Status of warru (Petrogale lateralis MacDonnell Ranges race) in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands of South Australia. 1. Distribution and decline

Ward, Matthew J.; Urban, Roman; Read, John; Dent, Anika; Partridge, Thalie; Clarke, A. D. B.; Weenen, Jason van

doi:10.1071/am10047

Cited by 18 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Known as ‘warru’ by Indigenous owners, this race has undergone substantial declines in range and abundance and is now intensively managed as one of the state's most endangered mammals . Warru are restricted to two metapopulations encompassing three primary colonies in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in the far north‐west of SA . A recovery program has been implemented, including baiting of introduced predators and the establishment of a captive population .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Haematology and biochemistry of warru (Petrogale lateralisMacDonnell Ranges race) in captivity and the wild

Ruykys

Rich²,

McCarthy³

2012

Aust Veterinary J

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Objective Use haematology, biochemistry and protein electrophoresis analyses to establish reference values for, and describe the health status of, wild and captive colonies of critically endangered warru (black‐footed rock‐wallaby: Petrogale lateralis MacDonnell Ranges race). Methods Blood samples were taken from warru in three wild colonies (Alalka, Kalka, New Well) in the A nangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in north‐west South Australia (SA) and from captive animals at Monarto Zoo, SA. General haematology, serum biochemistry and protein electrophoresis analyses were conducted and results used to establish reference ranges. For the parameters that are indicative of a population's health, comparisons among the study sites were completed using analysis of variance. Results General haematology results suggested that warru were not experiencing chronic anaemia and the protein electrophoresis values indicated that colonies were not suffering from population‐wide disease. However, the lower superoxide dismutase, retinol, total carotenoids and ascorbic acid values for New Well warru suggested those animals had a lower plane of nutrition than those at Kalka and Alalka. Higher urea concentrations in New Well and Alalka warru could be a reflection of the absence of reliable free water at these sites. Conclusion The results have implications for the management of in situ colonies, including potentially using supplementary feeding to improve nutrition, and suggested that these animals were not suffering from disease. The study presents the first blood reference values for P. lateralis and, potentially, a methodology for other threatened species recovery programs to follow to establish the health of their populations.

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confidence: 99%

Haematology and biochemistry of warru (Petrogale lateralisMacDonnell Ranges race) in captivity and the wild

Ruykys

Rich²,

McCarthy³

2012

Aust Veterinary J

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“…Warru , as it is known by Anangu, the Traditional Owners of the APY Lands, is an important part of Tjukurpa (Anangu dreaming, law and stories) and was once an important food source for Anangu across the mountainous and rugged ranges of the APY Lands. However, increased predation by feral cats and foxes and changes to local fire regimes have decreased the warru population to approximately 150–200 individuals (Read & Ward 2011b; Ward et al. 2011a,b).…”

Section: Background To the Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Warru Ranger work consists of warru trapping to conduct health checks and monitor population dynamics (Ward et al. 2011a), scat surveys for distribution analyses (Ward et al. 2011b), fox and cat baiting, predator track transect monitoring and prescribed burning activities in existing warru habitat (Read & Ward 2011a).…”

Section: Anangu Working With Scientists To Increase Warru Abundancementioning

confidence: 99%

The warru (Petrogale lateralis MacDonnell Ranges Race) reintroduction project on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, South Australia

Muhic

Abbott

Ward³

2012

Eco Management Restoration

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Summary The Black‐footed Rock‐wallaby (Petrogale lateralis MacDonnell Ranges Race), or warru, as it is known by Anangu, the traditional owners of the region, formerly inhabited the rocky hills of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in north–west South Australia. However, introduced carnivores and inappropriate fire regimes have decimated the population, and there are now only 150–200 animals remaining in the wild. This prompted the formation of the Warru Recovery Team (WRT), a collaboration between Traditional Owners, Anangu communities and scientists, who are working together to recover warru populations across the APY Lands. The team are working on the Warru Reintroduction Project, which is combining modern science and the traditional ecological knowledge of Anangu to reintroduce warru back into the APY Lands. Between 2007 and 2009, 22 iti‐warru (warru‐joeys) were taken to Monarto Zoo (Monarto, South Australia) to initiate the captive population. These zoo‐warru have successfully bred in captivity, and in 2011, six founder animals and five captive bred warru were returned to the APY Lands. They are being held in a 97‐ha predator‐proof warru enclosure that will allow zoo‐warru to adjust to the local environment and to learn the survival skills of their ancestors, prior to being released into the wild. Lessons learnt from the release of warru into warru pintji will inform future release situations, as well as management of the in situ warru population, which remains the priority of the WRT.

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“…This chromosomal race of P. lateralis was once widespread across the central ranges of Western Australia, the southern Northern Territory and northern South Australia (Pearson, 2012). However, there has been a 93% contraction in the distribution of the species in South Australia, with c. 250 individuals remaining in the north-west of the state on the An̲angu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands (Ward et al, 2011b). The species is known to traditional owners of the Lands as warru.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring for adaptive management in a trial reintroduction of the black-footed rock-wallabyPetrogale lateralis

West

Read

Ward

et al. 2016

Oryx

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Reintroduction practitioners must often make critical decisions about reintroduction protocols despite having little understanding of the reintroduction biology of the focal species. To enhance the available knowledge on the reintroduction biology of the warru, or black-footed rock-wallabyPetrogale lateralisMacDonnell Ranges race, we conducted a trial reintroduction of 16 captive individuals into a fenced predator and competitor exclosure on the An̲angu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia. We conducted seven trapping sessions and used radio-tracking and camera traps to monitor survival, reproduction and recruitment to the population over 36 months. Blood samples were collected pre-release and during two trapping sessions post-release to assess nutritional health. The survival rate of founders was 63%, with all losses occurring within 10 weeks of release. Post-release blood biochemistry indicated that surviving warru adapted to their new environment and food sources. Female warru conceived within 6 months of release; 28 births were recorded during the study period and 52% of births successfully recruited to the population. Our results suggest that captive-bred warru are capable of establishing and persisting in the absence of introduced predators. However, the high mortality rate immediately post-release, with only a modest recruitment rate, suggests that future releases into areas where predators and competitors are present should use a trial approach to determine the viability of reintroduction. We recommend that future releases of warru into unfenced areas include an intensive monitoring period in the first 3 months post-release followed by a comprehensive long-term monitoring schedule to facilitate effective adaptive management.

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Status of warru (Petrogale lateralis MacDonnell Ranges race) in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands of South Australia. 1. Distribution and decline

Cited by 18 publications

References 12 publications

Haematology and biochemistry of warru (Petrogale lateralisMacDonnell Ranges race) in captivity and the wild

Haematology and biochemistry of warru (Petrogale lateralisMacDonnell Ranges race) in captivity and the wild

The warru (Petrogale lateralis MacDonnell Ranges Race) reintroduction project on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, South Australia

Monitoring for adaptive management in a trial reintroduction of the black-footed rock-wallabyPetrogale lateralis

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