Ltd
2015 Issue 01
Newsletter
Second quoll translocation
to follow successful trail
The trial reintroduction of Western Quoll to the Flinders Ranges National Park in
South Australia has been judged a success on all counts. This means permission
to bring in a second batch of western quolls has been granted.
The Western Quoll Reintroduction Team is now
planning for that exciting event, and a date in
early May has been identified as ‘Q Day’.
Forty-one Western Quoll were released
around Wilpena Pound last April, the first of
the species seen in the area in over 120 years.
Until the relocation program, western quolls
could only be found in the wild in the southwest corner of Western Australia, even though
they once lived in every mainland state.
The Foundation for Australia’s Most
Endangered Species is raising $1.7 million
to roll out one of the most important – and
controversial – wildlife recovery plans in
Australia today.
Important because quolls are keystone
predators and their presence contributes to
the health of arid ecosystems.
Controversial because bringing back locally
extinct species to wild habitat is extremely
rare, especially where feral predators
are present.
CEO Cheryl Hill said FAME was relieved and
excited:
“Even though we knew, based on 18 years’
work by the Western Australian Department of
Parks and Wildlife supporting Australia’s last
Western Quolls, that quolls can survive where
cats are present, we did not know exactly
what would happen in SA.”
“As it turns out we’ve done better than we
thought we would and now we have an
effective action plan that can be shared with
others who want to bring back the quoll to
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other parts of its former range. After 250 years
of losing one species after another we’re
turning the tide and I dare to hope that the
future for wildlife is a little brighter, especially
if our search to find an effective cat control
device is successful.”
The first quolls to arrive in the Flinders Ranges
were electronically tracked both on the
ground and from the air. Their radio collars
were been progressively removed but the
next batch will also be fitted with radio
collars and tracked to monitor survival and
health and to determine their behaviour when
interacting with the established territories of
earlier arrivals.
The next batch of quolls will be chosen for
youth and fitness, and will arrive just in time
for mating season when last year’s young
should be ready to join in. Western Quoll
live around 3 years in the wild. They breed
best in their first year, although many of last
year’s females could also be capable of
breeding again.
Based on these results, and provided
that survival rates continue to be good,
the population of Western quoll in the
Flinders Ranges could double or even triple
very quickly.
The program to restore the Western Quoll
to the Flinders Ranges of South Australia will
continue until 2018. Thanks to many generous
donors we have funded the planning phase
and the trial phase but we still have $1m to
find to ensure that the project can go the
distance and reach a successful conclusion.
PLEASE send your generous contribution to FAME, PO Box 482 MITCHAM
SA 5062 or online: www.fame.org.au/donate. If you know of others who are
passionate about Australian wildlife and would be interested in supporting
this important project please ask them to contact FAME CEO Cheryl Hill via
[email protected] or phone 08 8374 1744.
Photo courtesy Ecological Horizons.
Photo courtesy Ecological Horizons.
Photo courtesy Hannah Bannister.
Top: Collaring a quoll is no easy task.
Centre: Western Quolls use speed, teeth and
escape routes in rugged terrain to survive
predators. Bottom: These 2014 babies will be
ready to breed when the next shipment of Western
Quolls arrives in May.
What’s Inside…
•Children rally to support
FAME
•Farewell to the
Mallee Emu-wren
•Bramble Cay Melomys
•Mahogany Glider
•Feral Feature
•KI leads the way
Milla’s Story
Milla has been learning about
endangered species in primary
school and she cares about keeping
animals safe, especially endangered
Australian animals like the Tasmanian
Devil, the Mountain Pygmy Possum
and the Western Quoll.
Above: Nilla selling cards at her local Post Office. Inset: Nilla’s cards.
Milla decided that just feeling sorry for these
animals wasn’t enough. She wanted to do
something to help. With the support of her
parents Milla thought of a plan - and then she
put her plan into action. The first step was to
make some cards to sell. The second step was
to find a place to sell the cards.
It turned out that the local Australia Post office
was also happy to help. They allowed Milla to
set up a display of her cards right in the shop,
and to stand there to talk to the customers
about why they should help too.
Milla attracted a lot of attention and many
people were happy to buy her cards.
Afterwards, she sent the money she raised to
FAME and we are using it in support of our
endangered species projects.
