The direct risk of dingoes to threatened fauna has often been undervalued in studies promoting dingoes as a fauna restoration tool. Risk assessments of dingo predation have seldom been undertaken, but we assessed the potential risk of dingoes to populations of 80 threatened vertebrates and found that up to 94% of them are susceptible to dingo predation. These results suggest that foxes, feral cats and dingoes each present similarly high risks of predation to most threatened vertebrates. Photograph by Peter Fleming.
Craig R. Jackson, J. Weldon McNutt and Peter J. Apps
Conflict between endangered African wild dogs and livestock owners poses a major threat to the species’ survival when wild dogs move out of protected areas. By deploying translocated scent marks to simulate the presence of another wild dog pack, we were able to rapidly displace a wild dog pack from conflict-prone areas and move them back towards a protected area. This novel approach holds great potential for the management of several threatened species. Photograph by Craig Jackson.
Kristen A. Walker, Andrew W. Trites, Martin Haulena and Daniel M. Weary
Wildlife research often requires marking and tagging animals to collect data on survival, reproduction, movement, behaviour and physiology; however, some marking techniques have been reported to cause pain and to change swimming and haul-out behaviour, maternal attendance and duration of foraging trips. In the present paper, we review 30 years of published research assessing the effects of different marking and tagging techniques on marine mammals. Our review demonstrates that more research is required to document acute effects of marking, including injury and pain, and to better understand longer-term effects on health, reproduction and survival. Photograph by K. Walker (Permit #881-1890).
Climate can influence wildlife population dynamics but not all influences are the same. Analysis shows that the population dynamics of grey herons and malleefowl are more strongly influenced by weather conditions than barn owl populations. Other bird population dynamics may also be influenced by the climate.
Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags have been used to mark animals for individual identification and are being increasingly used for short-range detection of animals. We used PIT tags to detect terrestrial salamanders and found that this technique represented a substantial improvement in detection over hand capture, while not impacting salamander growth and survival. The possibility of remote, even below-ground, detection of animals should allow new insights into the movements and distributions of many small and difficult-to-study species. Photograph by Grant Connette.
Chun-Hua Han, Jian Lin, Xiuqing Wang, Jing-Wen Han, Hui-Juan Duan, Jie Pan and Yue-Huan Liu
pp. 647-652
The sialic acid profiles in the respiratory tracts of raptors are unknown. We examined the distribution of the sialic acids in the respiratory tracts of raptors and observed that raptors expressed both sialic acids that serve as the primary receptors for avian and human influenza A viruses respectively. Our results suggest that raptors could be a potential host for influenza viruses.
During the last 15 years, satellite tracking technologies have had a transforming effect on wildlife management, improving our understanding of animal movements on a local and global scale. Continued demand for long-distance remote wildlife tracking has resulted in the development of a variety of satellite tracking technologies. This research assesses the technology options and associated costs of satellite tracking technologies to help wildlife researchers select the best tracking solution for their needs. Photograph by Bindi Thomas.
Freshwater turtles are one of the world’s most threatened animal groups. This study found evidence of severe population decline over the past 35 years for two of three turtle species inhabiting a section of Australia’s Murray River, most likely due to climatic drying in association with predation by introduced foxes. Turtle conservation in this region is likely to depend on appropriate environmental water allocation coupled with effective predator control. Photograph by Bruce Chessman.
R. Alderman, R. Gales, G. N. Tuck and J. D. Lebreton
pp. 672-686
Albatross are threatened by human activities and are the focus of international conservation efforts. Here we assess the status and trends of the Australian endemic shy albatross and investigate influencing factors. These new data indicate that the three populations are stable or declining and raise concerns for the global conservation status of the species and identify priority areas for monitoring and research. Photograph by Rachael Alderman.
Retaining habitat for hollow-using fauna in harvested forests is an important management action, yet there is little research into its effectiveness. By studying brushtail possum den use in multi-aged harvested and unharvested forest, we found that retained trees were used as the forest regenerates. We conclude that the retention of hollow-bearing trees in harvested forest can be an effective management action, but the retention of habitat in the surrounding landscape is also important to provide habitat as the harvested forest regenerates. Photograph by Lisa Cawthen.
