This paper describes a 6-year local-scale study at a koala black spot within Coffs Harbour before, during and after an upgrade of the Pacific Highway. Before the upgrade, koalas were regularly killed. The newly-erected koala exclusion fences largely eliminated the roadkill. Our study shows the value of solutions which are tailored to the scale of local problems. Photograph by Dan Lunney.

Dingoes frequently use such clearings as movement corridors, which can impact their habitat use, and therefore diet. We analysed 199 scats that were collected from inside and outside the footprint of a seismic survey to investigate whether creating linear clearings impacted dingo diet. There were dramatic season differences in diet, but we detected no change in diet caused by clearing. Dingoes in the West Kimberley consume cattle at a higher frequency than anywhere in Australia.

The amount that animals eat of certain plants is influenced by their tolerance for deterrent plant secondary metabolites. We investigated the capacity of common ringtail possums to eat diets containing secondary metabolites found in the leaves of a particular group of eucalypts. Ringtail possums were more tolerant of these compounds than has previously been described for common brushtail possums, which helps to explain why the two possum species often feed from different types of eucalypts. Photograph by Fred Ford.

Local variation in size and shape can have implications for individuals’ abilities to persist in different habitats. We measured historical specimens of a frequently translocated species, the greater stick-nest rat, and found significantly larger body size in arid and island populations, but no overall shape variation. This absence of local adaptation in shape suggests that the island population, which is the last remaining extant population of the species, is likely suitable for mainland translocations.

A number of animals are recognised as feeding on a human corpse. A review of historical accounts examined the propensity of Australia’s marsupial quolls to also scavenge a corpse and found both observational and contemporary opinion data supporting this behaviour. This data supports the known willingness for quolls to scavenge, especially during difficult winter conditions when food resources are limited.

The blue-grey mouse (Pseudomys glaucus) is presumed extinct and only known from three specimens from northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. We provide additional details on the collection of the NSW specimen in 1956 and hope that is sparks renewed interest in rediscovering this species.

Spotted-tailed quolls are often detected using targeted camera trap surveys, but may also be incidentally detected as non-target species in camera surveys targeting small to medium-sized herbivorous/omnivorous mammals (e.g. prey species). We investigated if quoll detectability using ‘prey’ camera surveys could sufficiently approximate quoll detectability using targeted ‘quoll’ surveys. We found that prey camera trap surveys significantly underestimated quoll detectability and may therefore be unsuitable for quoll-specific analyses due to incomplete datasets.

Here, we investigate factors influencing activity indices of a top predator (dingo) and an introduced mesopredator (red fox) in forests of south-eastern Australia. Lethal baiting was the best predictor of activity for both dingoes and foxes. Our results suggest that removal of dingoes, via lethal baiting, may be counter-productive for biodiversity conservation because it may lead to higher activity of foxes.

The ground cuscus is the only phalanger to use burrows in the ground for daytime shelter. An individual captured in the Trans-Fly delta in 2006 remains the only record from the lowlands of southern Papua New Guinea west of the Kikori Basin, despite a long history of mammal collecting in the region. The capture site was in a region of swamp habitat previously thought unsuitable for the species. Details of the record are given and its zoogeographic significance discussed. Photograph by S. Hamilton.

DNA sequencing of specimens of Pseudantechinus found on Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary in the Kimberley region of Western Australia revealed the existence of two species, Ps. macdonnellensis and Ps. ningbing. This is the first record of Ps. macdonnellensis from the Kimberley.

Camera trapping is commonly used throughout the world for wildlife surveys. Theft of equipment and data continues to threaten scientific research and monitoring. Over a 10 year period we have designed, constructed and tested several security post designs for camera traps to help mitigate the risks of camera trap theft.

Attaching generic reading glass lenses to camera traps can help improve identification of small mammals by allowing the camera trap to be placed closer to the animal, improving image clarity and magnification of some distinguishing features.

We report an eyewitness account of grey-headed flying-foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus) being killed by one of the Black Summer bushfires engulfing a flying-fox camp in Jeremadra, New South Wales. Large numbers of flying-foxes were observed attempting to escape but most dropped to the ground once in the air. Given the substantial proportion of the species’ range affected by these bushfires, we infer that such mortalities likely occurred in other locations. Photograph by Edward Hack.