Abstract
In 2010, vulnerable golden bandicoots (Isoodon auratus) were
translocated from Barrow Island, Western Australia, to a predator-free
enclosure on the Matuwa Indigenous Protected Area. Golden bandicoots
were once widespread throughout a variety of arid and semi-arid habitats
of central and northern Australia. Like many small to medium-sized
marsupials, the species has severely declined since colonisation and has
been reduced to only four remnant natural populations. Between 2010 and
2020 the reintroduced population of golden bandicoots on Matuwa was
monitored via capture-mark-recapture data collection which was used in
spatially explicit capture-recapture analysis to monitor their abundance
over time. In 2014, we used VHF transmitters to examine the home range
and habitat selection of 20 golden bandicoots in the enclosure over a
six-week period. We used compositional analysis to compare the use of
four habitat types. Golden bandicoot abundance in the enclosure slowly
increased between 2010 and 2014 and has since plateaued at approximately
one quarter of the density observed in the founding population on Barrow
Island. The population may have plateaued because some bandicoots escape
through the fence. Golden bandicoots used habitats dominated by
scattered shrubland over spinifex grass more than expected given the
habitat’s availability. Nocturnal foraging range was influenced by sex
and trapping location, whereas diurnal refuge habitat was consistent
across sex and trapping location. Our work suggests that diurnal refuge
habitat may be an important factor for the success of proposed
translocations of golden bandicoots.