"When New England was first settled by the Whites, they found the standing nets of the Blacks in many parts of the bush for the purpose of entrapping the wild animals - The tribes of Blacks met by appointment at these places at certain times driving from different directions their game before them, and this from a circle of many miles into these nets... Since the Whites have occupied the Pundarra & Byron plains Countries, the wild animals of every description have left the plains & frequented places occupied by civilised man, and have betaken to the mountains & unfrequented parts." The schoolmaster and chronicler William Gardner thus described the impact of the first twenty years of pastoralism. The Aborigines' hunting infrastructure was destroyed, and the wildlife on which they depended drastically reduced in the developed areas, remaining abundant only in 'the mountains and unfrequented parts'. This chapter takes up the theme of the diversity, distribution and human attitudes to New England's vertebrate fauna - its native and introduced mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs and fishes - with a particular focus on mammals.

Fire is being used increasingly to manage natural habitats, however, a paucity of species specific information exists regarding direct effects of fire on animal survival. In this study I assessed post-fire survivorship of an endangered Australian marsupial, the northern bettong (Bettongia tropica), over two burning seasons. During both seasons, a combination of radio-telemetry and capture data indicated that post-fire survivorship of bettongs was high, and not significantly different to survival rates on unburnt sites. During each burning season, I also collected dingo scats before and after fire in order to assess changes in dingo predation on bettongs with fire. Predation levels were found to be very low overall and did not increase after fire. Results are discussed in light of other studies of post-fire survival, with the conclusion that post-fire survival by northern bettongs is high, and dingo predation negligible.

The invention relates to a low molecular weight peptide (or suite of related peptides) isolated from the submaxiliary saliva glands of shrews of the species 'Blarina' as a paralytic agent. This novel paralytic agent is useful as a neuromuscular blocker and analgesic or as an insecticide.

We examined predation activity throughout Bhutan by tiger (Panthera tigris'), common leopard ('Panthera pardus'), snow leopard ('Uncia uncia) and Himalayan black bear ('Ursus thibetanus') on a variety of livestock types using data gathered over the first two years (2003–2005) of a compensation scheme for livestock losses. One thousand three hundred and seventy five kills were documented, with leopards killing significantly more livestock (70% of all kills), than tigers (19%), bears (8%) and snow leopards (2%). About 50% of livestock killing were of cattle, and about 33% were of horses, with tigers, leopards and snow leopards killing a significantly greater proportion of horses than predicted from availability. Examination of cattle kills showed that leopards killed a significantly greater proportion of smaller prey (e.g., calves), whereas tigers killed a significantly greater proportion of larger prey (e.g., bulls). Overall, livestock predation was greatest in summer and autumn which corresponded with a peak in cropping agriculture; livestock are turned out to pasture and forest during the cropping season, and subsequently, are less well guarded than at other times. Across Bhutan, high horse density and low cattle and yak density were associated with high rates of livestock attack, but no relationship was found with forest cover or human population density. Several northern districts were identified as 'predation hotspots', where proportions of livestock lost to predation were considerable, and the ratio of reported kills to relative abundance of livestock was high. Implications of our findings for mitigating livestock losses and for conserving large carnivores in Bhutan are discussed.

The population density of the northern bettong ('Bettongia tropica'), an endangered potoroid restricted to northeastern Australia, was estimated using minimum known-to-be-alive (MKTBA) and Jolly-Seber estimates derived from mark-recapture data. At Davies Creek in the north of the bettong's current range, bettong population densities were significantly lower in 'Allocasuarina' forest (1.5 bettongs km⁻²) that in 'Eucalyptus' woodland (3.7 - 7.5 bettongs km⁻²). At 'Eucalyptus' woodland sites south and west of Davies Creek, population density was up to twice as great as it was at Davies Creek, while at sites north of Davies Creek, population densities were very low. Capture success was variable, ranging between 5 and 21%. Our data support previous research that suggested 'B. tropica' density on the Lamb Range was correlated with latitude and moisture. Despite the restricted distribution of the northern bettong, our data indicate that populations on the Lamb Range, the species' stronghold, are generally healthy.

