Context. Predator free havens are increasingly relied upon to preserve populations of imperilled species, yet despite their substantial cost, the success of these ventures is rarely critically evaluated. Aims. Based on 12 years of population monitoring data, we report on the translocation of woylies (Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi) to Perup Sanctuary, a 423 ha predator-free haven in the south west of Western Australia. Methods We built spatially explicit capture-recapture models to estimate population density, population growth rates, and survivorship of woylies inside the sanctuary. Using these estimates, and additional demographic information, we aimed to show key drivers of population density, evaluate the establishment of the sanctuary population against predetermined translocation success criteria, and run simulations of different sampling designs to determine a robust sampling design for future monitoring of this population. Key results The population rapidly increased in the first 3 years (2010-2013), and then fluctuated around a density of similar to 0.9 woylies ha(-1) before declining slightly in recent years to similar to 0.6 woylies ha(-1). All translocation success criteria evaluated were met. The previous 3 months' rainfall was a key driver of population density and body weight declined over time, indicating that the population may be regulated by food resources. Conclusions Woylies have established and persisted in Perup Sanctuary, and against the criteria, the translocation of woylies into Perup sanctuary is a success. Harvests from this population appear to have been sustainable. We discuss these findings in the context of the Perup Sanctuary, and recommend ongoing monitoring continue to ensure that the population remains viable and well managed. Implications We describe important considerations for the supplementation and harvest of fenced populations, including: the source of animals (selecting free-living individuals over captive ones); the timing of release (releasing more individuals early on may improve establishment probabilities); and rates of harvest (<30% of adults harvested per generation seemeded to be sustainable for woylies in this case). The results from this study can inform the ongoing management of this and other havened populations, to ensure they continue to benefit mammal conservation.

Populations of threatened animals are increasingly preserved within predator-free havens, where populations tend to grow rapidly, resource competition increases, and traits relevant to avoiding predation may be selected against. We examine this phenomenon using a ten-year longitudinal dataset on a threatened Australian mammal; the woylie (Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi). Behavioural and morphological data were collected during routine monitoring of a havened woylie population and an adjacent wild population where predators occur, from which six traits relating to predator escape were extracted. Paired comparisons revealed that havened woylies were less likely to show injuries from excessive agitation in traps, were less likely to eject pouch young, and had shorter approach distances compared to woylies outside the haven, suggesting a dampened antipredator response. Further, body mass and relative leg length declined over time in the havened population, compared with no change outside of the haven, suggesting selection in the haven against body size. Population density affected body size and agitation in traps differently in havened and non-havened populations, indicating an interaction between resource competition and relaxed selection that likely hastens the loss of anti-predator traits. Our study offers a mechanistic understanding of the loss of anti-predator responses in havens, which is essential for guiding how populations could be managed to better realise their potential for recovering threatened fauna.

We analyze spectra of a gravitationally lensed galaxy, known as the Sunburst Arc, that is leaking ionizing photons, also known as the Lyman continuum (LyC). Magnification from gravitational lensing permits the galaxy to be spatially resolved into one region that leaks ionizing photons and several that do not. Rest-frame UV and optical spectra from Magellan target 10 different regions along the lensed Arc, including six multiple images of the LyC leaking region and four regions that do not show LyC emission. The rest-frame optical spectra of the ionizing photon emitting regions reveal a blueshifted (Delta V = 27 km s(-1)) broad emission component (FWHM = 327 km s(-1)), comprising 55% of the total [O iii] line flux, in addition to a narrow component (FWHM = 112 km s(-1)), suggesting the presence of strong highly ionized gas outflows. This is consistent with the high-velocity ionized outflow inferred from the rest-frame UV spectra. In contrast, the broad emission component is less prominent in the nonleaking regions, comprising similar to 26% of total [O iii] line flux. The high-ionization absorption lines are prominent in both the leaker and the nonleaker, but the low-ionization absorption lines are very weak in the leaker, suggesting that the line-of-sight gas is highly ionized in the leaker. Analyses of stellar wind features reveal that the stellar population of the LyC leaking regions is considerably younger (similar to 3 Myr) than that of the nonleaking regions (similar to 12 Myr), emphasizing that stellar feedback from young stars may play an important role in ionizing photon escape.

