Fact Sheet Four

LIVING WITH QUOLLS

HABITAT MANAGEMENT & RESTORATION

At the start of the 21^st Century, Australia has been placed as the number one nation for land clearing rates in the developed world, approximately 664,000 hectares of native vegetation is being cleared every year ¹.Clearing reduces the continuous range of habitats and ecological processes and species diversity.

Since the earliest European settlement, quolls and people have faced conflict of interest. Since their habitat were taken away from them, quolls have raided poultry yards in search of easy prey. Fortunately, there now is a way to prevent such conflict, and one such example is to build a quoll proof fence. It only takes a slight compromise on our part to be able to live alongside the quolls.

Here are some suggested steps we can take to reduce the threats currently faced by the quolls.

·         Locate all existing population of quolls

·         Determine the relevant threatening processes

·         Control feral pests – i.e. keep cats and dogs in an enclosed fence

·         Review the effect of 1080 baits

·         Educate the public to ensure protection on private lands

QUOLL PROOFING YOUR CHOOK FENCE

(Information taken from www.infocus.to/quolls/poultry/html The Tree Kangaroo and Mammal Group Inc.)

Shooting quolls possibly is not the best method of protecting your poultry. Protecting your animals by building a quoll proof fence will save you from having to get up in the middle of the night to shoot at the quolls.

When building the fence, make sure that there are no gaps in the netting, including the roof and the door. It is critical to bury the netting at least 15cm into the ground so that the quoll cannot dig underneath it. If building a moveable chook pen, incorporate an outwardly directed skirt or wire around the bottom of your pen. It would be wise to use smaller meshed netting such as budgie or mouse wire.

Diagram of the fence

1080

The current regulation states that DNR are the agency responsible for administration of Rural Land Protection Act 1985, which covers 1080 usage (Personal contact with Geoff Lundie-Jenkins). The use of chemical 1080 and any commercial products containing the compound “Fox-off” or “Dog Gone,” are restricted and regulated. Within Queensland, only persons who have received appropriate training and authorization from DNR and Health Department can legally distribute the compound. Where 1080 is used on private land, landholders must sign authorities prior to the issues of baits for control program and abide by conditions of use relating to notifying neighbours.

Companies such as Applied Biotechnologies, who manufacture Fox-Off also provide significant information for landholders in relation to the use of their products, including appropriate procedures for laying and avoiding potential non-target take. In an area where there is increased potential for non-target impacts, associated with 1080 baiting, for instance in areas where quolls may occur, a more cautious approach is taken. During periods when baiting is to occur, poison free baits are initially placed at all bait stations. Any stations, where baits are taken or disturbed by non-target species, are relocated to avoid non-target take (Personal contact with Geoff Lundie-Jenkins).

NB: All these studies have been undertaken as simulated baiting programs without 1080 in baits. Recent studies suggest that quolls have the ability to detect 1080 in Foxoff baits and do not consume the poisoned baits.  Also note that so far this has only been trialled with Foxoff baits which are a different product to meat baits used for wild dogs and dingos.

Effects of consuming poison on an individual quoll have been documented by McIlroy (1986). Studies have also shown that it is likely that the wild quolls are capable of detecting baits. Although spotted-tailed quolls are active hunters, they will also scavenge for food, thus quolls could be attracted to the large meat baits that are used to poison wild dogs (Roll 1969, Breckwoldt 1984). Another study showed that in captivity, eastern and spotted-tailed quolls were capable of detecting, digging and consuming Fox-Off baits that had been buried at depths of 10cm, deeper than those recommended by state agencies (CSIRO 1998). As wild animals are probably more motivated by hunger than the captive specimens, it is reasonable to assume that the results of the trials provided a conservative indication of the capabilities of these two species to locate buried food (CSIRO 1998). Recent study by Murray et al. (2000) showed that 62.5% of sampled population in Tallaganda State Forest in NSW were able to locate and consume an aerially-deployed meat bait in a single baiting operation. It is a worry that within these animals, 75% of the sampled pregnant females consumed the bait.

The current buried-bait techniques are not specific for introduced predators (CSIRO 1998). Since they are sexually dimorphic for weight, juveniles and female quolls are particularly at risk because they could receive a lethal dose from ingesting one 1080 bait at the dose rate currently used (CSIRO 1998)

REFERENCES

1. Threatened Species Network fact sheet. Signalling an unbalanced environment. Unpublished.
2. McIlroy JC (1986). The sensitivity if Australian animals to 1080 poison. IX Comparison between the major groups of animals, and the potential danger non-target species face from 1080 poisoning campaigns. Australian Wildlife Research 13:447-453.
3. Rolls E (1969). They all run wild. Angus & Robertson, Sydney
4. Beckwoldt R (1984). Wildlife in the homepaddock. Angus & Robertson, Sydney.
5. CSIRO (1998). Wildlife Research Vol. 25. The CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood.
6. Murray AJ, Belcher CA, Poore RN, Darrant J (2000). The ability of spotted-tailed quolls to locate and consume meat baits deployed during a simulate aerial baiting program. East Gippsland Flora and Fauna Group Report No.9.