This paper introduces a collection of four articles on social beliefs, values and practices associated with ‘wild’ animals in Australia. It provides an overview of key developments in the international and Australian fields of Human-Animal Studies and briefly addresses the value and challenges of crossdisciplinary communication and collaboration in this field. Following papers: A. Davison and B. Ridder, Turbulent times for urban nature: conserving and re-inventing nature in Australian cities . Page 306. J. Bough. From value to vermin: a history of the donkey in Australia . Page 388. L. Christensen. The Man Who Loved Tortoises . Page 322. N. Smith. Thank your mother for the rabbits: bilbies, bunnies and redemptive ecology . Page 369.

ABSTRACT Flying-fox camps in urban areas are a contentious wildlife management issue. Since 2012, Grey-headed Flying-foxes Pteropus poliocephalus have regularly occupied two camps in Batemans Bay, New South Wales (NSW). At one site, the Water Gardens, impacts on adjacent residents and businesses occur when animals roost near the reserve boundaries. During March–July 2016, a large influx of flying-foxes arrived, causing the camps to spread into neighbouring residential, recreational and industrial areas. Prior to this, impacts had been mitigated through vegetation clearing to create buffer zones and residential subsidies for mitigation equipment and services. The influx warranted additional measures such as a dispersal program and further vegetation removal, which were expedited by the Commonwealth Government granting a National Interest Exemption under section 158 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the NSW Government committing $2.5 million in funding towards the new measures. These measures moved flying-foxes from key conflict areas but also coincided with flying-fox numbers reducing as local blossom diminished. Ongoing community engagement played an important role in building community resilience to live with this threatened species, which is vital considering that Batemans Bay will likely continue to be an important area for flying-foxes.

ABSTRACT This paper explains a meaningful sense in which a painless death can be a misfortune for an invertebrate. The account presented is a logical implication of bringing together two distinct pieces of theory: the deprivation account of the harm of death and the biocentric ethical theory developed by the New Zealand philosopher, Nicholas Agar. Combined, the two theories support the following thesis: death harms an invertebrate because it deprives the individual of future biopreference satisfaction.

ABSTRACT This paper argues that it was environmental knowledge, which Aboriginal people held and traded, that formed the basis of the slender chances they had for survival in the changed circumstances of British settlement in Sydney. The case study is centred on the life and work of William Rowley, about whom the little evidence which exists revolves around his use of and trade in his knowledge of the resources of Botany Bay, notably oysters and mangroves. Reference is also made to Biddy Giles, who used her knowledge to act as guide and cultural interpreter but also traded in native flowers. Rowley's life is less well known but focused on the capture of and trade in food resources. This included his employment by Thomas Holt in the series of attempts to establish oyster culture on the shore of land purchased originally as for pastoral enterprise.

The millipede by-catch from a 1986-88 spider survey in Tasmanian coastal heathland was tallied by species, sex and life-stage. Two species of paradoxosomatid Polydesmida, Notodesmus scotius Chamberlin, 1920 and Pogonosternum sp., made up 99.8% of the pitfall captures. The N. scotius catch (9754 individuals) was 80% adult (stadium VIII) and peaked in October-December with only 23 captures in July-September. The Pogonosternum sp. catch (116 individuals) was 91% adult and peaked in September, with 40% of all captures in July-September. These results, together with field observations, indicate that pitfall trapping mainly captured adults wandering during the mating season, and that mating seasons for the two species did not coincide. The Pogonosternum sp. captures were tightly clustered in space, showing that pitfall trapping can be an unreliable method for estimating millipede abundance unless the fine-scale spatial patterning of target species is known in advance. A third paradoxosomatid species known to be present near the survey sites, Dicranogonus sp., did not appear in any of the 938 pitfall samples containing millipedes. The overwhelming dominance of paradoxosomatid Polydesmida in heathland is in marked contrast to the dominance of dalodesmid Polydesmida in forest habitats in Tasmania.

Our complex and contradictory relationships with animals is demonstrated in our relationships with donkeys Equus asinus . The Australian context exemplifies these conflicting attitudes: once exploited as a beast of burden in the Outback in colonial times, the donkey has since been constructed as a pest to farmers, a feral animal that does not belong, and vermin to be exterminated. The latest incarnation is interesting as the donkey is once again proving ‘valuable’ as the guardian animal of choice for some farmers and pastoralists seeking to protect their flocks from wild dogs Canis lupus familiaris. There is an interesting inter-relationship between the domestic animals in this context: the sheep Ovis aries (valuable to humans), the wild animals: the dogs, (valued as the usual favoured companion but in this context, as a pest to be destroyed) and the donkeys (valuable again in their guardian role rather than a feral pest to be shot). To add to the irony of this situation, some of the donkeys employed in this way are feral donkeys, which blurs the lines even further. What are the deciding factors in the status we assign to animals? I contend that utilitarian economic considerations outweigh any other.

