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A note on predation on koalas Phascolarctos cinereus by raptors, including wedge-tailed eagles Aquila audax, in Queensland

journal contribution
posted on 2017-12-06, 00:00 authored by Alistair MelzerAlistair Melzer, J Hodgon, BC Elliott, Gail Tucker
There is little information on. predation on koalas Phascolarctos cinereus. Predators are considered to include dogs, dingoes, raptors and large goannas (Marchant and Higgins 1993, Martin and Handasyde 1999, Melzer et al, 2000). Martin and Handasyde (1999) report that the Geelong Field Naturalist Club often found the remains of young Koalas under the roost of a pair of Powerful Owls Nixon strenua. Barnard (1925) reports on the diet of Powerful Owls but does not find Koala amongst the possums, gliders, flying foxes and birds seen with the Powerful Owl. He does implicate the Wedge-tailed Eagle Aquila audax, however. Barnard (Le Souef 1918) reports seeing more than one Wedge-tai led Eagle "... eating a half grown koala .. , that they had evidently just Killed". Later he (Barnard 1925) reports seeing them "... kill native bears". We (Melzer) have received an account from Biloela (west of Gladstone QLD) of a young Koala being "snatched" from branches just above its mother by an unidentified raptor. Here we provide three additional accounts of predation, or attempted predation, on Koalas from central and south-east Queensland.

Funding

Category 1 - Australian Competitive Grants (this includes ARC, NHMRC)

History

Volume

41

Issue

13

Start Page

38

End Page

41

Number of Pages

4

ISSN

0079-8843

Location

Queensland, Australia

Publisher

The Queensland Naturalists Club

Language

en-aus

Peer Reviewed

  • Yes

Open Access

  • No

External Author Affiliations

Centre for Environmental Management; Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service; TBA Research Institute;

Era Eligible

  • Yes

Journal

Queensland Naturalist : journal of the Queensland Naturalists' Club and Nature-lovers' league.

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