Understanding the exchange of individuals between wildlife populations, particularly those with naturally fragmented habitats, is important for the effective management of these species. This is of particular consequence when the species is of conservation concern, and isolated populations may be lost due to pressures from predation or competition, or catastrophic events such as wildfire. Here we demonstrate the use kinship and population structure analysis to show potential recent movement between colonies in metapopulations of yellow-footed rock-wallaby (Petrogale xanthopus Gray 1854) at two sites in the Grey Range of Queensland, and at four sites in the Gawler Ranges of South Australia. These colonies are also compared to a single colony from the Flinders Ranges, a connected landscape of rock-wallaby habitat. Using reduced representation next-generation sequencing, we acquired and filtered a set of similar to 17,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms to examine population genetic variation, structure and relationships within populations, and also identify putative migrants. Initial STRUCTURE analysis re-confirmed each population should be considered separately. Tests of population genetic variation identify several colonies appearing to be experiencing genetic erosion, also with low calculated effective population sizes (N_e = 4.5-36.6). Pairwise comparisons of individual relatedness (relatedness coeffiecients; r) implied several contemporary movement events between colonies within both the Gawler and Grey Ranges (r > 0.125), which was then affirmed with tests for putative first generation migrants. These results are of particular note in South Australia, where threat abatement (management of key predators and competitors) may facilitate dispersion. Additionally, in Queensland, colonies are separated by anthropogenic barriers: predator exclusion fencing designed to exclude dingoes (Canis familiaris) from grazing land, which may hinder dispersal. This work highlights the usefulness of population genetics to inform management outcomes in wildlife, in this case, highlighting the need for threatened species management at the landscape level.

GPS tracking collars were fitted to five free-ranging dogs (Canis familiarise) in the Arcadia Valley, Queensland to establish baseline movement data in this unique topographical landscape. Activity areas were generated with three home range methods using seasonally constrained fixes. Activity areas (Brownian Bridge and Utilisation Distribution) ranged from 2.9 to 689 km² in this landscape, and revealed that topographical features previously thought to confine free-ranging dog movement were no barrier to habitat use.

Context. Managing human–wildlife conflict where anthropogenic resources are provided is difficult. Providing food, water and shelter can result in over-abundant dingo populations, especially in Australian desert mine sites where managing dingoes, wildlife and humans around waste-management facilities and camps is problematic. Aims. To measure and characterise the spatial activities of a population of arid-zone dingoes in relation to resources provided by a Cooper Basin (Strzelecki Desert, South Australia mining operation). The results were used to facilitate effective dingo management. Methods. Free-roaming dingoes were captured, their morphometrics and ectoparasite presence recorded, and they were fitted with Iridium (GPS) radio collars. These were used to collect high-fidelity data about individual dingo activity and movements in relation to minesite infrastructure and the Cooper Basin ecosystem. Key results. A high density of dingoes (181 trapped in 2 km2 per 4 years) was associated with the mining operation. Home range/activity area sizes and usage of the anthropogenic landscape showed the following three categories of dingo: desert, peripatetic and tip dingoes. Dingoes reliant on food provisioning at the waste-management facility (WMF) displayed activity areas with a strong focus on the WMF (tip dingoes). Temporal activity patterns of another group of dingoes (peripatetic dingoes) were associated with regular waste-dumping times and normal nocturnal activity away from the WMF. Of the 27 dingoes collared, 30% (i.e. desert dingoes) were not dependent on the WMF, spending more time and a greater area of use in the desert dune system than in the mine-site area. Conclusions. On the basis of the capture of 181 dingoes over 4 years and home-range analysis, it is likely that anthropogenic resource provisioning has caused an overabundance of dingoes in the Cooper Basin mine site. However, some of the dingo population remains reliant on native wildlife and resources in the surrounding desert. Managing food waste and excluding dingoes from food, water and shelter will result in a change in the prevalence of dingoes in the mine site, and subsequent reduction in the risk of disease transmission, native wildlife impacts, human conflicts and social pressures on dingoes, influencing them to revert to domestic-dog behaviours. Implications. Waste-management facilities where food is dumped provide resources that lead to a change in wild-dingo behaviour, on the basis of their acceptance of human-provided resources, and high abundance. Managing access to anthropogenic resources will reduce the population as well as unwanted or aggressive encounters with humans. Dingoes reliant on food scraps will be encouraged to adjust their activity areas to desert habitat, thereby providing natural hunting opportunities and reduced contact rates with conspecifics, thus potentially reducing pathogen transmission.