Four localities within the Warrumbungle National Park were investigated for the presence of the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby. Direct observation and faecal pellet identification were used to indicate the animal's presence. Results showed that only Chalkers Mountain had the macropods present, however, within the Park include feral fox and goat control programmed combined with exclusion fencing around optimal habitat. A review of known Brush-tailed Rock-wallby distribution in New South Wales is also recommended as the survey showed a continuing decline of the animal's distribution west of the Great Dividing Range.

The Broad-toothed Rat Mastacomys fuscus is infrequently recorded in Tasmania and was only recently discovered at altitudes >1000 m, although the species occurs on the Australian mainland at >2200 m. A survey of Tasmanian alpine habitat found evidence of M. fuscus within a metre or two of the summit of Cradle Mountain at 1545 m, the highest altitude recorded for M. fuscus within Tasmania. There was a negative relationship between the presence of Bennett's Wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) and M. fuscus at all sites. This is analogous to the absence of tall alpine herbfield as a plant community in Tasmania as a result of grazing by M. rufogriseus . At Cradle Mountain, M. fuscus occurred in alpine areas above rock barriers that prevented access by M. rufogriseus and hence allowed sufficient growth of grass to support populations of M. fuscus .This study further demonstrates the importance of M. rufogriseus in alpine ecosystems that lack a seasonal snow cover and raises the question of the potential impacts of M. rufogriseus in habitats with declining snow cover in mainland alpine areas.

ABSTRACT A diverse range of corporations, businesses and organisations play an important role in threatened species conservation. During the unprecedented bushfire season in Australia in the 2019–20 summer, corporations, businesses and organisations contributed significant financial and in-kind support for the Saving our Species Program’s threatened species recovery efforts. On the eastern coast, a combination of food shortages and heat stress events resulted in large numbers of Grey-headed Flying-foxes Pteropus poliocephalus requiring rescue and rehabilitation. Prolonged drought and intense bushfires reduced available foraging resources for the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby Petrogale penicillata and Mountain Pygmy-possum Burramys parvus. Corporations donated produce to feed flying-foxes in care and provide supplementary feeding for wild populations of rock-wallabies and pygmy-possums. Local businesses and organisations also supplied resources, funding and food storage capacity to support these conservation actions. The contributions from corporations, businesses and organisations in these case studies totalled more than $70,000.

The commercial harvest of kangaroos in Australia is regulated by various state government agencies. They control the number of kangaroos that can be harvested annually with the view to ensuring that the harvest remains ecologically and economically sustainable. In addition to controlling the harvest quotas, some agencies impose minimum weight restrictions on harvested animals, which may assist with maintaining viable breeding populations. However, harvesting usually occurs in remote regions and carcases may be stored refrigerated for up to 10-14 d before being inspected for compliance with minimum weight restrictions. Consequently, there is concern that weight loss during cold storage, particularly in small carcases close to the minimum limit, could lead to harvesters being wrongly prosecuted or fined for breaching the minimum carcase weight licence condition. We found that for two species of kangaroo, the large eastern grey kangaroo ( Macropus giganteus ; liveweight 30-70 kg) and the smaller red-necked wallaby ( M. rufogriseus ; liveweight 10-24 kg), carcase weight loss after 10 days cold storage was negligible. There was no significant effect of species on carcase weight change after 10 days cold storage and their pooled weight change averaged just -75.0 ± 18.0 g, or 0.35 ± 0.08% of initial carcase weight. This level of weight loss was significantly different from a hypothesised weight change of zero (Z = -4.17, P < 0.001). However, after an additional four days of cold storage, average weight change in the smallest carcases (the red-necked wallabies) was not significantly different from zero (Z = -1.65, P > 0.05).

ABSTRACT Australian mammals have been subject to a range of threats that have contributed to species declines and extinctions since European settlement. Invasive predators, namely the European Red Fox Vulpes vulpes and the feral Cat Felis catus , are particularly detrimental to small to medium–sized terrestrial mammals. Suppression of these predators is critical to the persistence of many native species. However, few broad–scale fox baiting programs exist in Australia and the efficacy of cat control measures is extremely limited. One of the most successful approaches to safeguarding threatened species from these impacts is the establishment of predator–exclusion areas; offshore islands or mainland ‘islands’ protected by predator–proof fencing. The Australian Wildlife Conservancy is a not–for–profit private conservation organisation that has established several predator–free ‘islands’ for conservation purposes. This brief summary of the work undertaken in these predator–proof reserves highlights how threatened species can persist and even thrive when foxes and cats are excluded, with examples from the Bridled Nailtail Wallaby Onychogalea fraenata , Burrowing Bettong Bettongia lesueur and Bilby Macrotis lagotis .

