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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 32(2)

Seasonal anoestrus in western grey kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus ocydromus) in south-western Australia

Chris Mayberry A D , Shane K. Maloney B , Peter Mawson C and Roberta Bencini A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

B Physiology: Biomedical and Chemical Science, The University of Western Australia, Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

C Department of Environment and Conservation, Locked Bag 104, Bentley Delivery Centre, WA 6983, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: maybec01@student.uwa.edu.au

Australian Mammalogy 32(2) 189-196 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM09029
Submitted: 19 October 2009  Accepted: 29 June 2010   Published: 15 September 2010

Abstract

Public opposition to culling has generated interest in wildlife management through fertility control. Temporary, non-invasive methods of fertility control, such as by xenobiotics, can be best employed with an understanding of the target species’ breeding cycle. We used head length to calculate the conception date of 136 pouch-young of western grey kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus ocydromus) from four sites around Perth, Western Australia, between May 2006 and October 2008: Thomsons Lake Nature Reserve (n = 80), Harry Waring Marsupial Reserve (n = 11), Melville Glades Golf Club (n = 29), and Marangaroo Golf Course (n = 16). In total, 78% of all pouch-young were conceived in the months of December–February, 11% in November, 6% in March, and less than 2% in each of October, April and May. We examined the ovaries of 134 females culled from Thomsons Lake Nature Reserve during the months of May–July 2006. Only seven ovaries had a follicle of at least 5 mm and none had an active corpus luteum. These data indicate that the breeding activity M. f. ocydromus is restricted almost exclusively to the months of November–February. A practical application of this finding is that temporary fertility controls applied early in October will provide a full year of birth control if they remain active for seven months.


Acknowledgements

This study was assisted by funding from the Koala and Kangaroo Contraception Program and made possible by the cooperation of Department of Environment and Conservation Regional Parks staff and the professional kangaroo shooter group. The assistance of fellow postgraduate students from the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University, and the University of New South Wales was greatly appreciated.


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