A growing number of indigenous trypanosomes have been reported to naturally infect a variety of Australian wildlife with some species of Trypanosoma implicated in the population decline of critically endangered marsupials. However, the mode of transmission of Australian trypanosomes is unknown since their vectors remain unidentified. Here we aimed to fill this current knowledge gap about the occurrence and identity of indigenous trypanosomes in Australian invertebrates by conducting molecular screening for the presence of Trypanosoma spp. in native ticks collected from south-west Australia. A total of 231 ticks (148 collected from vegetation and 83 retrieved directly from 76 marsupial hosts) were screened for Trypanosoma using a High-Resolution Melt (HRM) qPCR assay. An overall Trypanosoma qPCR positivity of 37% (46/125) and 34% (26/76) was detected in questing ticks and host-collected (i.e., feeding) ticks, respectively. Of these, sequencing revealed 28% (35/125) of questing and 28% (21/76) of feeding ticks were infected with one or more of the five species of trypanosome previously reported in this region (T. copemani, T. noyesi, T. vegrandis, T. gilletti, Trypanosoma sp. ANU2). This work has confirmed that Australian ticks are capable of harbouring several species of indigenous trypanosome and likely serve as their vectors.

Invasive animal species are a major factor in the extinction and endangerment of native species worldwide. Longterm monitoring reveals some mammal recoveries have not been sustained in the presence of a broad-scale threat abatement program aimed at reducing the impact of the introduced Vulpes vulpes (red fox)-a top-order predator and key threat to many native species in Australia. Over 51,000 records of 19 terrestrial mammal species reported from a range of survey methods (pitfall traps, Elliott box traps, wire cage traps, spotlighting, sand plots, and nest boxes) across the Upper Warren region of southwestern Australia were used to investigate population changes over 41 years (1974-2014). Since the mid-1990s, populations of at least 7 native mammal species or genera have successively declined at similarly rapid rates and magnitudes (80-100%): Sminthopsis spp., Rattus fuscipes, Phascogale tapoatafa, Isoodon obesulus, Pseudocheirus occidentalis, Bettongia penicillata, and Notamacropus irma. R. fuscipes has not been recorded in the region since 2005 and may have become locally extinct. The other species that have declined remain at risk of becoming locally extinct. Three species have increased since 2000: Trichosurus vulpecula, Dasyurus geoffroii, and Notamacropus eugenii. The Upper Warren region in which this community disassembly has occurred is one of the principal sites for the conservation of many threatened mammal species and is within Australia's global biodiversity hotspot. We discuss the critical importance of long-term monitoring and the need to identify the causes of population change to inform how conservation and management activities can best be focussed. Predation by the introduced Felis catus (cat) is hypothesized as the most likely common or primary cause behind many of the recent declines in the Upper Warren. The integrated reduction of both cats and foxes, conducted within an experimental framework, is the most direct and definitive action to test this and deliver the greatest practical conservation outcomes.

The woylie Bettongia penicillata is categorized as Critically Endangered, having declined by c. 90% between 1999 and 2006. The decline continues and the cause is not fully understood. Within a decline diagnosis framework we characterized the nature of the decline and identified potential causes, with a focus on the species' largest populations, located in south-west Western Australia. We described the spatio-temporal pattern of the decline, and several attributes that are common across sites. We categorized the potential causes of the decline as resources, predators, disease and direct human interference. Based on the available evidence the leading hypothesis is that disease may be making woylies more vulnerable to predation but this remains to be tested. No substantial recoveries have been sustained to date, and one of the three remaining indigenous populations now appears to be extinct. Therefore, verifying the factors causing the decline and those limiting recovery is becoming increasingly urgent. Active adaptive management can be used to test putative agents, such as introduced predators. Insurance populations and ecological monitoring should also be included in an integrated conservation and management strategy for the species.

The woylie (Bettongia penicillata) has declined by about 80% since 2001. The rate of decline within affected populations has been up to 95% per annum. The largest and most important populations have been most severely affected. Examples include the last remaining indigenous populations of Dryandra (93% decline) and Upper Warren (95% decline), and the largest translocated populations of Batalling (97% decline) and Venus Bay Peninsula, South Australia (>90% decline). In January 2008, the Western Australian State Government re-listed the woylie as “fauna that is rare or is likely to become extinct” (Schedule 1, Wildlife Conservation Act 1950). Conservation status reviews in other jurisdictions are under way. The remaining small and translocated populations are inherently vulnerable - most have less than 200 individuals. The species collapse was unexpected. It followed a successful recovery of the species during the previous 25 years, due principally to the successes achieved by fox control in south-western Australian forests and woodlands and a strategic translocation program. The Woylie Conservation Research Project began in 2006 to identify the causes of the recent collapse. The study has focused on the populations within the Upper Warren region (east of Manjimup, Western Australia) - the largest wild woylie population, and where declines were still current. Highly collaborative and multidisciplinary, the progress of this research is reported with a focus on the possible role(s) of predation, food resources, and disease.