Predation determines the outcome of 10 reintroduction attempts in arid South Australia

Ten reintroduction attempts were conducted in and around the Arid Recovery Reserve in northern South Australia between 1998 and 2008. Five locally-extinct mammal species and one reptile species were reintroduced into a fenced Reserve where cats, foxes and rabbits were excluded. Reintroductions of the nationally threatened greater stick-nest rat, burrowing bettong, greater bilby and western barred bandicoot were all considered successful based on short and medium-term success criteria. These criteria included continued survival after 8 years, increased distribution across the large Reserve and, most importantly, recovery after a drought event. The trial reintroductions of the numbat and woma python into the Reserve were unsuccessful due to predation by native avian and reptilian predators respectively. Outside the Reserve, where cats and foxes were present but controlled through poison baiting, reintroduction attempts of the greater bilby and burrowing bettong were unsuccessful. High mortality was attributed to cat and fox predation with dingoes also contributing to post-release mortality in bettongs. However, a reintroduction of burrowing bettongs into a fenced area with low rabbit and cat abundance has, to-date, met short-term and medium-term success criteria. Results suggest that the absence or severe restriction of exotic mammalian predators was the critical factor responsible for the success of the mammal reintroductions. Determining thresholds of predator activity below which successful reintroduction of threatened species can occur, are needed to improve the science of reintroduction biology in Australia. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.