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TSR contributes to Feral Cat Taskforce
Tue, 29 Mar 2016The involvement of deputy directors Sarah Legge and John Woinarski in the Threatened Species Commissioner’s Feral Cat Taskforce is another example of the
Hub contributing significantly to threatened species policy and management.
This Taskforce is made up of representatives from every state and territory government, as well as Natural Resource Management organisations, the
Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, the RSPCA, the National Environmental Science Programme and Threatened Species Scientific Committee
representatives, the Invasive Species Council and Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre.
One of the Hub’s key contributions to this Taskforce for the next six months is to assess the size of the feral cat population in Australia, and interpret
this in the context of the feral cat management targets.
Hub personnel will also support the Australian Government Department of the Environment to develop measurement tools to monitor the culling of feral
cats across Australia.
“The feral cat taskforce is a great opportunity for the Hub to identify research gaps, as well as opportunities to collaborate with agencies responsible
for managing feral cats,” said Doctor Sarah Legge.
“The Hub places a strong emphasis on connecting research with land managers and delivery agencies and this is a great forum for strengthening these
connections, and also to work with the Government to support the delivery of the Threatened Species Strategy.”
All the work being carried out in Project 1.1 involves collaborations with land management agencies, and some work also involves NGOs like the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, as well as the private
sector.
For example, the Western Australian Government is working with Rio Tinto to deliver a large-scale feral cat control program in the Pilbara, and the
Hub is adding to that effort with some focussed research on the effects of feral cat baiting and responses by the threatened northern quolls.
Image: Feral cat in Western Australia (Flickr CC BY NC ND 2.0)
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Fire and post-fire impacts on wildlife groups, and priority conservation responses
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Cultural fire: Listening to and caring for Country with fire
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Plants in the ashes: Prioritising Australian flora after the fires
Tue, 01 Sep 2020Australia has one of the highest rates of plant endemism of any country globally. After the catastrophic fire season of 2019–20, Dr Rachael Gallagher and Professor David Keith are leading two teams to find out which species and ecological communities are most in need of immediate recovery.
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Prioritising action for animal species after the fires
Tue, 01 Sep 2020The 2019–20 bushfires burnt over 12 million hectares of south-eastern and south-western Australia, causing abrupt losses of biodiversity at a scale never seen before. Over a billion animals were estimated to have died, but the figure is likely much higher. The Australian Government’s Wildlife and Threatened Species Bushfire Recovery Expert Panel is guiding the work of prioritising species and ecological communities for emergency interventions and determining what those actions should be. Hub Deputy Director and Expert Panel member Professor Sarah Legge takes us though the hows and whys of this prioritisation, and some of its challenges.
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