Twenty-one species of non-flying native mammals were positively identified during a systematic fauna survey of forest, woodland and scrub habitats in State Forests on the northwest slopes of New South Wales (1993-95). This is about 50% of the known historical diversity of mammal species from this region (43 recorded species), with 11 considered extinct and 12 species known from the region, but not recorded during the survey. Of the species detected during the survey, 10 can be considered as common or widespread, while 12 species can be considered rare or under-recorded. The specific identity of two species detected from hair and scat samples, Notomys sp. and Rattus sp., remain unclear as do observations made of rat-kangaroos. This paper presents the results of the mammal survey and analyses the habitat1 resource preferences and weight ranges of the extant, declining and extinct species from the region. The results of this analysis suggest that grass-dependent species and species between 50 g and 6 kg have suffered most from extinction. Species currently considered under threat or whose status remains unclear generally have shrubby understorey and mature tree/log preferences and weigh between 10 g and 1.5 kg. Mammals still common in State Forests of the region are generally mature woodland (tree and log dependent) or shrubby understorey species over 1 kg. Patterns of cultural disturbance are compared to these trends.

So-called Marsupial Destruction Acts were in force in Queensland horn I877 to 1930. The Acts were administered by District Boards which paid bonuses (bounties on presentation of scalps) and kept annual records of their activities. During that period over 27 million macropods and bandicoots, as well as dingoes and foxes (which were included under the Acts) were destroyed. The cost to Queensland was over £1,187,000 in bonuses paid by the boards which included £349,000 in government subsidies. The annual reports on these Acts, which do not always provide information on individual boards, provide essentially reliable data reflecting the number of animals in existence. it is seen that despite the large number of pests destroyer, the original, purpose of Acts was not achieved in that the larger marsupials and the dingo successfully proliferated; no effect on fox numbers was discernible, the numbers of some medium-sized species remained static, me smaller species declined.

ABSTRACT We used two survey methods - citizen science for private land and cameras for protected areas - to map the distribution of dingoes/wild dogs and foxes in NSW. Dingo/wild dog records were mostly confined to the east coast and ranges, with scattered locations in western NSW. This contrasts to the distribution of foxes, in which occupancy was high across most of the state. Data from 200 WildCount camera sites within protected areas also showed marked differences in the distribution of the two canid species. At the scale of the state, dingoes/wild dogs are uncommon, with the greatest concentration being in the north-east of the state, as well as a marked presence in the south-east. Foxes are common and widespread within protected areas, but less common in the north-east of the state. The camera data also indicated that feral cats are widespread within protected areas. The second aim of our study was to examine the WildCount data for behavioural patterns of the canid species. Foxes and dingoes/wild dogs significantly separated within two sub-formations of dry sclerophyll forest based on the Keith (2004) classification of NSW vegetation. From species pairwise interactions at sites, we found only limited evidence for significant interactions, and then only for the co-occurrence of fox-rabbit and fox-swamp wallaby, but no avoidance for any of the predators with each other. Camera records of the time of day of being active showed little effect of the presence of dingoes/wild dogs on the times of activity of foxes, but foxes curtailed the activity times of dingoes/wild dogs. From the analysis of inter-animal times at sites where both canids were recorded, there was little difference between the time since the other species was present. Thus, there was no evidence that dingoes/wild dogs or foxes inhibit the other from being at a site. We concluded that at the landscape level, both vegetation type and land tenure play a role in the interactions between dingoes/wild dogs and foxes. We also concluded that citizen science and cameras are complementary, not alternative techniques, especially as they sample different land tenures, and that cameras in protected areas and occupancy from citizen science have produced higher resolution maps and behaviour patterns than have been previously available. We can confirm that foxes are a ubiquitous threat throughout NSW, whereas dingoes/wild dogs are concentrated into a much smaller area of eastern, particularly north-eastern, NSW.

