Rabbits off the menu for feral cats
Tue, 15 Nov 2016Fourteen feral cats captured in the wild have been re-released to measure their predation on native animals.
The cats wear collars that track their whereabouts and activities through video, GPS and VHF beacons as part of the NESP TSR Hub’s Integrated management of feral herbivores and feral predators (Project 1.1).
The research, led by Dr Hugh McGregor from the University of Tasmania, seeks to understand how the hunting behaviour of feral cats changes post-calicivirus
(when rabbit numbers suddenly fall), including by measuring the occurrence and impacts of pre-switching by cats.
There are long-term gains to native plants and animals resulting from the reduction in rabbit numbers through use of calicivirus (through improvements
to vegetation as well as overall reductions in the densities of foxes and cats) but there may also be at least short-term detriment to some native
animals.
“After calicivirus, the sudden scarcity of rabbit numbers could cause cats and foxes to ‘prey switch’ to native animals. In some circumstances, prey-switching
could cause the local extirpation of a population of native species. For example, we think that the loss of some populations of rock-wallabies in the
arid zone may have occurred because of prey-switching after the first calici virus release,” says Hugh.
Hugh aims to discover whether prey-switching occurs, and if so how it can be managed. He also aims to identify the threshold density of rabbits that
results in cat densities with minimal impacts on native species.
“By describing the hunting behaviour, including the kill rates and prey choice of feral cats, we can make better calculations of the impacts of prey
switching on native populations.
“We’ve been tracking the cats for a couple of months already, since July, and very early video footage is showing that the cats are hunting selectively
around rabbit warrens and preferring rabbits as prey.
“When the footage shows a cat preying on a native animal, it can be quite confronting. The native animals are clearly unused to being hunted by such
a predator.”
Image: feral farm cat, by Stavrolo
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A Martu method for monitoring mankarr (greater bilby)
Tue, 20 Aug 2019Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa (KJ) Rangers in the Martu Determination have collaborated with Threatened Species Recovery Hub scientists to design a monitoring program for mankarr (the greater bilby). Martu people identified priorities for the bilby monitoring program, then worked with Dr Anja Skroblin from The University of Melbourne to co-develop a monitoring method which brings together Martu knowledge and practice with Western conservation science.
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Bradley J. Moggridge - TSR Hub Researcher Profile
Tue, 20 Aug 2019I am a proud Murri from the Kamilaroi Nation in north-west New South Wales. I grew up in western Sydney on Darug land and now live in Canberra on Ngunnawal land.
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Connecting Victorian kids with Indigenous culture and the environment
Tue, 20 Aug 2019A new project is aiming to increase city kids’ connections with nature, threatened species conservation and Indigenous culture. Dr Georgia Garrard from RMIT University talks about this project, which will see Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Traditional Owners working with kids at Carlton North Primary School in Melbourne and Gunditjmara Traditional Owners working with kids at Heywood Consolidated School in western Victoria.
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Larrakia action for the far eastern curlew on their saltwater country
Tue, 20 Aug 2019For the Larrakia Land and Sea Rangers, the sight of a shell midden in coastal saltpans tells a long history of culture and how their ancestors are connected with the intertidal and mangrove environment. Through a different lens, the Larrakia Rangers also see these shell middens as areas where their culture overlaps with the habitat used by the Critically Endangered migratory shorebird the far eastern curlew.
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Looking after culturally significant and threatened species on the Tiwi Islands
Tue, 20 Aug 2019Threatened species on Indigenous land may be of prime interest to scientists and ecologists, but they are often not the species of greatest importance to the Indigenous landowners. Understanding local priorities for biodiversity is an essential step in ensuring that conservation projects are locally beneficial and supported. Researcher Tom Duncan from Charles Darwin University has been collaborating with the Tiwi Land Council and Tiwi Land Rangers to explore this issue on the Tiwi Islands.
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