Terrestrial vertebrate predators shape ecosystems globally through consumptive and behavioural influence on competitors and prey species. Fire is also a pervasive influence on ecosystems, by incinerating vegetation, changing habitat complexity and composition and altering plant succession. It is increasingly recognised that predators and fire can interact, sometimes with negative consequences for prey species. Here, we describe our recent work from the Mallee region of north-west Victoria exploring the influence of fire on the relationship between dingoes and the red fox. We found that red fox and dingo occurrence were negatively associated, and this was strongest in recently burnt landscapes (vegetation <11 years post-fire). This suggests dingo suppression of red foxes could be strengthened by fire. To examine whether the interaction between predators and fire persists in other contexts, we then conducted a global meta-analysis of predator responses to fire, spanning mammals, birds and reptiles. Fire appears to influence predators in varied ways, and no general relationships, geographic patterns, biome or life history traits associations were apparent. While red foxes and feral cats are widely thought to respond positively to fire in Australia, the literature indicates this is not always the case, with variations in study design and ecosystem context important factors to consider. Improving how we report characteristics of fires when measuring predator responses will help refine their integrated management, and in turn conservation decision making.

Effective conservation management requires understanding often complex interactions between many ecosystem components. Managing feral animal populations at levels that promote native faunal biodiversity requires understanding the population dynamics of herbivores and predators (both native and introduced), and how these interact. We investigated the seasonal dynamics of species interactions using long-term records of animal activity recorded at sand-pads on two conservation reserves on Badimaya and Nhanda Country in semi-arid Western Australia. We tested whether seasonal and annual variation in rainfall predicted variation in herbivore activity. We also tested how seasonal variation in the activity of small and large animals was related to the activity of small and large predators. Finally, we compared and contrasted predictors of the activity of small and large predators in the two different landscapes. Our findings on species interactions will inform the design of integrated feral pest management strategies.

Predation by invasive red foxes and feral cats represent a significant risk to threatened wildlife. Disease transmission and fighting by feral cats also affects humans, livestock, pets and /or wildlife. Poison baiting control of these invasive predators on many farms or adjacent to houses is limited by exclusion buffers to safeguard humans, pets or working dogs from inadvertent poisoning.
Felixers offer a more targeted control tool than poison baiting and a more humane tool than trapping these invasive species. A sensor array supported by algorithms proven to distinguish the size and gait of cats and foxes from wildlife, humans or large working dogs ensures targeted toxin delivery. Contained toxic doses ingested through compulsive oral grooming minimises the likelihood of toxin aversion through sub-lethal dosing. Photographs of all activations enables the efficacy of Felixers to be monitored and optimised. Earlier trials had proven Felixers successfully distinguished adult working dogs and most wildlife species from target cats and foxes.
This presentation summarises field trials of the efficacy of using Wireless Identification tags (WIDs) on the collars of puppy working dogs and registered cats to protect them from triggering Felixers, whilst enabling safe control of feral cats and foxes. Implications for fox and cat management in agricultural settings and in conservation areas adjacent to urban areas are discussed.

Introduced predators are the primary cause of the extinction of Australian critical weight range mammals, largely due to native prey naïveté to novel predators. However, naïveté can be overcome over time, e.g. Australian mainland mammals show predator avoidance towards dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) which are close relatives to the dingo (C. lupus dingo) (introduced about 4000 years ago) but appear naïve to domestic cats (Felis catus) (introduced about 200 years ago). Here we test these ideas examining naivete responses in native mammals in Tasmania where dingos have never occurred and where dogs, like cats, arrived about 200 years ago. We assessed mammal responses to dog and cat presence in suburban Hobart using a citizen science approach to determine whether these pets caused a real threat (using reported wildlife casualties) and how backyard characteristics (e.g. bushland proximity, shelter/ food/ water provision) or pet ownership (e.g. number of pets, pets’ backyard access) influenced visits to backyards by native mammals.
We found that native mammals in Tasmania appeared naïve towards both, cats and dogs, and casualty reports indicated that cats and dogs posed a threat. Proximity to bushland, abundance of shelter and water were also strong predictors of wildlife visiting backyards. Backyards providing such features likely present valuable refuges for wildlife in urban areas, particularly where encounters with cats and dogs can be kept low. Our study highlights the importance of responsible cat and dog ownership in Tasmania.

