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Abstract
The introduction of alien mesopredators and herbivores has been implicated as the main driver of mammalian extinction in Australia. Recent studies suggest that the devastating effects of invasive species are mitigated by top-order predators. The survival of many threatened species may therefore depend on the presence and ecological functioning of large predators. Australia’s top predator, the dingo (Canis lupus dingo), has been intensively persecuted across the continent and it is extremely rare to find dingo populations that are not being subjected to lethal control. We predicted that the presence of threatened species point out places where dingo populations are relatively intact, and that their absence may indicate that dingoes are either rare or socially fractured. A comparison of a site which harbors a threatened marsupial, the kowari (Dasyuroides byrnei), and a neighboring site where the kowari is absent, offers support for this suggested pattern.
Highlights
In the past 200 years the extinction of mammalian species has been severe in Australia
Wildlife managers commonly work under the accepted premise that pest control measures are beneficial and necessary, there is little, if any, reliable evidence in support of these practices (Reddiex & Forsyth, 2006; Warburton & Norton, 2009)
We found no evidence of dingo predation on cattle in Pandie Pandie (PP) and no calf carcasses were found (N = 56), while in MU 14% (N = 44) of carcasses were calves, and all appeared to have been killed by dingoes
Summary
In the past 200 years the extinction of mammalian species has been severe in Australia. Mammalian species of intermediate body mass (50–5,500 g, the ‘Critical Weight Range’, CWR) are most vulnerable to decline and extinction (Burbidge & Mckenzie, 1989), in low rainfall areas (Johnson & Issac, 2009). Poison–baiting is by far the most popular control method in use today (Reddiex & Forsyth, 2006), and approximately 200 kg of 1080 powder are used annually in Australia (APVMA, 2008). Wildlife managers commonly work under the accepted premise that pest control measures are beneficial and necessary, there is little, if any, reliable evidence in support of these practices (Reddiex & Forsyth, 2006; Warburton & Norton, 2009). The impact of pest control may be severe when large (top) predators are indiscriminately affected
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