The woodlands of southern Australia have been extensively cleared for agriculture. The loss and fragmentation of the native vegetation has been followed by dramatic declines in woodland-dependant species. Here we present data from the Central Western Plains of New South Wales on the occurrence of birds in woodlands that have been highly fragmented and structurally altered over the last 150 years. The species composition of the region is still very similar to that recorded 3 decades earlier but many small insectivorous and nectivorous woodland birds are rare and restricted, while the woodland patches and remnant tree groves in the landscape are now dominated by the Galah, Noisy Miner, Australian Magpie, Crested Pigeon, Apostlebird, Magpie-lark, Grey-crowned Babbler, Australian Raven, Eastern Rosella and Pied Butcherbird.

Loss and fragmentation of the native vegetation of the Central Western Plains of New South Wales was followed by declines of woodland-dependent species. Drought is likely to have further suppressed many animal populations. Here we report on changes in woodland bird reporting rates between surveys in 2005-2009 (drought declared period) and surveys in 2010-2013 following the drought-breaking rains of 2010. By 2013 the number of species detected per survey had just recovered to the level of surveys in 2005/6. The 2013 species composition of the region was similar to that recorded in the 2005-2009 drought surveys, with half of the small insectivorous and nectarivorous woodland birds remaining rare and restricted. Woodland remnants in the landscape continued to be dominated by the same, usually large, species of birds, but reporting rates of 13 of the 15 most common species declined. Conversely, several smaller, foliage gleaning passerines had higher reporting rates post-drought, with Striated Pardalote and Western Gerygone becoming two of the most frequently recorded species. Taxonomic and life history attributes usually did not predict population changes for species post-drought, with the only feeding guild showing a consistent trend being the mistletoe specialists, with only two species. Even after the drought-breaking rains of 2010, there appears to be a reduced vigour in these woodland landscapes.

This paper reports the results of dry and wet season systematic terrestrial vertebrate fauna surveys carried out on Blackbraes, a National Park in the Einasleigh Uplands bioregion, North Queensland. It quantifies, for the first time, the biodiversity values of the highest altitude upland area in the Australian tropical savanna. Nine species, including two mammals and seven reptiles, were recorded at the limits of their known range, or in seemingly disjunct populations. Patterns of fauna assemblage in relation to underlying geology and associated habitat variables were investigated and several strong relationships emerged. Temporal patterns in the observed fauna were investigated and 20 species (15 birds, 5 reptiles) were found to be more numerous in different seasons (wet and dry). The avifauna recorded was consistent with much of Australia's tropical savanna, but the reptile and mammal assemblages were distinct, rich and unusual, with exceptionally high abundances, particularly of some arboreal mammals. Blackbraes acts as an upland refuge, but the micro-habitat refuges are unusual in that they are provided by sandy habitats rather than more typical rock refuges.

Australia supports the largest population of free-ranging, one-humped camels Camelus dromedarius in the world. These feral camels originated and bred from camels introduced into Australia up to 160 years ago. With estimated doubling of numbers every eight years, it is believed that in 2007 there may have been over one million feral camels. This has been associated with increasing negative impacts on desert ecology, cultural values and human enterprise. In this paper, the potential to exploit Achilles' heel aspects of camels has been examined; this has helped identify opportunities to either improve or develop methods for broad-scale management of feral camels and their impacts in Australia. This has also highlighted the importance of considering aspects of camel–specific behaviour for the planning and implementation of feral camel management. Conventional assessment according to ‘ideal' criteria indicates that there are satisfactory levels of humaneness and cost-effectiveness in some or all situations where methods are currently used for broad-scale management of feral camels and their impacts. Based on the current potential to meet ‘ideal' criteria, as well as a future potential for improvement or development, recommendations have been made for continued use of the following currently-used management methods: aerial and ground surveys; destructive aerial and ground culls; on-site ‘pet-meat' slaughter; trapping; and mustering. The three currently-used methods of exclusion fencing are not recommended for broad-scale management of feral camels and their impacts; their application is only suitable for protection of localised areas of high value. Five currently-unused, but impending management methods (satellite remote sensing, habitat modelling, ‘Judas' animal technique, on-site ‘game-meat' slaughter, on-site abattoir slaughter) are recommended for development and use. Another two currently-unused management methods have been considered to have sufficient potential to warrant further investigation—attractant and humane biocide. Opportunities have been identified where complementary use of management methods could improve or develop currently-used methods—in particular through use of satellite remote sensing, habitat modelling, attractants or the ‘Judas' animal technique. These could enhance the predicting, locating and concentrating of feral camel numbers for survey methods and destock approaches. Improvement and integration of destocking activities would facilitate development of on-site abattoir and ‘game-meat' slaughter operations.