We investigated timing of reproduction in a wild population of northern brown bandicoots ('Isoodon macrourus') in the Australian Wet Tropics. Almost all births occurred during the late dry season and early wet season, and most adult females (78–96%) were carrying pouch young during those times. Litter sizes ranged from 1 to 6 pouch young (mean = 3.1) and was not influenced by season. Adult males had significantly larger testes in the late dry and early wet seasons, corresponding with the peak in births. Daylength was the only environmental factor that predicted the presence of a litter; when daylength exceeded 12 h, more than 70% of captured females were carrying pouch young, and most (94%) births were estimated to have occurred on days with >12 h of daylight. Various environmental factors have been proposed as a cue for breeding in 'I. macrourus', with daylength though to be the primary cue initiating breeding in temperate Australia, but temperature and rainfall thought to be more important in the tropics. Our data suggest that in the Australian Wet Tropics, increasing daylength in the late dry season acts as the primary cue for breeding.

1. Despite the importance of fire in many natural systems, knowledge of how fire affects the relationship between hypogeous fungi and mycophagous mammals in fire-prone environments is limited. Using experimental fires, we examined consumption of hypogeous ectomycorrhizal fruit-bodies by an endangered tropical mycophagist, the northern bettong Bettongia tropica Wakefield, in north-eastern Australia. 2. Fungus was the major dietary component (56%) throughout all seasons, both before and after fire. At least 35 hypogeous taxa were consumed. Number of taxa consumed during different seasons was similar, but was significantly higher on unburnt sites than on burnt sites. Similarly, diversity of taxa per faecal sample was significantly greater on unburnt sites, but also increased irrespective of fire from wet season to dry season. 3. Cluster and principal component analyses were used to examine patterns in consumption of fungal taxa. The greatest differences in dietary composition were between the period immediately after fire on burnt sites (early wet season) and all other season and treatment combinations. This difference was due to increased consumption of taxa in the fire-adapted family Mesophelliaceae and reduced consumption of the genus Elaphomyces. Principal component analysis revealed two major gradients in consumption. The first accounted for 32% of total variance and described change in consumption of taxa with season. The second accounted for 24% of total variance and described change in consumption of taxa before and after fire. 4. Despite taxon-specific changes in consumption of hypogeous fungi, the body condition of bettongs did not change significantly between seasons or in relation to fire, suggesting that bettongs were never compromised in their optimal fungal intake. 5. Our data show that the northern bettong has a flexible response to fire and could be best thought of as a fire-adapted marsupial. We therefore propose a precautionary approach to fire management of bettong habitat; at the present time this would include maintaining the recent fire regime of low to moderately intense fires every 3-4 years.

The invention relates to a low molecular weight peptide (or suite of related peptides) isolated from the submaxiliary saliva glands of shrews of the species 'Blarina' as a paralytic agent. This novel paralytic agent is useful as a neuromuscular blocker and analgesic or as an insecticide.

Mycophagous mammals excavate and ingest fruiting bodies (ascomata) of hypogeous ectomycorrhizal fungi and produce faeces containing numerous spores. To evaluate the significance of mycophagy to plant hosts we compared inoculation rate and degree of fungal development on red spruce (Picea rubens) seedlings treated with (1) faeces of the northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) against seedlings treated with (2) ascospores of Elaphomyces granulatus, and (3) those grown in natural forest soil or (4) forest soil that had been rendered sterile. No seedlings grown in sterilised soil showed fungal colonization. Significantly more seedlings were colonized in natural forest soil (97.5 %) than in sterile soil treated with squirrel faeces (69.2 %) or fruiting body spores (27.5 %). Treatment with squirrel faeces produced significantly more colonization than treatment with fruiting body spores. Fungal development was significantly greater on seedlings grown in forest soil compared with other treatments, but did not differ significantly between squirrel faeces and fruiting body treatments. These results demonstrate that passage through the digestive tract of flying squirrels may enhance germination and inoculation potential of fruiting body spores, although actively growing mycelium in forest soil may be the primary and most effective means by which seedlings develop mycorrhizae under natural conditions.

The invention relates to a low molecular weight peptide (or suite of related peptides) isolated from the submaxiliary saliva glands of shrews of the species 'Blarina' as a paralytic agent. This novel paralytic agent is useful as a neuromuscular blocker and analgesic.