Can native predators be used as a stepping stone to reduce prey naivety to novel predators?

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dc.contributor.authorvan der Weyde, L.K.
dc.contributor.authorBlumstein, D.T.
dc.contributor.authorLetnic, M.
dc.contributor.authorTuft, K.
dc.contributor.authorRyan-Schofield, N.
dc.contributor.authorMoseby, K.E.
dc.contributor.editorCandolin, U.
dc.date.issued2023
dc.descriptionAdvance Access publication 11 November 2022
dc.description.abstractPredator naivety negatively affects reintroduction success, and this threat is exacerbated when prey encounters predators with which they have had no evolutionary experience. While methods have been developed to inculcate fear into such predator-naïve individuals, none have been uniformly successful. Exposing ontogenetically- and evolutionary-naïve individuals first to native predators may be an effective stepping stone to improved responses to evolutionarily novel predators. We focused on greater bilbies (Macrotis lagotis) and capitalized on a multi-year mammalian recovery experiment whereby western quolls (Dasyurus geoffroii) were reintroduced into parts of a large fenced reserve that contained a population of naïve bilbies. We quantified a suite of anti-predator behaviors and measures of general wariness across quoll-exposed and quoll-naive bilby populations. We then translocated both quoll-exposed and quoll-naïve individuals into a large enclosure that contained feral cats (Felis catus) and monitored several behaviors. We found that bilbies can respond appropriately to quolls but found only limited support that experience with quolls better-prepared bilbies to respond to cats. Both populations of bilbies rapidly modified their behavior in a similar manner after their reintroduction to a novel environment. These results may have emerged due to insufficient prior exposure to quolls, inappropriate behavioral tests, or insufficient predation risk during cat exposure. Alternatively, quolls and cats are only distantly related and may not share sufficient similarities in their predatory cues or behavior to support such a learning transfer. Testing this stepping stone hypothesis with more closely related predator species and under higher predation risk would be informative.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityLeanne K. Van der Weyde, Daniel T. Blumstein, Mike Letnic, a Katherine Tuft, Ned Ryan-Schofield, and Katherine E. Moseby
dc.identifier.citationBehavioral Ecology, 2023; 34(1):63-75
dc.identifier.doi10.1093/beheco/arac097
dc.identifier.issn1045-2249
dc.identifier.issn1465-7279
dc.identifier.orcidRyan-Schofield, N. [0000-0002-4997-6560]
dc.identifier.orcidMoseby, K.E. [0000-0003-0691-1625]
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/140210
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherOxford University Press
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP190100291
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. All rights reserved.
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arac097
dc.subjectanti-predator trait; greater bilby; marsupial; neophobia; predator–prey
dc.titleCan native predators be used as a stepping stone to reduce prey naivety to novel predators?
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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