ABSTRACT For thousands of years, the water-finding abilities of the Australian dingo ( Canis dingo ), has assisted human survival in one of the most extreme, arid environments on earth. In addition to their contribution to Traditional Aboriginal society as a guardian, living blanket, hunting assistant and companion, the dingo’s role as intermediary between the earth’s surface and the river systems that flow beneath the continent is legendary. Both the ancestral/mythical dingo and the contemporary dingo are attributed with having assisted people in the location of aquifers, billabongs, inland lakes. They guided people safely across hundreds of kilometers of desert, locating the places where water sources reach up closest to the earth’s surface from the underground lakes and waterways that flow beneath the continent. The dingo’s status in Aboriginal culture is celebrated in the naming of waterholes, soaks, river systems and aquifers. This paper follows the path of the ancient dingo, tracing how, as a cultural keystone species, dingoes have shaped human society and belief systems, encouraging cultures of reciprocity and laws of protection for vital resources. Post-colonization, these traditions have not been recognized outside of Aboriginal communities, and this loss of cultural heritage comes at great cost to the Australian environment, biodiversity and the health and preservation of vital resources.

The research presented here focused on the ethnozoology of frogs as viewed by two Aboriginal communities: Gängan and Gapuwiyak, which are both located in north-east Arnhem Land (Yolngu territory), Northern Territory. The aim of this research was to record traditional Aboriginal knowledge about frogs as viewed by Dhalwangu, a Yolngu clan. Particular emphasis was placed on amphibian traditions and beliefs, local nomenclature, and natural history as conceived by the Dhalwangu. A full understanding of the symbolism of Garkman , the frog, and its relatedness to other aspects of the culture is only beginning to be realised by the researchers. Traditional ecological knowledge illustrates how Aboriginal people have learned to survive and live in their environment, but the gradual loss of such knowledge (especially with the death of senior men and elders) and the devastation of ecosystems by invasive pests threaten local traditional knowledge. For example, the recent spread of the introduced cane toad ( Bufo marinus ) into Yolngu land is expected to have some impact on native species of frog and the broader-ecosystem which they inhabit, but also cultural effects, including loss of traditional food and alteration of totem species. This paper describes the significance of frogs to the Gängan and Gapuwiyak communities, assesses frog biodiversity in Yolngu territory according to indigenous knowledge, attempts to document the changes in frog biodiversity currently occurring as a result of environmental impacts such as growing populations of the cane toad, and points to the cultural significance of these changes.

ABSTRACT Natural environments are now much reduced or modified, with the consequence that many species have declined and become imperilled. However, such modifications have also led to range expansion or population increases in some other native species. Consequently, in an increasing number of situations, the viability of a threatened native species is now being compromised by another native species, and conservation managers must consider options for how best to make decisions about and manage such situations. Here, I provide Australian examples of the many variations of the issue of managing to favour one native species at the expense of another native species, and note that the issue is likely to be of increasing incidence, extent, complexity and societal interest. Whereas there are reasonably well-established policy and legal foundations, and general societal support, for killing invasive (‘pest’ or ‘weed’) species to benefit native species, there is far less well-developed context and regulatory basis for the issue of killing native species to benefit other native species, and it may evoke considerable community concerns. Given the moral complexities of this issue, I use and apply the long-established ‘Just War’ theory as a pathway to develop a simple decision tree approach and a set of principles to guide decision-making when considering the need to kill a native species to achieve a conservation objective. These principles are that: (i) every effort should first be made to redress any ultimate factor responsible for the ecological imbalance; (ii) there should be compelling evidence that the ‘increaser’ species (‘Species A’) has a significant detrimental impact on the species of conservation concern (‘Species B’); (iii) there should be compelling evidence that reduction in the abundance of Species A will lead to a significant and enduring enhancement of the conservation outlook for Species B; (iv) reduction in the abundance of Species A will have no significant impact on its conservation status; (v) consequently, any program of killing Species A should be predicated on a net biodiversity benefit; (vi) options other than killing have been adequately evaluated as a mechanism to reduce the impact of Species A on Species B; (vii) any killing of Species A is done as humanely as possible; (viii) all relevant information on the situation is provided publicly with opportunity for public comment prior to decision-making; (ix) where there is insufficient information about any proposed culling, a carefully-designed trial should be applied, with results used to guide subsequent decision-making; (x) the management actions and biodiversity responses are monitored and reported publicly.