Invasive predators are often cryptic and can occur in low densities, making monitoring of their populations difficult. Ecological surveys should therefore aim to improve the detectability of species and maximise statistical power to ensure sound inference regarding predator population dynamics and potential effects on other species. We assessed our ability to monitor feral cats and red foxes in a conservation reserve in south-eastern Australia (Grampians National Park), using motion sensor cameras across two treatments (on-road and off-road) with no lures. We explicitly examined the treatment effect on detection probabilities and power to detect population change. We then assessed the capacity of three alternative sampling designs (effort targeted across both treatments, effort targeted solely on-road, and effort targeted solely off-road) at detecting changes in predator populations. We found that detectability was on average nine times higher for cats and almost four times higher for foxes on-road compared with off-road estimates, and that targeting effort on-road yielded the greatest power for detecting declines in both cats and foxes (as little as 35% with >95% confidence). In contrast, targeting effort off-road yielded the least power for detecting declines: only large declines (of magnitudes >60%) were detectable for foxes, while no magnitude of decline was detectable for cats with high confidence. We use this information to make recommendations for ongoing monitoring of cats and foxes within this landscape, and more broadly to inform and aid improvement in the way these invasive species are surveyed and managed.

Conflict between large predators and livestock has been an issue for millennia wherever both are present. Such human-wildlife conflict is increasingly recognised as a conflict between differing human attitudes and values, so understanding the human dimensions of conflict is essential to promoting coexistence through human behaviour change. In Australia, dingoes are controlled across most of the mainland primarily because of the threat they pose to sheep. I explore changing narratives surrounding dingo management through historic and contemporary nation-wide surveys of Australian graziers. I draw comparisons between grazier attitudes and behaviours from a survey conducted in the 1950s with a contemporary one that replicated some of the questions from the historical survey. I found that lethal dingo control remains dominant and that many practices have not changed greatly, but that some respondents in the contemporary survey used only nonlethal methods or did not manage dingoes because they saw benefits to maintaining dingoes in the landscape. In the contemporary survey, I also examined the socio-psychological factors that predicted graziers’ dingo management behaviours (i.e., whether they used lethal control). I found that social identity, specifically whether a respondent identified as an environmentalist or pest controller, was a stronger predictor of engaging in lethal control than values, attitudes towards dingoes, or perception of the risk dingoes pose to livestock. Exploring historic and contemporary social factors surrounding management practices improves our understanding of why they occur and provides a basis for designing intervention strategies that influence them.

Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) control is one of the most widely implemented conservation actions in Australia; however, threatened native mammal populations do not always recover as expected. One possibility is that feral cats (Felis catus) may thrive following fox control due to less competition and fear. As the use of surrogate measures for population density have led to uncertainty over this hypothesis, we employed newly developed statistical methods under an experimental design to quantify changes in feral cat density in response to fox control.

We surveyed the response of mammals to two fox control programs in the temperate forests of south-west Victoria, Australia. To do so, we deployed grids of 67-110 camera-traps for 2-3 months in landscapes with and without fox control. By identifying individual cats through unique coat markings, individual-level behaviour and movement was analysed to estimate population density through spatial mark-resight models. We spatially replicated this method twice in the Glenelg Region, where foxes had been continuously poisoned for 13 years. In the Otway Ranges, we sampled annually for three years: once before fox control began, and twice afterwards. In conjunction with how cats respond to fox control, we also uncovered key information on the ecology of feral cats: highly individualistic behaviour, activity centre movements and annual survival probabilities. These findings inform the best practice management and monitoring of invasive predators in mesic forests.

Since European arrival, Australia has suffered the highest rate of mammal extinction on Earth. Worryingly, the ongoing decline of mammal species across northern Australian savannas, suggests that unless effective management strategies are developed and implemented, more species may be lost forever. However, given the complex interacting factors implicated in the northern mammal decline, it can be difficult to choose between different management options. Using existing data from Kapalga in Kakadu National Park, including native mammal population demographics, as well as the density and diet of feral cats and dingoes, we investigate whether current rates of predation are suppressing native mammal populations in a ‘predator pit’. We demonstrate that the current rate of predation by feral cats is too high for populations of northern brown bandicoot and common brushtail possum to increase. As such, without management that effectively lowers the density and/or the prey intake of feral cats, native mammal populations at Kapalga are unlikely to recover. Our results suggest that as the density of native mammals and feral cats varies spatially across the savannas of northern Australia, we will likely need a spatially tailored approach to management.