Predator exposure can help vulnerable species survive in the wild

MAY 15, 2019

by Isabelle Dubach, University of New South Wales

Bilbies vs. feral cats—a Hunger Games-style experiment conducted in a South Australian desert has produced fascinating results with important implications for the conservation of our endangered species.

Exposing vulnerable species like the bilby to an environment with predators before releasing them into the wild could help improve the species' ultimate survival, new research by UNSW ecologists has shown.

In their study—published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology—the ecologists compared the behaviour and subsequent survival of two groups of bilbies from different scenarios: a group that had been deliberately exposed to feral cats, and a group that had not come into contact with predators before.

The study is the first experimental test of predator exposure that shows how the fate of animals that are introduced into a predator‐rich environment could be improved by prior experience living with predators.

"Deliberately exposing threatened species to feral cats in a wild setting is risky but our research suggests that it leads to a significant improvement in anti-predator behaviour and survival," says Dr. Katherine Moseby, who initiated the project.

The team—from UNSW, Arid Recovery and UCLA—conducted the experiment in the Arid Recovery Reserve—a 123 km2network of fenced exclosures in arid South Australia. Several locally extinct species have recently been re‐introduced into the Reserve, including the vulnerable greater bilby. In 2016, the Reserve had a population of about 500 bilbies.

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