ABSTRACT During the 1999 community survey of Australian tree-kangaroos by the Tree Kangaroo and Mammal Group of the Atherton Tablelands, the well-known naturalist, John Young, submitted a detailed account of watching a tree-kangaroo for half an hour in the Iron Range rainforest of Cape York Peninsula in 1979. At the time this was treated by hard-nosed scientists as “needing confirmation”, particularly as numerous earlier collecting expeditions had worked the area without the hint of a tree-kangaroo. John's report triggered a flurry of interest and has resulted in the collation of numerous “sightings” from the Peninsula and some targeted searches for the animal, but as yet no concrete evidence. So does the animal exist? Tantalising leads, but no hard evidence, have been found for the occurrence of tree-kangaroos in the region. We discuss the possibility that such a creature exists and what might be necessary to find it, and if it does occur what level of evidence is required.

Four species of macropods are commercially harvested in Queensland, red kangaroos, eastern grey kangaroos, common wallaroos and whiptail wallabies, under the control of the Nature Conservation (Macropod Harvesting) Conservation Plan 1994. Queensland's harvest represents the major portion of the national total, ranging from 55 to 68% for the period 1984 to 1992. Since the introduction of quotas in 1975, systems have been in place to monitor population trends, the size and distribution of both the commercial and non-commercial harvest, non-harvest mortality and reports of damage to primary production. These data provide the basis for monitoring both the population status of each of the commercial macropod species and any effects of harvesting. Direct monitoring in Queensland has involved aerial surveys, using both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and ground surveys, both on foot and using vehicles. Indirect monitoring is achieved through the determination and analysis of harvest parameters including sex ratio, average carcass weights, skin sizes and total numbers harvested. This information is obtained from returns provided by shooters and dealers. Funding derived from a levy applied on the tags provided to shooters is used to develop and refine the techniques to monitor and manage macropod harvesting in Queensland.

Kangaroos (Macropus spp.) are one of the most abundant native macrofauna on Australian floodplains with a positive relationship between their density and the deposition of faecal pellets that contain nutrients and carbon.We tested whether kangaroo faecal pellets are a source of nutrients and carbon during flooding in the Macquarie Marshes, an inland floodplain wetland, in south-eastern Australia. The faecal pellets of kangaroos, most likely of Red Kangaroo (M. rufus) , were found on the dry floodplain adjacent to Bora Channel (~30.6433°S/~ 147.5351 °E) at a density of 142±54 m -2 (mean±SE, n=3). Following artificial inundation, we monitored the release of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) five times over a six-day period from mesocosms deployed in situ .Three mesocosms contained faecal pellets and three mesocosms contained marsh floodplain sediments (top 5 cm of sediment consisting of soils and plant material) with faecal pellets removed. The concentrations (mean±SE, n =3) of TN, TP and DOC in the mesocosms containing the pellets were 0.037±0.0I7, 0.22±0.060 and 0.69±0.I4 g m -2 at day 6, while the mesocosms containing only the marsh floodplain sediments were I.03±0.23, 0.49±0.083 and 7.27± 1.02 g m -2 . On average, the kangaroo faecal pellets contributed ~6% of TN, ~3I% of TP and ~ 8% of DOC of the total amounts respectively released from the inundated floodplain over the six-day experiment. Nutrient and carbon depositions to floodplains in the form of faecal pellets from large terrestrial animals such as kangaroos are an important process of cycling these elements in inland floodplain wetlands, especially where large populations of these animals occur.

Charles Hoy, a collector for the US Museum of Natural History, spent three years in Australia (1919-1922) collecting at more than a dozen locations around Australia. He collected over one thousand specimens of mammals of more than 100 species. This paper collates the species collected by location and provides detailed quotes from his field notes and letters. Typically, his field notes and letters describe his collecting localities, detail what fauna he was able to collect, detail what additional fauna he had expected to collect, and speculate on the major land use changes impacting on the fauna. His letters and field notes provide valuable insights into the status of the Australian fauna and the perceived threats to its persistence at that time. He recorded a range of threats to mammals in temperate Australia, and singled out the desert fauna as being particularly vulnerable. In contrast, he recorded few threats in tropical Australia. Introduced foxes and cats, poisoning and trapping techniques to control rabbits, land clearing and hunting in localized areas, and regular burning of the forests were important factors in temperate Australia. He provides information of the timing of decline of mammals, distinguishing animals in the size category of the larger native rodents (the first to decline) and those the size of small wallabies (a subsequent decline). His fieldwork indicated an approximate synchrony in decline of medium-sized mammals at two distant locations (Eyre Peninsula in South Australia and Tamworth in New South Wales) in the period 1915-1918, which coincided with the eruptive wave of the fox invasion. In addition, he recorded the decline of specific species that he attributes to a combination of disease and predation from feral cats (the native cats Dasyurus spp.) or predominantly to disease (koala Phascolarctos cinereus ).