Thank you Milla! Thanks to Australia Post,
too. I’m sure there are now more people in
your town who are interested in endangered
wildlife because of your efforts and
your kindness.
South Australian schools fundraising to help
restore the Western Quoll
There are many children like Milla and Marshall who worry about endangered
animals and want to do something but don’t know how.
To help all those children, this year FAME has
developed a school fundraising program that
can be used for both primary and secondary
students and will be of great benefit to both
the students and the Western Quoll.
Our program will provide information,
learning activities and teacher’s notes for three
age groups, and give-aways like badges and
stickers. In return, we ask that the class or the
school raise funds to help bring back the
Western Quoll to its original territory, starting in
the Flinders Ranges of South Australia.
We plan to roll the program out right across
the country, but this year we’re starting in
South Australia.
It’s important to remember that the Western
Quoll once lived right across Australia, in
every mainland state, but is now reduced
to the south west of Western Australia. The
first step in restoring the quoll to its original
territory is being taken in South Australia, in
the Flinders Ranges. The recent successful
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trail reintroduction in 2014 means we can
bring more quolls from WA in 2015 and 2016,
provided we have the funds.
The project in SA concludes in 2018, when
we hope that a thriving population of quolls
has been established in the Flinders Ranges
and is beginning to spread out. If this happens
we will know that the future of the Western
Quoll is much more secure and we can turn
our attention to other places and other states
where this wonderful little animal once lived.
And that exciting achievement will be thanks
to every person, every organisation and every
child, including Milla and Marshall and their
parents, who cared enough to make the effort
to help.
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HAVE YOU MADE A CONTRIBUTION TO THE FUTURE OF THE WESTERN
QUOLL? Please join us by sending your donation for the Western Quoll
Reintroduction Project to FAME via our website www.fame.org.au/support
or post your donation to FAME at PO Box 432 MITCHAM SA 5062
Marshall’s Story
Marshall is a 9-year-old student
at Southern Montessori School in
O’Sullivan Beach, South Australia.
Marshall may be only 9, but he
already understands that Australia’s
wildlife is special and needs help.
This is Marshall’s story:
“One day in class last year the teachers
handed out some flyers about FAME for the
children to read and take home. The flyers
had information about some of my favourite
animals, like the Tasmanian Devils. I like
helping animals and I wanted to help FAME.
“I decided to start collecting bottles and cans
so I could take them to a recycling centre for
money and then send that to FAME. At school
I did a presentation about the Tasmanian
Devils and Devil Ark so other children would
want to help too. I was really proud to read
that the Tasmanian Devils got a giant freezer
for food storage from everyone’s donations. “I’m looking forward to helping FAME and the
animals with more recycling and donations
this year.”
We’re glad to have you as part of the team
Marshall! Thanks for helping.
Above: Marshall raising funds by recycling bottles and cans. Inset: Marshall is very proud of his FAME sticker.
Editor’s Note: FAME helped found Devil Ark, and we have been contributing to the Ark and it’s precious population of devils ever since.
In winter 2014 the freezer we funded (with Marshall’s help) once again proved its life-saving importance when heavy snow locked down
the Ark. Roads were impassable, and staff had to rely not only on food stored in the freezer, but also on the cool room. Icy conditions at the
Ark mean that the temperature is lower outside than inside, and when that happens the FAME cool room is the only place where food can
be defrosted.
Western Quoll and Brush-tailed Possum Re-introduction Timeline
Quolls collected from south-western Western
Australia Flown directly from WA to Wilpena
Pound, wild-to-wild release program
The Western Quolls are
fitted with electronic
collars.
40 Western Quolls to be released in May 2015
and again in 2016
Western Quoll breeding
in June/July 2014 – at
least 60 babies born
50-100 Brush-tailed Possums
to be released into Wilpena
Pound in July 2015
2018 OBJECTIVE: Western Quolls and Brush-tailed Possums established;
feral predator control in place; natural systems begin to recover Page 3
April 2014 – 18 female
Western Quolls released
into Wilpena Pound
April 2014 – 20 male
Western Quolls released
into Wilpena Pound
Staff and PhD students
are undertaking an
extensive monitoring
program, tracking quolls
on foot and by planes
through rugged terrain.
