School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.
South West NRM, 1 Verschuer Place, Bunbury, WA, 6230, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2024 Aug 29;14(1):20110. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-67726-y.
We tested if the personality of captive-raised western ringtail possums (Pseudocheirus occidentalis), and the impact of other variables would influence their survival after release using radiotelemetry. We hypothesised a greater survival for individuals: (i) bold; (ii) habituated in advance to food collected from the release area; (iii) juveniles instead of adults, because more easily tolerated by wild individuals, and (iv) released in new dreys (nests) as they would not have the strong odour of old dreys and would be less attractive to foxes. After 3 months of radio tracking, out of 143 possums released, 79 died: 51 (64.6%) were preyed upon by European red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). Bold or female individuals had higher survival rates than shy or male individuals (survival rate bold: 53%, shy: 41%, p = 0.046, hazard ratio = 0.352, 95% CI HR [0.126, 0.979]; survival rate females: 44%, males: 35%, p = 0.007, hazard ratio = 2.811, 95% CI HR [1.322, 5.976]). Shooting was a more effective fox control strategy to improve survival compared to baiting (p = 0.019, hazard ratio = 0.167, 95% CI HR [0.038, 0.742]). Our results demonstrate that the control of introduced predators is critical for the success of reintroductions of this critically endangered species.
我们通过无线电追踪测试了圈养的西部环尾袋貂（Pseudocheirus occidentalis）的个性以及其他变量对其释放后生存的影响。我们假设以下个体的存活率更高：（i）大胆；（ii）提前适应从释放区域收集的食物；（iii）幼崽而不是成年个体，因为它们更容易被野生个体接受，并且（iv）在新的巢中释放，因为它们没有旧巢的强烈气味，对狐狸的吸引力也较小。在进行了 3 个月的无线电追踪后，在释放的 143 只袋貂中，有 79 只死亡：51 只（64.6%）被欧洲红狐（Vulpes vulpes）捕食。大胆或雌性个体的存活率高于害羞或雄性个体（大胆个体的存活率为 53%，害羞个体的存活率为 41%，p=0.046，风险比 HR[0.126, 0.979]为 0.352，95%置信区间；雌性个体的存活率为 44%，雄性个体的存活率为 35%，p=0.007，风险比 HR[1.322, 5.976]为 2.811，95%置信区间）。与诱捕相比，射杀是一种更有效的狐狸控制策略，可以提高存活率（p=0.019，风险比 HR[0.038, 0.742]为 0.167，95%置信区间）。我们的研究结果表明，控制引入的捕食者对于这种极度濒危物种的重新引入的成功至关重要。
