Action Plan for Australian Marsupials and Monotremes
Wildlife Australia, December 1996
ISBN 0 6422 1395 X
Recovery Outline - Kultarr
Taxon Summary
| Kultarr |
|---|
1 Family: Dasyuridae
2 Scientific name: Antechinomys laniger (Gould, 1856)
3 Common name: Kultarr
4 Conservation status: Data Deficient
5 Past range and abundance:
Arid and semi-arid zone mallee, shrubland, floodplain and gibber of WA, NT, western Qld, NSW, Vic. and SA.
6 Present range and abundance:
Appears to have disappeared from Vic., southern NSW, south-eastern SA and parts of western NSW (Nyngan area) and Qld (Sandringham). Occurs in the western Goldfields, Ashburton and Carnarvon Basin, WA, where apparent sparsity may be a trapping artefact (N.L. McKenzie pers. comm.). Recent records from Yellabinna Regional Reserve, western SA, south of Lake Frome and at a rare rodent monitoring site on Macumba Station in the stony desert area of northern SA. At the latter site Kultarrs were trapped on every visit between July 1992 and mid-1996 and drier conditions and increasing cattle degradation did not lead to any noticeable drop in numbers. Appears to undergo fluctuations in population size - it was recently (1994) quite abundant in the Mulga lands around Charleville (Qld). Poorly represented in the most recent surveys in Qld (Diamantina Survey) and SA (Stony Desert Survey) and WA (Carnarvon Basin and Goldfields surveys). In NSW, it now appears to occur only in a few locations south of Cobar. Confirmed in Kinchega NP from a single sighting in 1987 and a probable sighting in Willandra Lakes NP in the late 1980s. Recorded on severely degraded cattle country in central and western Australia but this may reflect the previous relatively high productivity of these landscape types rather than any benign effect of cattle. |
7 Habitat:
Open shrubland, mallee woodland, acacia shrubland with sparse ground cover, hummock grassland, gibber, flood plains and stony areas with sparse ground cover. Generally prefers heavier soil types.
8 Current threats:
Habitat degradation by sheep and cattle, severe local flooding caused by constructed levee banks. Increased predation by cats and foxes.
9 Recommended actions:
9.1 Develop trapping techniques to permit effective survey and monitoring of the species. Implement long-term monitoring to validate adequacy of conservation measures.
9.2 Collate distribution data, identify and determine the status of the species across its range.
9.3 Construct habitat model to more accurately determine extent of source and sink habitat available to the Kultarr, identify patches and allow monitoring of the changes in habitat quality, particularly due to excessive flooding and grazing.
9.4 Study home range, movement, habitat and food requirements in the field if a population can be located for a 3-5 year population study.
9.5 Establish adequate reserves and appropriate management inside and outside the reserve system.
References:
Dickman C.R. and Read D.G. 1992. The biology and management of dasyurids of the arid zone in NSW. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Species Management Report 11.
Lidicker W.Z. and Marlow B.J. 1970. A review of the dasyurid marsupial genus Antechinomys Krefft. Mammalia 34, 212-227.
Marlow B. 1981. Marsupials of Australia. Hesperian Press, Perth.
Valente A. 1984. Reproductive biology of Antechinomys laniger ('spenceri' form) (Marsupalia: Dasyuridae). PhD thesis, La Trobe University, Melbourne (unpublished).
Valente A. 1995. Kultarr. Pp. 121-122 in R. Strahan (Ed.) The Mammals of Australia. Reed Books, Chatswood, NSW.
Woolley P.A. 1984. Reproduction in Antechinomys laniger ('spenceri' form) (Marsupalia: Dasyuridae): field and laboratory investigations. Australian Wildlife Research 11, 481-489.
Taxon Summary
| Chestnut Dunnart (Aust) |
|---|
1 Family: Dasyuridae
2 Scientific name: Sminthopsis archeri Van Dyck, 1986
3 Common name: Chestnut Dunnart (Australian population)
4 Conservation status: Data Deficient
5 Past range and abundance:
Known only from seven specimens collected from the lower Archer River, the Iron Range and near Mapoon on Cape York peninsula. Also occurs in New Guinea, where little is known of range or abundance.
6 Present range and abundance:
 |
As above. |
7 Habitat:
Tall stringybark woodlands on red earth soils of the laterite-bauxite plateau, where canopy species include Erythrophleum chlorostachys and Eucalyptus nesophylla, with an understorey of Parinari nonda, Planchonia careyi, Grevillea parallela and Acacia rothia.
8 Current threats:
Not known.
9 Recommended actions:
9.1 Survey of laterite-bauxite plateaux and other possible sites on Cape York Peninsula.
9.2 Study ecology and conservation requirements of selected populations.
References:
Van Dyck S. 1995. Chestnut Dunnart Sminthopsis archeri. Pp. 124-126 in R. Strahan (Ed.) The Mammals of Australia. Reed Books, Chatswood, NSW.
Taxon Summary
| White-footed Dunnart |
|---|
1 Family: Dasyuridae
2 Scientific name: Sminthopsis leucopus (Gray, 1842)
3 Common name: White-footed Dunnart
4 Conservation status: Data Deficient
5 Past range and abundance:
Recorded from southern Vic., south-eastern NSW and Tasmania, except in the south-west. An outlier population occurs in N Qld. Infrequently recorded and may be sparsely and patchily distributed.
6 Present range and abundance:
 |
As above. |
7 Habitat:
In Tas occurs in most vegetation types. On the mainland it occurs in forests and woodlands with an open understorey of low density vegetation. It has been recorded in grassy fore-dune complexes in Vic. In N Qld it is a rainforest resident.
8 Current threats:
Not known. Not recorded in regrowth forests.
9 Recommended actions:
9.1 Delineate distribution and ecology of N Qld population. Research taxonomy of this population.
9.2 Monitor populations in NSW, Vic and Tas, particularly in areas subject to disturbances which promote dense regrowth.
References:
Lunney D. 1995. White-footed Dunnart Sminthopsis leucopus. Pp 143-145 in R. Strahan (Ed.) The Mammals of Australia. Reed Books, Chatswood, NSW.
Menkhorst P.W. 1995. White-footed Dunnart Sminthopsis leucopus. Pp. 64-66 in Menkhorst P.W. (Ed.) Mammals of Victoria. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Woolley P.A. and Ahern L.D. 1983. Observations on the ecology and reproductive biology of Sminthopsis leucopus (Marsupalia: Dasyuridae). Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 95, 169-180.