Monitoring of collared animals Automated cameras The status (alive or dead) of all collared animals was Automated cameras were installed at positions checked several times prior to baiting. No attempt throughout the study area (Figure 9) to assess was made to directly observe the animals during presence of Feral Cats and foxes prior to and these surveys but instead relied on the mortality following baiting (see front cover image). Cameras sensor to indicate whether the animal was alive or were set both on and off tracks. Forty- seven not. An Australis 26K VHF receiver and handheld 3 cameras were used in off track locations and element yagi antenna (Titley Electronics, Ballina, provided with a food lure (pilchards) over a period of Australia) were used to search for and assess the 14 days prior to (i.e. 6–18 April) and following (e.g. status of each collared animal. Most animals 19–31 May) application of baits. All cameras were could be detected configured to record three photos at every motion from locations with higher elevation within the study detection with no pause between detections. area. However, more intensive searching was conducted for collared animals which could not be The location of these cameras was ‘bush’ detected from hills using an omni-directional determined using a semi-random process. The antenna fitted to the roof of a 4WD vehicle driven study site was partitioned slowly along the tracks within the study into three areas (labelled A C) based on fire history – area. The location the VHF transmission was and detected topography. All 1 where access was expected was recorded. A thorough search was undertaken km2 on the 8 Convex Polygon function. May (i.e. the day before baiting) to determine the status of each collared animal. to be very difficult were ruled out and the remaining cells Analysis of data collected by GPS collars was were numbered. A series of random three digit X undertaken using ArcView 3.3 Geographic and Y axis numbers that had been generated Information System software (ESRI, Redlands, USA) from the software that included the Home Range Extension 1.1 program were fitted against each cell to form a ‘R’ (Rodgers and Carr 1998). The home range complete geographic UTM reference. of cats was determined using the 95% Minimum
Monitoring of collared animals The status (alive or dead) of all collared animals was checked several times prior to baiting. No attempt was made to directly observe the animals during these surveys but instead relied on the mortality sensor to indicate whether the animal was alive or not. An Australis 26K VHF receiver and handheld 3 element yagi antenna (Titley Electronics, Ballina, Australia) were used to search for and assess the status of each collared animal. Most animals could be detected from locations with higher elevation within the study area. However, more intensive searching was conducted for collared animals which could not be detected from hills using an omni-directional antenna fitted to the roof of a 4WD vehicle driven slowly along the tracks within the study area. The location the VHF transmission was detected Automated cameras Automated cameras were installed at positions throughout the study area (Figure 9) to assess presence of Feral Cats and foxes prior to and following baiting (see front cover image). Cameras were set both on and off tracks. Forty- seven cameras were used in off track locations and provided with a food lure (pilchards) over a period of 14 days prior to (i.e. 6–18 April) and following (e.g. 19–31 May) application of baits. All cameras were configured to record three photos at every motion detection with no pause between detections. The location of these ‘bush’ cameras was determined using a semi-random process. The study site was partitioned into three areas (labelled A – C) based on fire history and was recorded. A thorough search was undertaken on the 8 topography. All 1 km2 where access was expected May (i.e. the day before baiting) to determine the status of each collared animal. Analysis of data collected by GPS collars was undertaken using ArcView 3.3 Geographic Information System software (ESRI, Redlands, USA) that included the Home Range Extension 1.1 (Rodgers and Carr 1998). The home range of cats was determined using the 95% Minimum Convex Polygon function. to be very difficult were ruled out and the remaining cells were numbered. A series of random three digit X and Y axis numbers that had been generated from the software program ‘R’ were fitted against each cell to form a complete geographic UTM reference.
curiosity-wilsons-prom-np.docx