WILDLIFE ROUNDUP
Farewell to the mallee emu-wren
Wildfires in two South Australian conservation parks in 2014 have resulted in the loss of the last 60 breeding pairs of the
Mallee emu-wren (Stipiturus mallee). The species is now extinct in SA.
This tragic event has two harsh reminders for
conservation managers:
• A single population of an endangered
species is not enough to provide certainty
for the future. One or more insurance
populations are the minimum strategy
to support survival of small populations.
Reduction of population size, and
reduction of available territory has resulted
in an increased risk of extinction for as many
as 50 Australian mammal and 50 Australian
bird species.
• Inappropriate fire regimes threaten the
existence of many endangered species
across the country. Fire has always been
part of the Australian environment, but
it is the changing pattern of fire, such as
the increase or decrease in its frequency,
patchiness and intensity that is having
the greatest impact on some of our most
threatened wildlife.
In 2009 the Black Saturday bushfires
almost wiped out an entire population of
Leadbeater’s possum in Victoria and burnt
EDITOR’S NOTE:
At last! Recognition of the role of digging
and burrowing Australian animals in
providing natural fire breaks and reducing
fuel loads has begun to appear.
Fires where wildlife is present are ‘cooler’
than the wild fires now so prevalent in
our bushlands. The loss of wildlife such as
bilbies, bandicoots, bettongs, numbats
and even the lyrebird and malleefowl
means a build-up of leaf litter on the soil,
and the absence of browsers such as
Photo courtesy Daryl Dickson.
Photo courtesy Marcus Pickett.
through 43 per cent of the species’ protected
habitat, taking out many important nesting
trees. The situation was made more critical
by years of logging that reduced the number
of suitable trees. With the assistance of the
Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum and FAME,
replacement nest boxes supported the
remaining possums while their environment
slowly recovered.
Historically, fire was used by indigenous
Australians to manage the bush. Patch or
mosaic burning meant only small areas were
burnt at one time, leaving safe areas for
wildlife and ensuring a cool burn.
The decline of traditional burning has
coincided with the collapse of vegetation
structures and mammal populations in many
areas. Fires nowadays are so hot that they
destroy all life, down to and including the ants
that once were the first species to become
active after a fire. With no place to shelter,
animals that once waited out a fire before
coming back to their territory are now either
killed outright or become vulnerable to feral
predators due to a loss of ground cover and
shelter sites.
It is clear that Australia needs some sensible
strategies to manage the bush in the absence
of wildlife and traditional indigenous fire
regimes.
small to medium wallabies means more
undergrowth. These conditions, along
with a greater frequency of severe weather
events, promote hotter and more frequent
fires.
Research is now validating observations,
usually at large-scale sanctuaries
where such wildlife is present, that the
reintroduction of digging and burrowing
animals in some areas could play a role in
fire management and possibly increase fire
safety in the future.
Anyone for bandicoots in the backyard?
The endangered mahogany
gliders of far north Queensland
need connecting up.
As one of Australia’s most threatened mammals and Queensland’s only listed
endangered glider species, with a heavily restricted and drastically habitat
where access to vital resources is disrupted every day (and every night), the
mahogany glider is very familiar with disconnectivity.
Sadly, 50% of the glider’s habitat has been
cleared for agriculture, roads and residential
development. On top of that, it is here that
cyclone Yasi made landfall in 2011, impacting
the entire range of the mahogany glider and
devastating much of its already limited habitat.
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Heroic efforts to provide emergency shelter
sites and otherwise help the Mahogany Glider
recover from the impact of cyclone Yasi were
supported by FAME and were very effective,
but destruction and fragmentation of habitat
disrupts access to vital resources and places
WILDLIFE ROUNDUP
Bramble Cay Melomys gone forever
The Bramble Cay Melomys, a small rodent that was only ever found on one small sand cay (island) in the Torres Straight off
the tip of northern Australia, is the latest Australian mammal to go extinct.
As we know, government funding of wildlife
projects is dwindling despite the best efforts
of wildlife departments around the country.
Some are managing better than others,
and some, such as the South Australian
Department of Environment Water and Natural
Resources, are working in partnership with
organisations like FAME to obtain funds for
species preservation.
© The State of Queensland (Department
of Environment and Heritage
Protection).