ABSTRACT Infrared cameras are now used universally to study wildlife. In this study camera traps were used to report the use of bare-nosed wombat Vombatus ursinus burrows by other species. Eleven species were captured using camera traps. The species observed utilising wombat burrows included wombats, rabbits, macropods, possums, murids, foxes, cats and birds. The utilisation of wombat burrows by these species included entry into the burrow for shelter and hunting, and exploitation of the burrow entrance and spoil for foraging and potentially geophagic purposes.

Guy Shortridge made extensive collections of mammals in southern Western Australia in the years 1904 to 1907, less than 80 years after first European settlement of the area. This paper reviews Shortridge's unpublished letters and the published papers that resulted from his collections in a reexamination of the temporal and spatial patterns of decline of these mammals. Shortridge collected a monotreme, 25 species of marsupial, 10 species of bat, 8 species of rodent, as well as rabbits and dingoes (a total of 46 species). He collected in five broad regions: mesic woodland sites in what is now the western wheatbelt; mesic coastal scrub sites around Albany; mesic forest habitat in the far south-west corner at Margaret River, Busselton, and Bunbury; semi-arid pastoral sites at Carnarvon and Gascoyne Junction; and semi-arid mining sites at Southern Cross, Kalgoorlie and Laverton. Shortridge was struck particularly by the rich fauna of the mesic woodland and the lack of species in the semi-arid interior (he obtained 20 terrestrial native species at the former and only 3–5 species at the latter). However, since that time, several of the species Shortridge collected at the mesic woodland sites have become extinct on mainland Australia ( Bettongia lesueur , Lagostrophus fasciatus , and Perameles bougainville ) or are now extinct ( Onchogalea lunata ) and the region shows one of the highest losses of mammals within Australia. Shortridge's collections emphasise that the loss of mammals in Western Australia has been a two-step process, with an initial loss of mammals in the semi-arid interior, followed by a subsequent loss from mesic woodland and coastal sites. His collections preceded the arrival of foxes Vulpes vulpes to the State and largely preceded the spread of rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus . Shortridge speculated that disease, predation by feral cats Felis catus , competition from house mice Mus musculus , and bushfires were major factors in overall decline, and the impact of closer settlement was important in localised declines. These, and other factors commonly cited as reasons for mammal decline (grazing and land clearing), are evaluated. The factors suggested by Shortridge for overall decline are potentially interlinked: feral cats or house mice may spread disease, feral cats may be more effective as predators in the presence of abundant house mice populations and at sites where vegetation refuges are reduced by fire, and both may reach highest densities around farms and settlements. The pattern of loss to 1907 can be explained by the spread of feral cats only if their impact on native mammals is high in semi-arid pastoral and mining areas, low in mesic areas, and low in arid areas where European impact was minimal. Possible mechanisms for such a variable impact of feral cats include: i) greater density of vegetation at mesic sites providing refuge for prey species; ii) protection conferred to prey species by poison plants Gastrolobium in the understorey of mesic woodland leading to secondary poisoning of predators; and iii) Aboriginal hunting of feral cats being effective in limiting the density and impact of cats in remote areas beyond the frontier of European colonisation.

The Burrowing Bettong Bettongia lesueur (Quoy and Gaimard 1824) has not previously been recorded from Queensland, although its past presence in all other mainland Australian states (excluding Victoria) is well documented. New evidence linking 11 old unregistered Queensland Museum study skins to 13 incorrectly identified skulls, and archival correspondence relating to an 1885 collection trip, made by museum collector Kendall Broadbent to Charleville, confirms that Burrowing Bettongs were once a part of Queensland's marsupial fauna. While old burrows attributable to B. lesueur are not uncommon in south-western Queensland, unconfirmed reports from the mid 1990s of “ football-sized wallabies bouncing off the dingo fence ” by kangaroo shooters operating there, throw the 1885 records into a modern context worthy of investigation.

