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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 31(2)

Remote monitoring of the behaviour and activity of captive southern hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons)

Lindsay A. Hogan A B F , Clive J. C. Phillips B , Allan Lisle C , Alan B. Horsup D , Tina Janssen E and Steve D. Johnston A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Animal Studies, the University of Queensland, Gatton, Qld 4343, Australia.

B Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, School of Veterinary Science, the University of Queensland, Gatton, Qld 4343, Australia.

C School of Land, Crop and Food Sciences, the University of Queensland, Gatton, 4343 Qld, Australia.

D Environmental Protection Agency, Central Division, Rockhampton, Qld 4701, Australia.

E Rockhampton Botanical Gardens and Zoo, Rockhampton, Qld 4700, Australia.

F Corresponding author. Email: lindsay.hogan@uqconnect.edu.au

Australian Mammalogy 31(2) 123-135 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM09023
Submitted: 4 September 2009  Accepted: 21 October 2009   Published: 12 November 2009

Abstract

The nocturnal nature of wombats makes it difficult to learn about their behavioural ecology and activity rhythms in the wild. A facility was established at Rockhampton Zoo to house 12 adult southern hairy-nosed wombats in order to monitor their behaviour by means of video surveillance and provide detailed information on their activity patterns using movement-sensitive radio-transmitters. After one year of monitoring it was established that the wombats spent, on average, as a proportion of total time 69.9% sleeping, 8.8% lying resting, 5.2% feeding, 5.2% exploring, 4.3% performing stereotyped behaviour, 2.5% sitting resting and 4.1% in other activities. Feeding, lying resting and sleeping varied with season by ~5%. Temporal patterns were bimodal for 8 of the 12 behaviours described, with most ‘active’ behaviours being expressed between 1800 and 2000 hours and 0200 and 0500 hours. The activity pattern was characterised by a strong circadian rhythm, with most activity occurring nocturnally. Within active periods there was an alternating rhythm of active and rest periods and activity peaks at the beginning and end of each night. Comprehensive and reliable information on the behavioural ecology, as well as captive management, of southern hairy-nosed wombats was obtained from the remote video and radio-transmitter recordings.

Additional Keywords: digital video surveillance, marsupial, radio telemetry, time budgets.


Acknowledgements

We thank the zookeepers and staff at Rockhampton Botanical Gardens and Zoo, the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency and in particular the Wombat Foundation for financial and logistical support of this research. One of us (Lindsay Hogan) received a Queensland Government research grant and a University of Queensland postgraduate scholarship. This research was supported by the Queensland Governments Growing the Smart State Program. We acknowledge the assistance of Mr Pete Brooks and Mr Anthony Lyon in the daily husbandry and management of the wombats.


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