Adapting reintroduction tactics in successive trials increases the likelihood of establishment for an endangered carnivore in a fenced sanctuary.

Threatened species recovery programs are increasingly turning to reintroductions to reverse biodiversity loss. Here we present a real-world example where tactics (techniques which influence post-release performance and persistence) and an adaptive management framework (which incorporates feedback between monitoring and future actions) improved reintroduction success. Across three successive trials we investigated the influence of tactics on the effective survival and post-release dispersal of endangered eastern quolls (Dasyurus viverrinus) reintroduced into Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary, Australian Capital Territory. Founders were monitored for 42 days post-release, and probability of survival and post-release dispersal were tested against trial, origin, sex, den sharing and presence of pouch young. We adopted an adaptive management framework, using monitoring to facilitate rapid learning and to implement interventions that improved reintroduction success. Founders released in the first trial were less likely to survive (28.6%, n = 14) than those founders released the second (76.9%, n = 13) and third trials (87.5%, n = 8). We adapted several tactics in the second and third trials, including the selection of female-only founders to avoid elevated male mortality, and post-mating releases to reduce stress. Founders that moved dens between consecutive nights were less likely to survive, suggesting that minimising post-release dispersal can increase the probability of survival. The probability of moving dens was lower in the second and third trials, for females, and when den sharing with another founder. This study demonstrates that, through iterative trials of tactics involving monitoring and learning, adaptive management can be used to significantly improve the success of reintroduction programs.

BASELINE HEALTH AND DISEASE ASSESSMENT OF FOUNDER EASTERN QUOLLS (DASYURUS VIVERRINUS) DURING A CONSERVATION TRANSLOCATION TO MAINLAND AUSTRALIA.

We evaluated the health of 31 (eight males, 23 females) founder eastern quolls (Dasyurus viverrinus), translocated to a fenced reserve in the Australian Capital Territory between February 2016 and July 2017. Quolls were wild caught in Tasmania (16 animals) or captive bred at Mount Rothwell Biodiversity Interpretation Centre, Victoria (15 animals). Quolls were assessed for the presence of selected potential pathogens (Toxoplasma gondii, herpesviruses, Salmonella serovars, hemoprotozoa, and ectoparasites). We assessed the relationships among sex, provenance (captive or free ranging), T. gondii or herpesvirus infection, weight, and hematologic and biochemical variables. Six of 21 quolls (29%) tested were seropositive for antibodies to T. gondii. Seropositive quolls weighed significantly more and had significantly lower potassium levels, anion gaps, and urea and triglyceride levels than seronegative quolls had. Eighteen of 31 (58%) combined conjunctival-pharyngeal-cloacal swabs collected from quolls were PCR positive for a newly identified gammaherpesvirus, tentatively named dasyurid gammaherpesvirus 3. There were no significant differences among hematologic and biochemical variables or body weights from PCR-positive and PCR-negative quolls. Eighteen of 18 (100%) of rectal-swab samples were culture negative for Salmonella serovars. Three species of tick (Ixodes tasmani, Ixodes fecialis, and Ixodes holocyclus), two species of mite (Andreacus radfordi, one unidentified), and four species of flea (Pygiopsylla hoplia, Acanthopsylla rothschildi rothschildi, Uropsylla tasmanica, and Stephanocircus dasyuri), were detected on wild-caught quolls, whereas a fifth species of flea, Echidnophaga myremecobii, was detected only on captive-bred quolls. Five of 15 blood samples (33%) were positive for hemoprotozoan DNA via PCR, a novel Hepatozoon species, a novel Theileria species, Theileria paparinii, and Trypanosoma copemani were detected. Despite the presence of several potential pathogens known to be associated with disease in other marsupials, the quolls were considered to be in good general health, suitable for translocation, and a viable population was subsequently established.