Not waiting for the death knell. A pilot study to examine supplementation and survivorship in a declining population of Tasmanian eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) (original) (raw)

Tasmanian populations of the eastern quoll Dasyurus viverrinus, which represent the last wild stronghold of this species after its extirpation from the Australian mainland, have experienced declines of more than 50% over the past three decades. In this pilot study, we investigate the feasibility of supplementing wild populations with captive-bred individuals to attempt to reverse observed declines. Our results are encouraging, in that we recorded high initial survival and low initial dispersal of captive-bred individuals relative to previous release attempts in mainland Australia. Further work is ongoing to determine long-term survival of released individuals and the genetic and population-level impacts on local populations. Our preliminary results support the use of population supplementation as an effective conservation action, which allows for early intervention to address species declines while simultaneously testing hypotheses about their underlying causes.