Quolls are in danger of going the way of Tasmanian tigers

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Quolls are in danger of going the way of Tasmanian tigers
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Quolls are in danger of going the way of
Tasmanian tigers
Fabcourt, Bronwyn; Woinarski, John; Burnett, Scott
https://research.usc.edu.au/discovery/delivery/61USC_INST:ResearchRepository/12126221620002621?l#13127028450002621

Fabcourt, B., Woinarski, J., & Burnett, S. (2014). Quolls are in danger of going the way of Tasmanian tigers.
The Conversation, 30 June 2014.
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Quolls are in danger of going the way of Tasmanian tigers
29/02/2016                                              Quolls are in danger of going the way of Tasmanian tigers

Quolls are in danger of going the way of
Tasmanian tigers
June 30, 2014 11.59am AEST

Bronwyn Fancourt
PhD candidate in wildlife ecology, University of Tasmania
John Woinarski
Professor (conservation biology), Charles Darwin University
Scott Burnett
Lecturer in Science and Education, University of the Sunshine Coast

Quolls have been hit hard by the introduction of cane toads, foxes, cats and other big changes over the
past 200 years – but if we act fast, we may be able to save them. Bronwyn Fancourt, CC BY­NC­ND

With sharp teeth and an attitude to match, quolls are some of Australia’s most impressive
hunters. Ranging from around 300g to 5kg, these spectacularly spotted marsupials do an
out­sized job of controlling invasive pasture grubs and rodents, as well as cleaning up

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carcasses. They are even credited with thwarting early attempts to establish the rabbit in
Australia.

But our quolls are in trouble. The recent Action Plan for Australian Mammals highlighted
their extraordinary decline. Collectively, these species once occurred in high numbers
across the country. Now they are all considered threatened, although not all state, federal
and international listings reflect these current assessments.

Fortunately there are some signs of hope for one group of quolls, which we need to learn
from if we’re to save these small but fierce Australian predators from going the way of too
many other unique mammals, including the Tasmanian tiger.

Northern quoll

The endangered northern quoll has been virtually wiped out
from areas since the arrival of cane toads. Ian Morris

Our smallest and most endangered quoll once occurred across northern Australia, from
eastern Queensland to the West Australian Pilbara. But over the last century, it has
disappeared from vast areas, while numbers have crashed in many others, probably due to
the effects of pastoralism, changed fire regimes and feral cats.

However, its nemesis has been the cane toad, which poisons and kills quolls that try to eat
them. Northern quoll populations have disappeared from vast areas immediately following
the spread of toads. Even island populations of northern quolls have disappeared as toads
rafted in on debris or flood­waters. It is a most unusual ecological quirk, with a prey species
wiping out a predator over vast areas.

However there is hope. Some populations have persisted in toad­invaded areas, possibly
because some individuals were never keen frog­eaters or because they have learnt to avoid
toads. In an interesting piece of ecological engineering, researchers have also had some
success teaching quolls to avoid toads following taste­aversion training.

Despite these hopeful signs, their outlook in the next few years is for ongoing catastrophic
decline, mainly in the recently toad­invaded Kimberley region.

Spotted­tailed quoll

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Quolls are in danger of going the way of Tasmanian tigers
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Despite its larger size, the spotted­tailed quoll still treads an
ecological tightrope. Gerhard Körtner

Mainland Australia’s largest marsupial carnivore, the spotted­tailed quoll, is a creature now
verging on the mythical. Populations plummeted within decades of European settlement in
their forest habitats along Australia’s eastern seaboard and in Tasmania, where they are
second in size only to the Tasmanian devil.

Their position near the top of the food­chain, low densities, reproductive traits and
dangerous behaviour make spotted­tailed quolls highly sensitive to landscape changes that
accompany settlement. Even today, their mobility and opportunistic behaviour exposes them
to a range of threats, including dogs, foxes, cane toads, cars, and retaliatory killing at chook­
pens.

This ecological fragility may explain why spotted­tailed quolls are not found in many areas of
suitable and protected habitat. Most protected areas are not large enough to sustain a long­
term spotted­tailed quoll population, as many individuals in smaller reserves will travel into
the dangerous world outside the park boundaries. This highlights the importance of larger
tracts of national park and private land for conservation of threatened species.

Eastern quoll

The eastern quoll is extinct on the mainland and has declined
rapidly across Tasmania. Bronwyn Fancourt

Once found across much of south­eastern Australia, the eastern quoll is now found only in
Tasmania. Disease is thought to be responsible for a sudden crash in mainland populations
in the early 1900s, although foxes, cats, rabbits, poisoning and persecution have all been
linked to their decline.
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Despite their mainland demise, eastern quolls continued to thrive in Tasmania, until recently.
In the 10 years to 2009, their numbers had fallen by more than 50% with no sign of recovery.

While meeting international criteria for being considered endangered, there has been
reluctance to add the eastern quoll to the state threatened species listing. Exactly what is
causing the decline is being investigated, but otherwise there are no management plans for
the species in its last refuge. As an insurance policy, captive populations of eastern quolls
should be established in zoos and in larger fenced sanctuaries, in case they are lost from
the wild before the cause of their decline is discovered.

Western quoll

Long­term conservation efforts mean the future is looking
brighter for the western quoll. WA Parks and Wildlife

The second largest of Australia’s quoll species, the western quoll (or chuditch) now occurs
naturally only in south­western Australia. It was once found across most of the Australian
mainland, but like other quolls, it declined rapidly following European settlement, mostly due
to predation by foxes and cats but with contributions from many other factors.

However, the outlook for the western quoll is more encouraging. It has responded well to
long­term conservation management, particularly the landmark Western Shield fox control
program in Western Australia. It has also been reintroduced into places where it once
occurred, with a reintroduction currently underway in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia.

Thanks to that action, populations are now stable or possibly even increasing. The fate of the
western quoll shows that we not only have the power to drive species to decline and
extinction, but we also have the capacity to repair our damage.

The slippery slope to extinction

The high abundance of quolls at the time of European settlement, and their deadly taste for
poultry, may have contributed to our quolls' modern decline. Common species often receive
less attention and resources than species that are iconic or rare. However, threatened
species listings around the world are filled with species that were once common, illustrating
that the slippery slope from commonness to extinction is not as unlikely as it may seem.

The encouraging signs of recovery for the western quoll illustrate that population declines
can be stopped and even reversed. But bold strategies, innovative approaches, large­scale
implementation and long­term planning are needed to tackle the key threats to our
threatened species. Our quolls are approaching the point of no return – and if we don’t want
to see them go the way of the Tasmanian tiger, we need to act now.

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