Discovered in 1845 and not seen since 2007,
the Bramble Cay Melomys has been living
life on the brink for many years. With a total
of around 100 animals and a tiny territory
(5ha - of which they occupied less than half)
subject to erosion by wind and water, its very
existence was a small miracle.
Sadly, following a recent survey which failed
to find even one of these lovely little animals,
the Bramble Cay Melomys now seems to have
gone forever.
This latest extinction is of great concern to
FAME, even though it is highly unlikely that
we could have prevented it. There were
no introduced predators, no loss of critical
vegetation and no other visible reason. Short
of a very expensive study, we will probably
never know what caused the disappearance
of the Bramble Cay Melomys.
Since European colonisation 30 mammals
(more than 10% of Australia’s mammal
species) have shared this fate. Today the task
of preventing any of the more than 1,850
animals and plants listed as threatened under
Commonwealth legislation is overwhelming,
and well beyond the resources of any one
organisation. Although recovery plans for
more than 800 species are in place, the vast
majority are sitting on the shelf.
the glider’s gene pool under threat.
Wildlife Queensland’s Cassowary Coast Hinchinbrook Branch recovery team works
tirelessly to identify key corridors of habitat
and to reconnect, repair and restore them.
Research conducted by leading Australian
universities and wildlife services confirms
fauna crossings to be an effective method of
reconnecting target species with resources
such as food, shelter and mates, significantly
improving their reproductive and survival
rates. Gliding poles, canopy bridges and
vegetated medians enable target species
to migrate across landscape barriers (roads,
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Page 5
HOW TO CHOOSE WHICH SPECIES
TO SAVE?
The recent appointment of a Threatened
Species Commissioner by the federal
government signals recognition of an urgent
situation for Australian wildlife but we are
all – government, non-profit, philanthropic
organisations and donors – favouring some
species over others every time we choose a
project to support.
Commissioner Gregory Andrews, who
has been a veritable whirlwind since his
appointment, recognises that his role is one of
strategy, influence and facilitation rather than
the allocation of funding. Australia desperately
needs a national framework for action to
guide decision making about the future of
threatened Australian species. Commissioner
Andrews is ideally placed to facilitate the
development of such a framework.
Ideally, this will include how to make
decisions in the best interests of Australia’s
vast landscape. Given that there simply isn’t
the money to save everything, perhaps we
should favour those species that help keep
our soil, air, water and vegetation functioning
to support life? Lovely as it was, the Bramble
Cay Melomys did not (to our knowledge) rate
highly against this criteria.
power, rail), reducing the impact of the
human-wildlife conflict and the threat of
extinction.
In the next step toward saving the endangered
mahogany glider, the Wildlife Queensland
team is now installing a 25m pole crossing
and specialised camera monitoring system
between two key remnants of mahogany
glider habitat. They are also continuing
a program of revegetation in the area by
planting melaleuca and eucalypt saplings and
juvenile grasstrees in key mahogany glider
corridor and habitat sites.
For more information about Wildlife Queensland’s Mahogany Glider recovery
program visit: www.wildlife.org.au/v3/news/2011/mahoganyglider.html
WESTERN QUOLL RESTORATION A GOOD
INVESTMENT IN SCARCE RESOURCES
Triage is a process used to determine where
to place effort and resources when forced
to choose between multiple casualties.
Triage dictates that in extreme situations the
best strategy is to help the victim with some
hope of survival. In ecological terms, saving
a key-stone species (one that has a positive
influence on an entire ecosystem) has more
value than saving one living in isolation. The
project to restore the Western Quoll to arid
Australia is a good example. Not only are we
restoring a single species and strengthening
its chances of survival, we are also restoring a
key-stone species that will have a beneficial
effect on an entire ecosystem.
HOW DOES FAME CHOOSE WHICH
PROJECTS TO SUPPORT?
When it comes to choosing which project and
which species to support, FAME uses some
simple criteria:
• any project FAME supports must benefit at
least one endangered Australian species
• project outcomes must increase the
likelihood of long-term survival for the
species involved.
• species must be supported where possible
in their natural habitat or as part of a project
that will lead to their restoration to natural
habitat
• Vulnerable species must be protected
from the influence of feral predators and
competitors to the extent that the likelihood
of survival is increased
• Where research is the principle activity, that
research must have the outcome of providing
information to increase the chances of survival
of one or more endangered species
Photo courtesy Daryl Dickson.
