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Australia's surviving marsupial carnivores: threats and conservation
chapter
posted on 2023-05-22, 15:09 authored by Menna JonesMenna Jones, Burnett, S, Claridge, A, Fancourt, B, Kortner, G, Morris, K, Peacock, D, Troy, S, Woinarski, JAustralia has the world’s most diverse fauna of marsupial carnivores–those species whose diet comprises a significant amount of vertebrate prey. All species – the Tasmanian devil and four species of quolls – have threatened status and have declined in distribution and/or abundance; three species (devil, eastern and northern quolls) with severe declines in the last decade. Threats are multiple, and include complex interactions between habitat change and introduced predators. Infectious disease is the major factor threatening the devil with extinction, and may interact with other factors for quolls. Large-scale ecological restoration of entire faunas, in which the ecological functionality of apex predators is reinstated, is an important goal for conservation management. For marsupial carnivores, this will require a combination of in situ and ex situ strategies, including broad-scale control of introduced predators and disease combined with captive breeding where needed, translocations and fenced sanctuaries and islands.
Funding
Australian Research Council
History
Publication title
Carnivores of Australia: Past, Present and FutureEditors
AS Glen, CR DickmanPagination
201-246ISBN
9780643103108Department/School
School of Natural SciencesPublisher
CSIRO PublishingPlace of publication
Collingwood, AustraliaExtent
18Repository Status
- Restricted