A proposed new term ethnophoresy defines a Late Quaternary biological process that occurs when organisms are able to breach geographical barriers and disperse to new areas by hitching a ride in human vessels or cargo. In this paper a combination of literature analysis, historical research and original fieldwork is used to review the impact of ethnophoresy / anthropogenic animal translocation from ancient times to the present on the vertebrate zoogeography of Wallacea, New Guinea and the Northern Melanesian Islands, referred to collectively as the Circum New Guinea Archipelago. The focus of the paper is on translocated wild rather than domesticated vertebrates. The processes through which these species have been either unwittingly, accidentally or deliberately translocated to new areas are reviewed. Three principal categories of introduced wild species are recognised. These include stowaways, ethnotramps and incidentals. Ethnotramps include economically and culturally favoured animals such as Rusa Deer Cervus timorensis , Long-tailed Macaque Macaca fascicularis , and various civets, cuscuses, wallabies, cassowaries and wild-caught cage birds that are commonly carried around with humans. Stowaways tend to be smaller species such as shrews, rats or herpetofauna that conceal themselves or their eggs in vessels and cargo. While the Oriental region (or broader Indo-Malayan zoogeographic region) appears to have furnished parts of the Circum New Guinea Archipelago with around 58 introduced wild terrestrial vertebrates, translocation from the latter region has had negligible impact on the zoogeography of the former. Some Wallacean islands and New Guinea, however, have been a significant source of species introduced within the Circum New Guinea Archipelago. While vertebrate translocation appears to be largely a Holocene phenomenon, several New Guinea marsupials appear to have been exported to surrounding islands in the Late Pleistocene, with the earliest suspected translocation being that of the Northern Common Cuscus Phalanger orientalis to New Ireland between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago. It is postulated that some ancient human influences may be under-recognised due to the ambiguity of the evidence. An appendix presents some contemporary and suggested new terms in ethnozoology and biogeography.

State Forests of me southwestern slopes of New South Wales were surveyed for ground dwelling mammals utilizing hair baps (42 sites), small mammal traps (11 sites), nocturnal searches (253 sites), scat and animal sign observations, opportunistic observations and records from unpublished studies in me region. A total of 13 indigenous and 10 exotic ground-dwelling mammal species were identified. No threatened species were encountered, although some evidence suggesting the presence of a Potaoo Potorous sp. and Smoky Mouse Pseudomys fumeus was found in Bago and Maragle State Forests. Hair tube trapping (1 170 large baps for an average of 18 nights each and costing 226 person hours) revealed the presence of nine species/genera. Swamp Wallabies Wallabia bicolor , were the most commonly detected species. Small mammal trapping in swampy environments of Bago and Maragle State Forests (1 100 trap nights costing 52 person hours) detected the presence of Bush Rat Rattus fuscipes , Dusky Antechinus Antechinus swainsonii and Brown Antechinus Antechinus stuartii . Rattus fuscipes proved to be abundant in some localities. Records made by nocturnal survey (253 sites costing 306 person hours) revealed 14 ground-dwelling mammal species, notably Long-nosed Bandicoot Perameles nasuta . All the techniques were judged to be of value for broad forest surveys as no technique covered all species. Hair trapping had the greatest limitations in this study but is still of value if the method is used as a preliminary technique.

Extensive mammal surveys were carried out between 1998 and 2004 in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area and the Boodjamullah National Park in north-western Queensland. Thirty eight native mammal species were detected including a species (Spectacled Hare Wallaby) not recorded in the area for more than 80 years; the tally included l4 species of marsupial and l4 species of bat. Small terrestrial mammals were scarce and not detected each year. Six feral mammal species were also found. The relatively low density and diversity of small terrestrial mammals in the study area is similar to that reported elsewhere northern Australia (e.g. Woinarski et al. 2001.) and may be consistent with a pattern of general decline of native mammals in this region (Burbidge and McKenzie 1989, Kutt et al . 2005).