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Rufous-bellied Pademelon (Thylogale billardierii)

The rufous-bellied pademelon is a stocky, mostly nocturnal macropod endemic to Tasmania and several nearby islands. It shelters in dense forest cover and feeds in adjacent grassland, pasture and crops, so clearing, edge works and construction near forest margins can remove refuge habitat or disrupt access to feeding areas.

Conservation status

South Australia, National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972: Endangered.

Breeding season

Breeding occurs throughout the year, with the strongest birth period from April to June and a smaller birth peak in October and November. Dependent young can be present in the pouch or at foot during most months.

The species has no single breeding season. Plan pre-clearing searches and fauna management for the whole year, with additional care during April to June and October to November.

  • Breeding: Births are recorded in all months, with the main peak from April to June and a smaller peak in October and November.
  • Young: A young remains in the pouch for about 6.5 to 7 months, then remains dependent and suckles at foot for several more months. Dependence can therefore span most of the year.
  • Nightly movement to feed: Animals leave dense daytime refuge after dusk to feed in nearby open areas, usually staying within about 100 metres of the forest edge.
  • Highest clearing risk: Clearing can harm adults, pouch young and young at foot in any month. Risk is highest during the main April to June birth period and the smaller October to November birth peak.

Identification

Look for a compact, low-set macropod with a short, thick tail and dense fur. It is most likely to be encountered at dusk or at night near the edge of wet forest, rainforest or dense scrub.

Adults have dark brown to grey-brown upperparts and yellowish, orange or rufous underparts. The belly is distinctly red-brown to rufous, while the face lacks the strong cheek markings seen on some other pademelons.

The body is compact, the ears are short and the tail is relatively short compared with those of larger wallabies. When resting, the tail lies on the ground. The animal often runs with its body held close to parallel with the ground.

Male weight: Mean about 6.5 kg, with a recorded range of 3.3 to 11.0 kg

Female weight: Mean about 4.6 kg, with a recorded range of 2.2 to 7.4 kg

Male total length: Mean about 853 mm, range 720 to 1,150 mm

Female total length: Mean about 750 mm, range 720 to 870 mm

Identification: Sex and similar species

Males are substantially larger than females and have a more muscular chest and forearms. Females carry a single young in a forward-opening pouch with four teats.

The combination of an orange to rufous-red belly, no facial or hip stripes, a short tail and a compact body distinguishes this species from other pademelons. Bennett's wallaby is larger, has a longer tail and a different body shape. Identification should be checked carefully where both species use the same forest edges.

Identification: Field signs

Daytime sightings are uncommon because animals rest in thick vegetation. At night, look for low, agile movement from forest cover into nearby pasture, grassland or crop areas, usually within about 100 metres of the forest edge.

The species can make low growls, clucks, hiss-growls, chucks and hisses. Foot thumping is reported when an animal is disturbed. These sounds are useful supporting evidence but should not be used alone for identification.

The supplied sources do not provide diagnostic measurements for tracks or scats, and do not report nests, tree hollows, sloughs or distinctive eyeshine. Record photographs, size, colour, behaviour and the exact refuge or edge habitat used.

  • Search dense ground cover and forest margins during the last part of the day and after dusk.
  • Treat repeated foot thumping or rustling in dense cover as a possible macropod alert response and inspect the cover before clearing.
  • Do not rely on a single track or scat record where Bennett's wallaby or other macropods are present.

Distribution: National range

The species is now endemic to Tasmania. It was formerly present on mainland Australia but has been extinct there for more than 100 years.

In Australia, the confirmed current range is Tasmania and offshore islands. In Tasmania it is widespread and often abundant, occurring across a greater percentage of 100 square kilometre blocks than all but one other Tasmanian mammal.

Recorded island populations include the King Island cluster off north-west Tasmania and Flinders, Cape Barren, Clarke, Prime Seal, East Sister and West Sister islands in the Furneaux group.

