When feral cats are away, potoroos and bandicoots are more likely to play

By Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University
Amy Coetsee, Threatened Species Biologist, The University of Melbourne
Anthony Rendall, Lecturer in Conservation Biology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University
Duncan Sutherland, Deputy Director of Research, Phillip Island Nature Parks; Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne

All animals need to eat to survive, grow and reproduce. To do so, they also need to avoid being eaten. This is a big challenge for many of Australia’s native mammals, because when they search for food, they must also escape the attention of introduced predators, namely, feral cats and red foxes.

Tragically, many have been unable to overcome this test of survival, becoming one of the 40 native mammal species driven…

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