Reintroduction to the edge of its range: quenda (Isoodon fusciventer) to Wadderin Sanctuary in the eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia

Jeff Short

doi:10.1071/PC23053

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Reintroduction to the edge of its range: quenda (Isoodon fusciventer) to Wadderin Sanctuary in the eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia

Jeff Short

^A ^*

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Environmental and Conservation Sciences, Murdoch University, South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: jeffery.short@murdoch.edu.au

Handling Editor: Mike Calver

Pacific Conservation Biology 30, PC23053 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC23053

Submitted: 20 November 2023 Accepted: 20 June 2024 Published: 9 July 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Quenda (bandicoots, Isoodon fusciventer) have shown a major decline in range since European settlement, contracting to the more mesic coastal and forest zones in south-west Western Australia. Key actions to recover this species include broad-scale fox control, cat control and reintroductions. Most reintroductions have been to coastal and forest habitats.

Aims

To monitor the reintroduction of quenda to fox-free habitat of Wadderin Sanctuary in the wheatbelt of Western Australia, close to the eastern and drier margin of the species’ former range.

Methods

Relative abundance of the population was monitored over a 12-year period by regular standardised trapping throughout the sanctuary.

Key results

Quenda were reintroduced in 2010 and have persisted for >12 years. They were protected from fox predation by an exclusion fence, but were subject to a low level of cat predation for the first 8 years. Quenda showed both a ~20% drop in mean body condition over time and a trend of decreasing number of pouch young per female over time, likely a result of a succession of dry years and intra-and inter-specific competition for food resources. However, despite this, the index of abundance suggests that quenda numbers substantially increased, aided by high annual recruitment, in years following removal of the feral cat.

Conclusions

Quenda appear resilient at this site despite consecutive years of very low rainfall and apparent competition for food resources.

Implications

Quenda seem able to persist on the drier margin of their former range when protected from high levels of predation.

Keywords: bandicoot, climatic margin, demography, feral cat, predator exclusion, range limits, sanctuary, SECR, translocation.

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