  • Tasmania: widespread across the state, including many national parks.
  • South Australia and Victoria: formerly present, but mainland populations are extinct.
  • Bioregional interpretation: records can occur across wet forest, rainforest, dry eucalypt forest gullies and adjoining open land. The supplied sources do not provide a finer national bioregional list.

Distribution: Abundance and trend

The species is described as widespread and abundant in Tasmania. Spotlight surveys indicated an increase in abundance between 1975 and 1990, although the supplied sources do not provide a current statewide population estimate.

Local abundance can be high, with reported densities of about 8 animals per hectare. Density and site use should therefore be assessed locally rather than inferred from the species' broad distribution.

Reported maximum density: About 8 individuals per hectare

Survey trend: Spotlight surveys indicated an increase between 1975 and 1990

Current population estimate: Not provided in the supplied sources

Habitat: Preferred habitat

Rufous-bellied pademelons use dense vegetation for daytime refuge and nearby open land for feeding. Sites with a short distance between secure cover and productive grass or forb patches are particularly suitable.

Preferred habitats are rainforest and wet forest. Wet gullies within dry open eucalypt forest are also used.

The species occupies a wide range of habitats but is often associated with forest edges. It is especially common where forest is mixed with pasture, farms, crops or forestry areas.

  • Retain dense forest and scrub cover, especially beside cleared areas.
  • Give additional attention to wet gullies and vegetation that provides continuous or closely spaced cover.
  • Map the relationship between cover and adjacent grassland, pasture, crop fields and forestry coupes before clearing.

Habitat: Structural features

Important structure includes thick understorey, dense ground vegetation and forest edge cover that allows animals to move between daytime shelter and feeding areas. The species rarely moves more than about 100 metres from the security of the forest edge while feeding.

The sources do not provide a defined elevation range, temperature limit or minimum patch size. Habitat assessment should therefore focus on vegetation density, edge distance, wet gullies and access to nearby feeding areas.

Typical distance from forest edge while feeding: Rarely more than 100 metres

Elevation limit: Not specified in the supplied sources

Climate limit: Not specified in the supplied sources

Foraging habitat: Food and feeding sites

The species is a generalist herbivore that combines browsing and grazing. Feeding is concentrated in open or semi-open areas adjoining dense daytime cover.

The diet includes short green grasses, herbs, broad-leaved forbs, leaves, fruits, ferns and twigs. It is a low-fibre browser that also grazes.

In one forest-edge study, stomach contents by dry matter comprised about 53 percent grasses and 38 percent broad-leaved forbs, with small amounts of other foods. The animals selectively consumed forbs, which were twice as common in the diet as in the field.

Pademelons feed after dusk in adjoining open areas, including pasture, crop fields and other cleared land. They prefer to remain close to forest security.

Grass in reported diet: About 53 percent of stomach contents by dry matter in one study

Broad-leaved forbs in reported diet: About 38 percent of stomach contents by dry matter in one study

Foraging distance from forest edge: Usually no more than about 100 metres

  • Inspect short grass and forb patches within about 100 metres of dense forest or scrub.
  • Check crop fields, pasture edges and young forestry areas for browse damage and recent macropod activity.
  • Treat dense cover linked to productive open feeding areas as a single habitat unit during site assessment.

Foraging habitat: Forestry and crop interactions

Pademelons browse planted seedlings and can reduce tree growth. In feeding trials, animals selected Acacia melanoxylon and Pinus radiata stems and leaves over Eucalyptus, while browsing reduced the height of eucalypt seedlings by 17 percent compared with seedlings in exclosures.

This feeding behaviour can bring animals into construction, plantation establishment and agricultural work areas, particularly where new plantings are next to retained forest cover.

Reported reduction in eucalypt seedling height: 17 percent compared with seedlings in exclosures

Selected trial plants: Acacia melanoxylon and Pinus radiata were generally selected over Eucalyptus

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding can occur throughout the year, with most births concentrated in autumn and early winter. Females need dense refuge habitat for the pouch young and nearby feeding habitat for the prolonged period of care.

