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RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)
Contents Vol 51(1)

High survivorship and rapid population growth of the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) reintroduced to a feral predator exclosure

Cassandra M. Arkinstall https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0078-0137 A * , Sean I. FitzGibbon https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2709-5738 A , Kevin J. Bradley B , Katherine E. Moseby https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0691-1625 C and Peter J. Murray https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1143-1706 D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of the Environment, Faculty of Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia.

B Save the Bilby Fund, Charleville, Qld 4470, Australia.

C Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.

D School of Agriculture and Environmental Science, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Qld 4350, Australia.

* Correspondence to: c.arkinstall@uq.edu.au

Handling Editor: Peter Caley

Wildlife Research 51, WR23076 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR23076
Submitted: 26 June 2023  Accepted: 29 November 2023  Published: 5 January 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 4.0 International License (CC BY)

Abstract

Context

The distribution of the threatened greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) has significantly contracted since the introduction of feral cats and foxes. To counteract these threats, bilbies have been reintroduced to multiple feral predator exclosures and offshore islands across Australia.

Aims

The aims of this study were to monitor the reintroduction of bilbies to the feral predator exclosure at Currawinya National Park and assess three hypotheses: (1) captive-born founders would establish stable home ranges and utilise habitats similar to those of wild-born bilbies in the exclosure; (2) founders would maintain adequate body condition and weight, enabling the survival of >50% of founders at 12 months post-release; and (3) the population would rapidly increase in the absence of feral predators, due to the high reproductive potential of bilbies.

Methods

We used VHF/GPS telemetry to compare home range size and habitat use of 12 founders and 11 wild-born bilbies. Founders were monitored intensively to assess reproductive success, weight, body condition and survival. Pouch activity was monitored to examine reproductive output. Spatially explicit capture–recapture modelling was used to estimate population density/size.

Key results

The population rapidly increased to >450 bilbies after 3 years, and founder survivorship was high (70% at 12 months post-release). Male founder home ranges (248.46 ha ± 97.22) were comparable in size to wild-born males (216.74 ha ± 54.19), but female founder home ranges (51.23 ha ± 12.22) were significantly larger than wild-born females (20.80 ha ± 2.94) (P = 0.04). The doubling of the population between 2021 and 2022 may have resulted in the contraction of female home ranges. Reproductive output decreased significantly in 2022, indicating that reproduction may be density-dependent at high densities. There was a significant relationship between track counts and population estimates, indicating that track counts are a reliable method for estimating population size inside the exclosure.

Conclusions

This reintroduction has been highly successful to date, demonstrating that bilbies are an adaptable species capable of rapid population growth in the absence of feral predators.

Implications

Bilbies are a model species for reintroductions to feral predator exclosures due to high survival rates, reproductive output, dietary flexibility and the ability to utilise a broad range of environments.

Keywords: autocorrelated kernel density estimation, conservation translocation, Currawinya National Park, GPS telemetry, greater bilby, habitat selection, home range, marsupial, post-release monitoring, spatially explicit capture–recapture, threatened species.

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