An experiential education program was designed targeting risk perceptions and preventative measures to enable people to feel more comfortable with situations with coyotes. This interactive approach to wildlife safety and coexistence had a significant positive effect on people’s attitudes, and significantly decreased their perception of risk in human-coyote interactions. The results indicates the importance of experience in participant retention in wildlife programming.

Camera trapping has some major advantages over other trapping methods (e.g. pitfall traps) but there is still a need to compare traditional trapping methods with these newer techniques. We compared trap rate, species richness and community composition of small mammals and reptiles using passive, unbaited camera traps and pitfall trapping in a mesic forest habitat in southwestern Australia. Overall, camera trapping was less efficient than pitfall trapping for surveying small reptiles but was more efficient for surveying small mammals (Dasyuridae). As stand-alone techniques, both survey methods under-represent the available species present in a region but detection improves when multiple survey methods are employed.

Introduced Himalayan tahr are an important hunting resource in New Zealand, but are also culled to reduce adverse environmental effects. Recreational hunters help manage the number of tahr, but their involvement depends on their prospects of obtaining a trophy. Leaving bull tahr during culling can encourage recreational hunting, providing long-term conservation benefits.

We investigated the trophic overlap of two top predators, the South American sea lion and the franciscana dolphin between two periods of time including the development of fisheries and population declines. Trophic niches were segregated in both periods: sea lions preferentially feed on benthic fish whereas franciscana dolphins have a more coastal–pelagic diet. This approach enabled us to understand the trophic overlap, considering important changes in the ecosystem during the past 50 years.

Locating cryptic animals is an important aspect of many wildlife management programs and research studies. We tested the effectiveness of aerial VHF tracking using a multi-frequency receiver for locating yellow-eyed penguin nests, compared with other methods. The UAV system allowed for faster nest location, and reduced effort over difficult search terrain. This technology has applications for locating and tracking a wide range of wildlife, particularly cryptic species, which may be difficult to find using other methods.

Carefully designed monitoring programs can strongly aid the evaluation of wildlife management programs. We investigate how the design of a camera trap study can affect the ability to reliably detect changes in red fox populations. This research provides useful guidance for developing cost-effective camera trap monitoring studies.

We investigate the population viability of northern quolls under various life-history and management scenarios. Small increases to juvenile mortality will increase the risk of population extinction. We posit that, given this risk, northern quolls persist in fragmented but functionally connected populations, and recommend management applications to reduce threats to the juvenile age cohort.

The use of an umbrella species as a conservation surrogate has frequently been questioned by researchers because there is a lack of empirical evidence to support it. In the present study, we tested the role of the spectacled bear as a putative umbrella species for the 12 Andean ecoregions this species inhabits, comparing the vertebrate species richness in areas where the spectacled bear is present and absent. The results suggest that the effectiveness of the spectacled bear as an umbrella species is not widespread, because conserving the areas in which bears are present may not always equate to greater conservation benefits in all the ecoregions for all the taxa. Photograph by José Guerrero-Casado.

Feral horse populations have increased rapidly in Australian Alps national parks in recent decades, yet little is known about their environmental impacts. We found that grazing and trampling by feral horses significantly reduced the quality of wetland breeding habitat for the endangered northern corroboree frog (Pseudophryne pengilleyi). There is an urgent need to address horse impacts and conserve important high country wetland habitats.