Ayodeji Olayemi, Akinlabi Oyeyiola, Agostinho Antunes, Céline Bonillo, Corinne Cruaud and Philippe Gaubert
pp. 696-716
Bushmeat hunting in tropical Africa is one of the main threats to wildlife conservation; yet it has received little attention from potentially contributing fields such as conservation genetics. Mitochondrial DNA-typing of a bushmeat market in south-western Nigeria allowed the identification of 17 mammalian species characteristic of the Dahomey Gap assemblage, of which the cryptic, newly described Walter’s duiker was the most hunted. Mitochondrial DNA-typing proved a valuable diagnostic tool for species sold on the bushmeat market, and shall contribute to set up a better monitoring of wildlife extirpation in tropical Africa. Photograph by Akinlabi Oyeyiola.
A. J. van Strien, J. J. A. Dekker, M. Straver, T. van der Meij, L. L. Soldaat, A. Ehrenburg and E. van Loon
pp. 717-725
Viral diseases strongly affect persistence and colonisation of habitat patches by wild rabbits. In the coastal dunes in the Netherlands, rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) has led to many local extinctions in woodland habitats, but only rarely in grasslands. Woodland habitats may remain permanently unoccupied, resulting in a smaller area inhabited by rabbits in the presence of RHD. Photograph by Jasja Dekker.
In northern Australia, the cane toad (Rhinella marina) has caused serious population declines of reptilian and mammalian predators, and is implicated in the recent decline of small dasyurid predators. To determine whether toads threaten the red-cheeked dunnart (Sminthopsis virginiae), we carried out feeding trails with predators and live cane toads. We found that red-cheeked dunnarts rapidly learnt to avoid cane toads as prey, suggesting that toads are unlikely to cause serious population declines of this species via lethal toxic ingestion. Photograph by Jonathan Webb.
The ability to monitor changes in wildlife or pest animal abundances is fundamental to effective population management, but practical and widely-relevant methods for observing changes in feral cat populations have so far been elusive. We found that photographic observations of feral cats captured from animal-triggered cameras could be used to detect changes in a feral cat population subjected to a control program. These methods might also be useful for detecting changes in populations of feral cats in other areas, which should enhance the effective management of this important environmental pest. Photograph by Andrew Bengsen.
Recent advances in bio-logging devices have greatly advanced some areas of wildlife research, including studies of seabirds. However, researchers must also recognise tracking devices may have an effect on birds’ behaviour, reproduction and survival. This study found no evidence of negative effects of attaching data-loggers on breeding short-tailed shearwaters. These data suggest that appropriate sized loggers are an effective method to obtain information at-sea from seabirds. Photograph by Mark Carey.
Kevin M. Wallace, Alison J. Leslie and Tim Coulson
pp. 747-755
Competition for limited resources by people and wildlife is guaranteed to cause confrontations. The existing mitigation for human–crocodile conflict in Zambia is ineffective. The negative attitude towards wildlife needs to be addressed and a suitable response formulated. The most favoured type of mitigation suggested by local people was more boreholes and the removal of crocodiles. Photograph by Kevin Wallace.
Analysing rabbit warren distribution can help the management of wild rabbits in agricultural lands, where they cause significant damage to crops. We investigated the spatial pattern of warrens in an intensively managed agricultural landscape within the rabbit’s native range, and found most warrens in unploughed patches close to other occupied warrens. The management of such areas is therefore critical to the management of rabbits as an agricultural pest. Photograph by Isabel C. Barrio.
These articles have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication. They are still in production and have not been edited, so may differ from the final published form.
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Published 15 April 2009 Feral pigs: predicting future distributions Wildlife Research 36(3) Brendan D. Cowled, Fiona Giannini, Sam D. Beckett, Andrew Woolnough, Simon Barry, Lucy Randall and Graeme Garner