Your Society was edited by Natsumi PenberthySOCIETY FUNDRAISERP
OPULATIONS of the charming
little southern brown
bandicoot have been suffering
from habitat fragmentation and loss,
and predation by feral animals across
the south-eastern states. Today, they
are in a state of worrying decline.
The good news is that they have a
gestation period of less than 15 days
and breed in litters of up to six. This
quick reproductive turn-around
means the chances of a bounce-back
are, in theory, good.
One of the biggest causes
of habitat loss is the spread of
urbanisation. Our fundraiser will go
towards Deakin University ecologist
Sarah Maclagan’s work (see left)
looking into possible management
practices for bandicoots carving
out lives on the outer edges of
our big cities.OR VISIT our website: http://www.australian
geographic.com.au/society, or send a
cheque to: The Australian Geographic
Society administrator, Level 9, 54–58 Park
Street, Sydney NSW 2000.Bring back our
bandicoots
Support the natives hiding
in our backyards.Is this endangered mammal eking out a viable
living from your pet food?WILDLIFE RESEARCHCLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF SARAH MACLAGAN/Isoodon obesulus obesulus;COURTESY HAYLEY DAVIS/Isoodon obesulus obesulus;COURTESY DAVID NICHOLLSLEFT: COURTESY GREG MORTIMER; RIGHT: COURTESY PETE WELLS
T
HE FIRST European
naturalists in Australia
considered the southern
brown bandicoot to be one of the
continent’s commonest mammals,
says Sarah Maclagan, an ecologist
at Deakin University. Today, they
are listed nationally as endangered.
As urbanisation exacerbates
habitat loss, Sarah is working on an
AG Society-sponsored project that
looks at survivalists she’s dubbed
“backyard bandicoots” – those who
have managed to live with humans
on urban fringes. Sarah’s field
research over the past three years
has shown that bandicoots can live
successfully within narrow linear
strips of vegetation along roads,
drains and railway lines. Moreover,
she says, “at a number of sites,
bandicoots appear to make use of
artificial food sources provided
indirectly by humans, such as pet
and domestic animal food”.S –O 2014 115Backyard bandits
DONATE
Use the free viewa
app to scan this page
and donate to this cause.The next step will be to look
into the differences between
urbanised and non-urbanised
bandicoots. Sarah will compare
the diets and health of both,
and study how the city dwellers
are coping with their modified
lifestyle – and what can be done
to help them adapt as cities
spread. She’ll even be examining
levels of stress hormones in fur
samples, to test the psychological
impacts of city life.Little larrikins. Sarah Maclagan
(above, at right) measures a bandicoot
(top) with a volunteer.ag0914p115_yoursoc - 113 2014-08-07T11:23:18+10:00