Feral cat (Felis catus) predation confirmed for Rothschild's rock-wallaby (Petrogale rothschildi) in the Pilbara

Hannah Anderson, Brooke Richards, William Ross, Russell Palmer

Research output: Contribution to journalLetterpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Rothschild's rock-wallaby (Petrogale rothschildi) is endemic to the Pilbara and Ashburton regions of Western Australia. This large species of rock-wallaby is currently not recognised as threatened but is poorly known. Feral cats are a serious threat to many mainland Australian mammals, including some species of rock-wallaby, however their impact on P. rothschildi is largely unknown. Here we provide the first account of feral cat predation on Rothschild's rock-wallaby, which was confirmed via genetic analysis. Common rock rats were abundant at the time and are the primary prey for cats, suggesting this was an incidental predation event by this highly opportunistic predator.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)169–172
Number of pages4
JournalAustralian Mammalogy
Volume44
Issue number1
Early online dateJun 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Declaration of funding
This study was undertaken as part of a Threatened Species Offset
Plan funded by Rio Tinto. Australian Premium Iron Management
provided in-kind support for field teams at Red Hill. William
Ross received funding from NESP Threatened Species Recovery
Hub and the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment.

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