The number one threat to the
survival of the Mahogany Glider
remains habitat loss and lack of
connectivity.
FERAL FEATURE
Latest toad control strategy – fence off
that dam!
It’s not realistic to think that they can be kept away from all Australian
waterways, but University of NSW researchers now think that keeping cane
toads away from outback dams may help in the long-term control of the pest
in arid Australia
It’s important to remember that while the
toads have taken to semi-tropical and tropical
areas where rainfall is high, most of their
journey overland is through areas where water
is scarce.
These areas are also used by pastoralists for
sheep and cattle and dams are a critical water
source for livestock. UNSW scientists used
tracking devices to analyse the movements
and habits of the cane toad in its so-far
unstoppable invasion of the continent and
discovered that cane toads use these dams
as refuges to survive Australia’s long hot dry
seasons, moving on when rain falls.
Observation showed that any single one of
these dams might support a thousand toads.
By building shade cloth fences around three
dams on the edge of the Tanami Desert,

scientists showed that after three days of
trying to get through the fence during the dry
season, cane toads died in large numbers.
The fences were left in place through a full
wet season and at the commencement of
the next dry period toad numbers were
ten to 100 times lower than around dams that
were not fenced.
The downside of this strategy is the cost and
effort of maintenance of fences. Fences are
not the only answer to the problem, but can
help to control toads on a local scale and
keep them at low numbers in areas where
there is no other source of fresh water.
Exclusion fences will now be one of a range
of strategies being slowly developed by
both scientists – and the community -in the
ongoing battle to slow or halt the progress of
Photo courtesy Brian Gratwicke
the cane toad across Australia.
There are still wild places in Australia,
including massive lake systems in central
Australia, which are really important for
biodiversity conservation and could be
destroyed by an invasion of toads. It will
be critical to find the best combination
of strategies before these precious places
are reached and taken over by these
poisonous pests.
Visit http://www.canetoadsinoz.com/ to read about the work being done at the University of Sydney by Prof Rick Shine
and colleagues (supported by FAME) to stop the toad.
Rock wallaby rebounds in WA wheatbelt
An increase in the numbers of a critically endangered Black-flanked Rock Wallaby population in WA is the result
of predator-proof fencing to exclude the foxes and cats that reduced the population to less than five, including just
one female.
Nangeen Hill Nature Reserve, near Kellerberrin,
was home to this tiny group. The area has
been baited continually for many years to
control feral predators, but the wallaby
population continued to decline and wildlife
workers believed they would disappear
completely without help.
For some animals, the presence of a predator
produces a reaction that is so strong it
overcomes even the instinct for food. The
Nangeen wallabies were too frightened to
go beyond the safety of their rock shelters
to graze, and were clearly suffering from
starvation and a failure to thrive.
To protect the population and give it a chance
to survive, a five-kilometre long electric fence
was built in 2013 around the Black-flanked
Rock Wallabies in their nature reserve, and
22 wallabies (some from other remnant
populations) were introduced into this
protected area.
Since then, according to Department of Parks
and Wildlife flora and fauna conservation
officer Natasha Moore, the wallaby population
has jumped to 39. The plan is to allow the
wallaby colony to grow within the reserve and
use some of the animals to repopulate other
Page 6
struggling colonies elsewhere in the state.
For most wildlife projects fencing is not a
long term solution although feral free natural
habitat, protected by a predator-proof fence,
is without doubt the most effective strategy
Photo courtesy Mt Rothwell.
for vulnerable wildlife. Unfortunately it is also
the most expensive and for this reason is not
likely to be used without significant public or
philanthropic support. Even then long term
costs are daunting.
Most of Australia’s threatened mammals are at
risk because of foxes and cats. Fenced areas
are an important tool for wildlife protection.
At this time so is shooting, baiting and
trapping of feral predators and competitors.
The ‘holy grail’ of wildlife protection is
permanent removal of feral predators from the
bush – not likely in the short term.
