Survey guidelines for Australia’s threatened non-flying mammals

Kowari

Dasyuroides byrnei

States and territories: Queensland and South Australia.

Regions: Patchily distributed in the Channel Country of the Lake Eyre Basin between Boulia in Queensland and Cooper Creek in South Australia (Lim 2008, P Canty pers. comm.).

Habitat: Stony 'gibber' desert with less than 25 per cent vegetative cover between braided stream channels and sand dunes (Lim 2008).

Habit: Ground-dwelling.

Avg. body weight: 120 g (males) and 100 g (females) (Aslin & Lim 1995).

Activity pattern: Primarily nocturnal.

Diet: Carnivorous: primarily arthropods, also reptiles and mammals (Lim 2008).

Breeding: May to December, following rain, with between six and seven young born 30–35 days later (Aslin & Lim 1995).

Description

The kowari is a small, stocky dasyurid that can be readily identified by the dense black brush on the distal half of the tail. It is confined to scattered populations on gibber patches among grasslands, sand dunes and river channels in south-western Queensland and north-eastern South Australia. The kowari shelters in burrows during the day. Although patchily distributed, this species can undergo population eruptions as a result of good seasonal conditions.

The threatening processes for this species are unclear; however, the main threat is thought to be the reduction of ground-cover and soil erosion due to grazing by introduced herbivores, which in turn may reduce the available prey (Lim 1992, Canty & Brandle 2008). Road-killed individuals have been observed as a result of traffic on gibber plains (Lim 1992).

Survey methods

On the basis of previous surveys, the following survey techniques are recommended to detect the presence of the kowari in areas up to 5 hectares in size:

• 
  daytime searches for potentially suitable habitat resources, such as sites for burrows (description of the survey technique and recommended effort is provided in Section 3.1)
  
• 
  daytime searches for signs of activity including burrows, freshly excavated earth, tracks and scats (description of the survey technique and recommended effort is provided in Section 3.2). Note that identification of tracks requires confirmation by an expert
  
• 
  collection of predator scats, owl casts or remains in predatory bird/mammal nests/dens (description of the survey technique and recommended effort is provided in Section 3.2)
  
• 
  Elliott A trapping survey, using dog biscuits soaked in tuna oil for bait, conducted according to the description of technique and recommended effort provided in Section 3.3.9. However, increase the distance between traps from 10 metres to 100 metres
  
• 
  potentially, predator pad surveys (follow the description of the survey technique and recommended effort provided in Section 3.3.2 and forthcoming publications from South Australia DEH, if available)
  
• 
  spotlighting from a vehicle is effective when population numbers are high, particularly where the passenger has a hand net for catching individuals to confirm identification (M Schulz pers. comm.), provided animal welfare and occupational health and safety considerations are met
  
• 
  community consultation, especially with landholders, farm hands and bore runners. This approach has resulted in a number of new localities on leasehold land (M Schulz pers. comm.) though care needs to be taken that it is not being confused with similar species (such as the ampurta, mulgara and sometimes kultarr)
  
• 
  searching for road-killed individuals (especially on bitumen road surfaces) in suitable habitat
  
• 
  possibly a hair sampling device survey as the kowari is included among those known to be distinguishable from hair samples (see Table 2, Section 3.3.7)
  
• 
  consider the placement of baited camera traps in suitable habitat as this technique is ideal for cryptic species occurring at low densities, particularly as this species can be relatively easily separated from other sympatric species (description of technique in Section 3.3.6).
  

Similar species in range

The kowari is similar in appearance to the mulgara Dasycercus cristicauda and ampurta Dasycercus hilleri. The extent of any overlap in distribution is unclear, due to the ambiguities in the identification of the latter two species (see ampurta species profile). However, the kowari can be distinguished from the other two species by the white colour of the fur at the base of its tail, the distinctive black brush at the end of its tail (Lim 2008) and having only four toes on the hind foot (mulgara and ampurta have five).

References

Aslin, H.J. and Lim, L. 1995. Kowari Dasyuroides byrnei. In ‘The Mammals of Australia’ (Ed. R. Strahan) pp. 59-61. (Reed Books: Sydney).
Brandle, R., Canty, P., Pilman, S., Jay, J. and Lang, P. 2002. Kowari Population monitoring report. Unpublished report by National Parks and Wildlife South Australia.
Canty, P. 2003. South Australia DEH. Personal communication regarding the Kowari.
Canty, P. 2009. South Australia DEH. Personal communication regarding the Kowari.
Canty, P. and Brandle, R. (2008). Kowari Dasycercus byrnei Distribution Monitoring in Sturts Stony Desert, South Australia, Spring 2007. Science & Conservation, SA Dept Environment & Heritage, 2008 for SA Arid Lands Natural Resources Management Board
Lim, L. 1992. "Recovery Plan for the Kowari Dasyuroides byrnei Spencer, 1896 (Marsupialia, Dasyuridae)". Environment Australia: Canberra.
Lim, L. 2008. Kowari Dasyuroides byrnei. In ‘Mammals of Australia’ (Eds. S. Van Dyck and R. Strahan) pp. 52-54. (Reed New Holland, Sydney).
Schulz, M. 2009. Personal communication regarding recommended survey methods for the Kowari.