Journal article
Habitat use of a critically-endangered species in a predator-free but degraded reserve in Australia
AL Winnard, J Di Stefano, G Coulson
Wildlife Biology | WILEY | Published : 2013
DOI: 10.2981/12-116
Abstract
The success of species reintroduction programmes depends on many factors, including habitat quality and predator occurrence at release locations. For the critically endangered eastern barred bandicoot Perameles gunnii in Australia, successful releases have been achieved only in the absence of predation by the introduced red fox Vulpes vulpes. However, few fox-free sites exist, but those that are fox free may have low habitat suitability, potentially leading to reintroduction failure. We studied a reintroduced population of eastern barred bandicoots at Mt Rothwell, a 420-ha fox-free reserve which appeared to have a degraded foraging range and a lack of nesting material due to overgrazing by m..
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Funding Acknowledgements
approval for our research was granted by the University of Melbourne Animal Ethics Committee (permit number 05186) and Department of Sustainability and Environment (permit number 10004897). Funding was provided by the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Department of Zoology (University of Melbourne) and Glenelg-Hopkins CMA. We would like to thank the owners (Nigel Sharp and Rosemary Etherton) and staff (Paul Mervin and Annette Rypalski) of Mt Rothwell for allowing us access to the site and assisting with field work when necessary. Thanks also to our volunteers Jemma Cripps, Dave Holmes, Justine Smith, Claire Saxby, Sumi Vasudevan and Madi Yewers and two anonymous referees.