There are, however, wildlife experts
dedicated to finding that grail. One such is
Dr John Read, whose feral cat ‘grooming trap’
continues to show great promise and will be
trialled on Kangaroo Island this year (see the
article about Kangaroo Island’s cat control
program in this newsletter). If successful, this
trap could replace other less humane and
more labour-intensive methods of cat control.
The trap is not intended to be a money-maker.
In fact, the intent is to produce a device that
can be mass-produced at a modest cost
and made available to all comers. We expect
demand to be enormous.
FERAL FEATURE
Photo courtesy Andrew Cook, Invasive Animals CRC.
Kangaroo Island leads the way with its
Feral Cat Reduction Program.
The 4400 square kilometres of SA’s Kangaroo Island are some of the most fortunate in Australia as they are free of the
introduced pests the fox and the rabbit.
The effect this has on the Island is some
amazing wildlife abundance and diversity.
Unfortunately the island is not free of feral
cats. The Island’s feral cat population is
estimated at around 5000 and more than 90%
of Island residents are in favour of controlling
un-owned cats. (Surveys, 1993 & 2005)
Since the early 2000’s the Island has had a
Cat Control Committee which served to raise
awareness of the impact the Island’s feral
cat population had on biodiversity and on
the fat lamb industry through transmission
of the disease Sarcocystis. Sarcocystis is a
disease that infects the meat of the sheep
and, if present, downgrades the value of the
meat. The presence of Sarcocystis may have a
serious effect on annual farm income.
More recently, in 2010 the Kangaroo Island
Council introduced By-laws that called for
annual registration, micro-chipping and desexing of all domestic cats. In addition, the
by-law limits the number of cats to one in a
small dwelling, and two in any other dwelling.
The owner of the cat must effectively confine
Page 7
the cat to their own property.
The current KI Council is putting together a
strategy for the reduction of feral cat numbers
and further management of domestic cats. The
long term aim of this strategy is to achieve a
cat free island. These strategies will require the
participation and cooperation of the Island’s
ratepayers, the Natural Resource Management
(NRM) Board and the Department of
Environment, Water and Natural Resources
(DEWNR).
In February this year Threatened Species
Commissioner Gregory Andrews visited the
Island and encouraged the KI NRM and the
KI Council to move beyond policies and the
begin work on the project. (The Islander,
12/2/2015).
FAME has recently resolved to support the
development and trial of an innovative cat
trap that recognises the target is a cat and
delivers a poison in spray form that the cat
ingests while grooming. The developer of
the Grooming Trap is hopeful that a trial of
traps on Kangaroo Island will begin in the
near future. If successful, the new traps will
be used in conjunction with other methods
to seriously reduce the Island’s feral cat
population over the next few years.
Both wildlife and the Island’s important sheep
industry will benefit.
EDITOR’S NOTE: FAME congratulates the
KI Council for taking this step. Cats are
widely recognised as a massive problem for
Australian wildlife, but not many realise the
dangers that cats pose to the pastoral industry.
FAME has been working away at this issue
for some time, including funding a research
project into the effect of feline toxoplasmosis
(a disease spread through cat droppings) on
wildlife – quolls and bandicoots in particular
– and sheep. It was discovered that the
presence of toxoplasmosis can cause ewes
to abort lambs, and that toxoplasmosis was
implicated in the decline of (among other
native wildlife species) the now critically
endangered Eastern Barred Bandicoot and the
Eastern Quoll.
FERAL FEATURE
Canberra Indian Myna Action Group
gains national recognition
Congratulations to the Canberra Indian Myna Action Group (CIMAG) and to President and Founder Bill Handke, who is
also a long-time FAME member. In 2013 the Keep Australia Beautiful National Environmental Innovation and Protection
Award recognised CIMAG’s efforts to protect the local environment from the threats posed by Indian Mynas.
This recognition was supplemented with an
Award by the Conservation Council of the
ACT Region to CIMAG President, Bill Handke,
in 2014 – the “2014 ACT Environment Award”
- for protecting the environment as Founder,
President and driving force of the CIMAG
myna control program.
CIMAG has done the impossible: making
sightings of native birds more common in
Canberra backyards than those of the invasive
Indian Myna.
Myna numbers in the Canberra region continue
to decline. They are now the 18th most
common bird – compared to the 20th most
common bird in the previous survey year.
