of animal behaviour into conservation programmes can influence conservation outcomes. Exotic predators can have devastating impacts on native prey species and thwart reintroduction efforts, in part due to prey naïveté caused by an absence of co-evolution between predators and prey.Attempts have been made to improve the anti-predator behaviours of reintroduced native prey by conducting laboratory-based predator recognition training but results have been varied and have rarely led to improved survival in reintroduction programmes.2. We investigated whether in situ predator exposure could improve anti-predator responses of a predator-naïve mammal by exposing prey populations to low densities of introduced predators under controlled conditions. We reintroduced 352 burrowing bettongs to a 26-km 2 fenced exclosure at the Arid Recovery Reserve in South Australia and exposed them to feral cats (density 0.03-0.15 cats/km 2 ) over an 18-month period. At the same time, we translocated a different group of bettongs into an exclosure free of introduced predators, as a control. We compared three behaviours (flight initiation distances, trap docility and behaviour at feeding trays) of cat-exposed and control bettongs before the translocations, then at 6, 12and 18 months post-translocation.3. Cat-exposed bettongs displayed changes in behaviour that suggested increased wariness, relative to control bettongs. At 18 months post-reintroduction, cat-exposed bettongs had greater flight initiation distances and approached feed trays more slowly than control bettongs. Cat-exposed bettongs also increased their trap docility over time. Synthesis and applications.Translocation is recommended as a conservation tool for many threatened species yet success rates are generally low. We demonstrate that controlled levels of in situ predator exposure can increase wariness in the behaviour of naïve prey. Our findings provide support for the hypothesis that in situ predator exposure could be used as a method to improve the anti-predator responses of predator-naïve threatened species populations. K E Y W O R D Santi-predator responses, anti-predator training, burrowing bettong, exotic predator, predator exposure, prey behaviour, prey naïveté, threatened species 148 | Journal of Applied Ecology WEST ET al.

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Section: Study Site and Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predator exposure improves anti‐predator responses in a threatened mammal

West

Letnic

Blumstein

et al. 2017

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…In a study by Robertshaw et al (1985), the swamp wallaby Wallabia bicolor (c. 15 kg) occurred in >30% of dingo scats and this did not vary despite fluctuations in the local abundance of wallabies. In contrast, acute exploitation of novel prey and surplus killing of mammals has been recorded by dingoes in the arid zone (Moseby et al 2011, Bannister et al 2016.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resource pulses affect prey selection and reduce dietary diversity of dingoes in arid Australia

et al. 2019

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In Australia, the dingo Canis lupus dingo is the largest terrestrial predator. Dingoes contribute to ecological processes and functions throughout their continental geographic range. Their generalist diet enables daily energetic requirements to be met even in the resource‐limited deserts of central Australia, where irregular rainfall drives extreme fluctuations in mammal assemblages. Given that predation is a primary driver of declining mammal populations and failed reintroductions, it is necessary to understand the dietary intake of the continent's apex predator if conservation outcomes are to be achieved. We performed a meta‐analysis of the mammalian composition of the dingo's diet throughout Australia's arid zone, an area covering c. 5.4 million km2. We used 25 data sets from 11 studies to measure the effects of resource booms and anthropogenic disturbance (pastoralism) on diet. We explored whether the probability of prey species occurring in the diet was related to the size of the prey or to prevailing conditions. We also investigated the similarities in diet between dingo populations from across the arid zone, and how dietary overlap was affected by opposing land uses. Dingoes primarily consumed medium‐sized (35–5500 g) and large (>5500 g) mammals, whereas most small mammals (<35 g) were consumed infrequently, or not at all. The composition of the diet changed dramatically during resource booms to exploit irruptive prey species such as long‐haired rats Rattus villosissimus (native; 144 g) and house mice Mus musculus (introduced; 20 g). During resource booms, the consumption of large mammals decreased significantly, whereas the occurrence in the diet of medium‐sized mammals remained high. The diversity of species consumed by dingoes was significantly lower during boom periods than during non‐boom periods. The dingo's heightened consumption of hyper‐abundant species has the potential to release many non‐target species from direct predation pressure during boom times. This could be advantageous for remnant and reintroduced populations of mammals, which are especially susceptible to predation.

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“…Johnson, 2006;Ritchie et al, 2012;Letnic et al, 2013). But such reintroductions continue to fail largely because predators -including dingoes -keep quickly decimating reintroduced mammals (Christensen and Burrows, 1995;Moseby et al, 2011;Bannister, 2014;Armstrong et al, 2015;Bannister et al, 2016). All the dingoes occupying Australia did not prevent the historical establishment and expansion of rabbits, foxes or cats across the continent in the first place, nor did the presence of dingoes prevent the collapse of marsupial communities following the advent of these pests.…”

Section: Alternative Hypotheses Are Seldom Testedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science?

Allen

Allen²,

Andrén

et al. 2017

Food Webs

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a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f oLarge carnivores are depicted to shape entire ecosystems through top-down processes. Studies describing these processes are often used to support interventionist wildlife management practices, including carnivore reintroduction or lethal control programs. Unfortunately, there is an increasing tendency to ignore, disregard or devalue fundamental principles of the scientific method when communicating the reliability of current evidence for the ecological roles that large carnivores may play, eroding public confidence in large carnivore science and scientists. Here, we discuss six interrelated issues that currently undermine the reliability of the available literature on the ecological roles of large carnivores: (1) the overall paucity of available data, (2) reliability of carnivore population sampling techniques, (3) general disregard for alternative hypotheses to top-down forcing, (4) lack of applied science studies, (5) frequent use of logical fallacies, and (6) generalisation of results from relatively pristine systems to those substantially altered by humans. We first describe how widespread these issues are, and given this, show, for example, that evidence for the roles of wolves (Canis lupus) and dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) in initiating trophic cascades is not as strong as is often claimed. Managers and policy makers should exercise caution when relying on this literature to inform wildlife management decisions. We emphasise the value of manipulative experiments and discuss the role of scientific knowledge in the decision-making process. We hope that the issues we raise here prompt deeper consideration of actual evidence, leading towards an improvement in both the rigour and communication of large carnivore science.

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Predator swamping and supplementary feeding do not improve reintroduction success for a threatened Australian mammal, Bettongia lesueur

Cited by 47 publications

References 53 publications

Predator exposure improves anti‐predator responses in a threatened mammal

Predator exposure improves anti‐predator responses in a threatened mammal

Resource pulses affect prey selection and reduce dietary diversity of dingoes in arid Australia

Can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science?

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