At first I was afraid…or was I? How native Australian mammals respond to predators

At first I was afraid…or was I? How native Australian mammals respond to predators

In Australia, introduced predators such as cats (Felis catus) and foxes (Vulpes vulpes) have been implicated in the reduction and extinction of many species from their native ranges. It is suggested that one reason for this devastating extinction record is that as Australia’s native wildlife exhibit varying degrees of naivety to the threat that mammalian predators pose. We used a variety of methods to determine how native Australian mammals, such as bandicoots and possums, react to predators or their cues (such as faeces). Bandicoots appeared to have some antipredator responses towards dogs, but not other predator species. Other native mammal species appeared to display no antipredator responses towards cat or quoll cues. Therefore, innovative methods of predator control accounting for this naivety should be trialled, such as predator avoidance training, to reduce the impact of predators on our native wildlife.

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