CIMAG now has an impressive list of
achievements, including 50,550 known
removals of Indian Mynas since the group
was established in 2006! In addition there are
now at least 43 Indian Myna Action Groups
operating in eastern Australia, including
Victoria, Queensland and NSW.
Sadly, where Indian Mynas are being reduced
in some areas, the Myna invasion is expanding
on other fronts. News that the Indian Myna is
spreading westward have been confirmed
by sightings in Parkes and other outback NSW
centres.
Although the Indian Myna is a resilient bird,
it is a pest whose attributes make it highly
suited for wide-scale community trapping:
it is sedentary; commensal – ie lives around
people; conspicuous – always around;
social - so it flocks; unpopular; and readily
enters traps for food. The community-action
approach is highly desirable as it enables
high numbers of traps to be deployed by the
community at little or no cost to government,
and with the prospect of significant captures
and thus impact on myna numbers.*
*Information drawn from “Myna Matters”, the newsletter of
the Canberra Indian Myna Action Group.
From the editor’s desk
Australian predators – mammals that prey on
other species - have been demonised since
colonisation. Our largest natural predator, the
Tasmanian Tiger, was driven to extinction in
1936. Others, such as the Tasmanian Devil and
four species of quoll, have been reduced in
number and range. All are at risk of extinction.
Despite a growing body of evidence that
dingos suppress cat and fox density and
enable the survival of vulnerable wildlife,
and even demonstrations that semi-arid
cattle ventures are more profitable when a
healthy dingo population is present (because
they keep kangaroo numbers down), it is
unlikely that the dingo will be accepted for
widespread re-introduction anytime soon.
Attention is now on remaining, less hated
natural predators such as devils and quolls.
International research shows that top
predators are an essential part of healthy
ecosystems. Dingos, devils and quolls are
keystone species – according to Wikipedia
‘a keystone species is a species that has
a disproportionately large effect on its
environment relative to its abundance.’ Such
species play a critical role in maintaining
the structure of an ecological community,
affecting many other organisms and helping to
determine the types and numbers of various
other species in the community.
Think of a keystone species as being similar
to a keystone in an arch. While the keystone is
under the least pressure of any of the stones
in an arch, the arch still collapses without
it. In nature, an ecosystem may experience
a dramatic shift if a keystone species is
removed, even though that species was a
small part of the ecosystem.
Before humans began to dominate and
change the natural world keystone predators
maintained a healthy balance between
species. But remove the top predator and
grazing animals can breed out of control until
their behaviour becomes destructive: remove
wolves (in the US) and elk over-graze willows
until stream banks erode; remove the dingo
in Australia and kangaroos breed up until they
become a serious problem for pastoralists.
Reduction of Tasmanian Devil numbers
by up to 90% is ringing alarm bells for
conservationists. Just as rabbit numbers on the
mainland only exploded after quolls began to
disappear, there are fears that feral animals will
boom on the island without the devil to keep
them under control. If this happens, a range
of unique species that now survive only on
Tasmania could disappear completely.
On the Australian mainland the fox and the
cat have taken over where the dingo once
dominated. However, in those few wild
places where dingos still exist foxes and cats
take a back seat and wildlife benefits.
‘Re-wilding’ is the latest buzz word in
conservation circles. This means bringing back
natural conditions to the Australian bush,
starting with natural predators. Top of the list
is the Tasmanian Devil, but thanks to FAME’s
early success in restoring the Western Quoll to
its original territory widespread reintroduction
of the quoll - a much less threatening
candidate - is also on the horizon. Our project
is being watched closely and – if it goes the
distance and results in the reestablishment of
the Western Quoll in the Flinders Ranges – will
provide a template for other such projects in
the future.
Go the quoll!
Cheryl Hill, Editor and CEO
FAME NEWSLETTER
is published by the
Foundation for Australia’s Most
Endangered Species Ltd
ABN 79 154 823 579
PO Box 482
MITCHAM South Australia 5062
Tel: 08 8374 1744
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.fame.org.au
Articles in this publication
can be reproduced with
acknowledgement.
 Your support can help FAME restore the balance to arid Australia,
beginning in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia. Visit www.fame.org.au
Page 8
Produced by sarahbennettdesign.com.au
I’m pleased
to report that
the concept of
returning top
predators to
the Australian
bush is gaining
momentum.