Fact Sheet One

Quolls in Southeast Queensland

STATUS:      Queensland                  Vulnerable
                        New South Wales        Vulnerable
                        South Australia             Extinct
                        Victoria                        Endangered
                        Tasmania                      At risk

INTRODUCTION

Spotted-tailed quolls, also known as tiger quolls, belong to the Dasyuridae family and to the genus dasyrus. There are four species of quolls found in Australia, eastern (D. viverrinus), northern (hallucatus), chidtch (geoffrolii) and spotted tailed (maculatus). Spotted-tailed quolls are divided into two subspecies; Dasyrus maculatus maculatus, found in the south and D. maculatus gracilis the northern species.

 Since the European settlement in 1788, 30 species of mammals and birds and 100 species of plants have become extinct, and the rate of extinction has increased within the last decade ¹. The spotted-tailed quoll is one of the Australian native species which are declining in number. Despite being one of the first marsupials to be described, and the largest marsupial carnivore left on the mainland of Australia, very little is known of the biology and the ecology of this species ²

They are currently listed as vulnerable under the federal Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and under the Queensland Conservation Act 1992 ³.

BIOLOGY

Spotted tailed-quolls have a pointed snout, long tail, sharp teeth and possess reddish brown to dark chocolate coloured fur with white spots ⁴. It can be distinguished from other quoll species by the spots on their tails. They also have ridges on their toe pads which help them climb trees ⁴. They are sexually dimorphic, as males can reach up to 7kg in weight and 38-76cm in body length while females only reach 4kg in weight and 35-45cm in length ⁵.

Mating season is between June and August, during which unmated females come into heat for about three days every three weeks ^6,7. The gestation period is 12 days and most give birth in August with an average litter size of five young. Young stay in the mother’s pouch until September to October and can be seen in the nest between November and January. They become fully independent around January, at 18 weeks of age ⁶. Both sexes become mature after the first year and their longevity is estimated to be around six years ⁴.

ECOLOGY

Although largely nocturnal, spotted-tailed quolls have been seen foraging and basking in the sun during the day ². They are opportunistic feeder and their diet comprises medium-sized and small mammals, insects, reptiles and birds ⁸. They have also been known to scavenge on carcasses of domestic stock ². Adult males in Giraween NP have been seen to occupy a mean home range of 875ha with 35% overlap between adjacent males ⁶. Radio tracking record showed that quolls have a large home range and males occupy up to three dens. They are known to be highly mobile animals, as an individual can travel up to 2.25km in one night ⁹. Tracking studies also showed there may be more than one individual present in a den at a time, thus they may not be solitary as commonly assumed ⁶.

DISTRIBUTION

Originally spotted-tailed quolls were found in east Australia, from southeast Queensland to Tasmania, and west into South Australia ^5,11. Since the European settlement their number has declined, and although they are still found from southeast Queensland to Victoria and Tasmania, their range has become patchy and densities are extremely low ⁶. The northern species are restricted to closed-forest between Townsville and Cooktown ¹⁰ while the southern species are found in Tasmania and both sides of Great Dividing Range in NSW and southern Queensland ^5,6.

 
Map modified from Menkhorst and
Knight (2001) & Strahan (1998)
Distribution of the Tiger or Spotted-tailed quoll.
Orange areas represent the original known distribution
while red shows the current range

HABITAT

Quolls are found in dry and wet sclerophyll forests, riparian forest, rainforest and open pasture ^2,6. More than half of the reported sightings from Queensland have been from closed canopy/ wet forest ⁶. Spotted-tailed quolls nest in rock caves and hollow logs or trees and basking sites are usually found nearby ².

 THREATS
Many introduced species flourished in Australia, mainly because the native flora and fauna on which they prey are defenceless ¹. Quolls have also been victim to the changes brought about by the European settlers and their distribution has been greatly reduced ¹.

One of the major threats faced by the quolls is our lack of knowledge of their biology and ecology, with the major cause of decline being the combination of habitat clearing, human intolerance and exotic fauna. Their habitat has been destroyed and fragmented through clearing for logging, agriculture, rural urban development and burning ^5,6,12. There is also some evidence suggesting that an epidemic disease reduced local population in the beginning of the 20^th century ².

The remaining population are most likely suffering from direct competition with the fox and feral cats or from transmitted disease by feral animals ^2,6. Other threats include possible poisoning from 1080 meat baits set for dingoes and foxes, i.e. traps set for feral animals ^5,6 and from feeding on toxic cane toad ¹³. Another major threat is the destruction of den sites and disturbance due to timber harvesting and clearing as well as being killed by poultry owners ².

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO CONSERVE THEM?
Life on earth is a complex web of interactions between plants and animals, and at the moment, species of plants and animals are disappearing faster than ever before. This process is catastrophic for the environment ¹. Quolls serve as flagship species of such environment. If they are declining in numbers, we know that the environment that they live in is being disturbed.

REFERENCES

1.       Threatened Species Network fact sheet. Signalling an unbalanced environment. Unpublished.

2.       Threatened Species Network A threatened species action project, Monitoring Techniques Workshop August 27. Unpublished.

3.       Maxwell S, Burbidge AA, Morris K (1996). Action plan for Australian marsupials and monotremes. IUCN Species Survival Commission, Australia.

4.      Environment Australia (1997). Quolls of Australia fact sheet. Unpublished.

5.       Edgar R (1993). Spotted-tailed quoll. In “The complete book of Australian mammals.” (Ed. Strahan R). p.18. Angus & Robertson, Sydney.

6.       Watt A (1993). Conservation status and draft management plan for Dasyurus maculatus and D. hallucatus in southern Queensland.135pp. DEH Management Report, 10 February 1993.

7.       Gilmore A & Parnaby H (1004). Vertebrate fauna of conservation concern in north-east NSW forests. North-East Forests Biodiversity Study Report No. 3e. NSW National Parks & Wildlife Services. Unpublished.

8.       Belcher CA (1995). Diet of the tiger quoll (Dasyurus maculatus ) in East Gippsland, Victoria. Wildl. Res. 22:341-57.

9.       Burnett S (1993). The conservation status of tiger quoll, Dasyurus maculatus gracilis in northern Queensland. Report prepared for the Queensland Department of Environmental and Heritage by Scott Burnett, James Cook University.

10.  Edgar R & Belcher C (1995). Spotted-tailed quoll. In “The mammals of Australia” (Ed. Strahan R). pp. 67-9. Australian Museum, Sydney.

11.  Mansergh I (1984). The status, distribution and abundance of Dasyurus maculatus (tiger quoll) in Australia, with particular reference to Victoria. The Australia Zoologist 21(2): 109-122.

12.  Smith JP (1990). Fauna of the Blue Mountains. Kangaroo Press, Sydney.

13.  Covacevich J & Archer M (1975). The distribution of the cane toad, Bufo marinus, in Australia and its effects on indigenous vertebrates. Mem. Qd Mus. 17, 395- 310.