The propensity of spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus) to encounter and consume non-toxic meat baits in a simulated canid-control program

Using a biomarker, we assessed the propensity of spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus) to encounter and consume non-toxic meat baits, ordinarily laced with the poison 1080 (sodium monofluoroacetate) and deployed for control of wild dogs (Canis lupus dingo, Canis familiaris and hybrids of the two) in southern Australia. In the first experiment, 60 unpoisoned meat baits injected with Rhodamine B were placed on the surface of the ground at 250-m intervals along two separate transects crossing an open woodland study area. One week after placement, a range of animals, including quolls, had removed all baits. Microscopic assay of whisker samples collected from live-captured quolls later revealed that 6 of 10 (60%) animals were positive for the biomarker, indicating that they had encountered and consumed baits. In the second experiment, conducted at the same site one year later, 150 similarly prepared meat baits were delivered aerially from a helicopter along the same transects, at a rate of one bait every 100 m. Eight of 17 quolls (47%) were found to have encountered and consumed at least one and up to five baits. Combined with previous studies, our results reaffirm that surface or aerial baiting operations for wild dogs may place local quoll populations at risk. However, further research is necessary to establish the relationship between this risk and actual mortality levels during such baiting operations since there are a number of factors that may influence the toxicity of baits for spotted-tailed quolls in a field situation as well as the danger those baits may pose.