This paper analyses the complex social and political dynamics of feral horse management policy in Guy Fawkes River National Park, NSW, and also suggests ways in which it might be made more effective. Cultural, historical and ecological dimensions of horse management are examined through an analysis of the government-led decision-making process, since an aerial cull of horses in October 2000. The paper focuses on challenges of effective community involvement when top-down management processes (e.g., centralized decision-making by government) are imposed. A key question addressed in this paper is who should be the final arbiter and by what process should decisions be made? The paper shows that it is the processes of social interaction in decision-making that determine substantive outcomes, rather than technical scientific details about ecology or biology. Several weaknesses in decision-making were identified. First, inadequacy of community consultation workshops for achieving genuine stakeholder input and satisfaction. Second was a well-intentioned public consultation that resulted in management policy being oversold in support of special interest groups. Third was over-reliance on traditional science which proved ineffective in resolving this value-laden conflict. Improvements in decision-making and management policy can come from using a “policy oriented” approach that brings a systematic focus on complex, interactive ecological, social, political and economic dimensions. Recommendations to improve the decision-making process are offered, including alternative means for community consultation, better integration of science with values, and keeping decision-making power localised (and strategies for doing so). It can be reasonably expected that these recommendations can improve management policy, with a minimum of additional resources.

The conservation of koala habitat was identified by Tweed Shire Council in 1989 as a priority for investigation to aid planning and decision making. The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of koalas in the shire and to identify potential koala habitat. This was achieved by personal interviews, invitations to the community to report local koala sightings and a literature search. This paper also identifies those planning considerations and constraints that exist within the shire which are relevant to koala preservation. Examples of planning instruments that can affect koala security (e.g., local environmental plan zonings) are also examined. Other issues highlighted include the potential impact of expanding development within the shire and the need for community awareness of the principles underlying koala preservation. The major finding of the study was that the Round Mountain-Cudgen Lake environs hold special importance for koala conservation. Co-operation of the community, rural landholders, Tweed Shire Council, relevant State Government departments (e.g., Department of Planning, National Parks and Wildlife Service) will be required before a management plan can be expected to succeed.

A survey of the herpetofauna of Merriwindi State Conservation Area, a small conservation reserve in the western Pilliga forest in northern inland New South Wales, was done over the period 2009 to 2011. In total, 14 frog species (three families) and 25 reptile species (eight families) were recorded by a combination of diurnal active searches, nocturnal road transects and nocturnal searches of water bodies. The herpetofauna community includes a mix of western (Eyrean), northern (Torresian) and eastern (Bassian) species and demonstrates the significant species diversity and conservation value of the Pilliga forest's herpetofauna. Noteworthy findings from this study included the threatened Pale-headed Snake Hoplocephalus bitorquatus , a number of declining woodland reptile species such as the Nobbi Diporiphora nobbi , Brown-blazed Ctenotus Ctenotus allotropis and Australian Coral Snake Brachyurophis australis , and the first documented record of the Striped Burrowing Frog Cyclorana alboguttata from the western Pilliga forest. This study provides a useful benchmark of the composition and status of the herpetofauna community of Merriwindi SCA in the early years following a land management shift from timber production to conservation.

The Central West and Lachlan Catchments lie west of the Great Dividing Range in central NSW and have been subjected to extensive land clearing, grazing and agricultural pressures beginning in the 1820s. Many vertebrate species are known to have disappeared from these catchments but reliable data for species diversity, distribution, abundance and conservation status are not available. For this assessment of the diversity and status of the vertebrate fauna in these catchment areas a comprehensive database of vertebrate records was established, species distributions mapped, faunal communities determined by pattern analysis and conservation status determined at a regional level. The extent of post-European human-induced landscape change was evaluated by assessing the degree of habitat loss, loss of landscape function and resilience through changes to the water cycle, soil and energy flow and the impact of invasive species, diseases and agricultural pollution. Of the 595 vertebrate species verified for these catchments, 6% are introduced, 12% have been listed in NSW under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 , 4% by the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 , 40% are regionally vulnerable, 20% regionally endangered and 2% likely to have become extinct in the region. Overall we estimate that 64% (382) of species are declining. These statistics present a grim picture of the survival of vertebrates in these catchments and potentially for the sheep-wheat belt of eastern Australia. The extreme loss of habitat and its poor condition across much of these catchments followed by serious changes to the functioning of the landscape provide clear reasons for the catastrophic decline of vertebrates in this landscape. If this serious decline in the Central West and Lachlan catchments is to be halted, strategies aimed at habitat and landscape restoration must be developed. Current strategies based on Threatened Species management plans and ad hoc planting for revegetation have not produced results. We need a radical rethink.