Females generally raise one young at a time. A female can have a pouch young and a young at foot during the same reproductive cycle because a new embryo can remain in diapause until the older young leaves the pouch.

Birth is followed by postpartum oestrus and mating, allowing reproduction to continue while the previous young is dependent. A female may raise about 1.3 young per year under favourable conditions.

Breeding season: No strict season. Births occur in all months, with a main peak from April to June and a smaller peak in October and November.

Litter size: Usually one young

Gestation: About 30 to 30.2 days

Pouch life: About 6.5 to 7 months, with first emergence at about 158 to 192 days

Weaning: About 240 to 300 days after birth, at a weight of about 3 kg

Age at maturity: Females have a median maturity age of about 13 months. Males have a median maturity age of about 17 months.

Lifespan: Wild longevity is reported by the Tasmanian Government as about 5 to 6 years. The academic species account states that lifespan in the wild is unknown.

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat needs

The sources do not describe a nest or breeding den. The young develops in the mother's pouch, so breeding habitat is primarily dense daytime refuge used by the female, with access to nearby feeding areas.

Retained forest edge, wet forest, rainforest, dense scrub and wet gullies are relevant during breeding because females and dependent young must move between shelter and food. Clearing can remove the cover itself or isolate it from feeding areas.

  • Inspect dense vegetation for females before clearing, particularly during April to June and October to November.
  • Use careful staged clearing where practical and check felled vegetation and disturbed cover for dependent young before removal.
  • Maintain movement access between refuge cover and nearby grass and forb feeding areas.

Sheltering habitat: Day refuges

Daytime shelter is provided by thick vegetation rather than documented hollows, burrows or nests. Shelter close to feeding areas is a defining feature of site use.

Animals spend daylight hours in thick vegetation, including rainforest, wet forest, dense scrub and wet gullies. The compact body and short limbs are suited to movement through dense vegetation.

The supplied documents do not identify a required hollow, burrow, nest, den or minimum cover height. Dense understorey and ground cover should nevertheless be treated as potential refuge habitat during inspections.

  • Search dense vegetation before works begin, including scrub, understorey, fern cover and wet gully vegetation.
  • Inspect cover at the forest edge as well as larger forest patches, because animals commonly feed close to these refuges after dusk.
  • Do not assume that an absence of daytime sightings means the cover is unoccupied.

Sheltering habitat: Movement between shelter and food

After dusk, pademelons move from daytime refuge to open feeding areas. They rarely stray more than about 100 metres from the forest edge, so narrow habitat strips and edge vegetation can remain important even where the retained patch is small.

Reported home ranges average about 29.7 hectares for males and 14.8 hectares for females, with overlapping ranges. A work area can therefore affect animals using habitat beyond the project boundary.

Male home range: About 29.7 hectares on average

Female home range: About 14.8 hectares on average

Edge distance: Usually no more than about 100 metres from forest edge while feeding

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

The species is widespread in Tasmania, but project impacts can be concentrated at forest edges where refuge, food and movement routes overlap. The main documented pressures are habitat clearing, browse management, predators and road or construction disturbance.

Clearing removes dense daytime refuge and can separate forest cover from nearby grass and forb feeding areas. Fragmentation also increases the length of exposed edges that animals must cross between shelter and food.

The species commonly uses forest margins beside pasture, crops and forestry coupes. Retaining only the open feeding area, or only a small remnant of dense cover, may therefore leave the habitat functionally incomplete.

  • Map dense refuge, wet gullies, forest edge and adjoining feeding areas together.
  • Avoid clearing connected cover during peak birth periods where practicable.
  • Keep machinery, stockpiles and lighting away from retained edge vegetation where these could block movement or reduce refuge value.

Threats: Predators and control programs

Recorded predators include feral cats, dogs, Tasmanian devils, spotted-tailed quolls and wedge-tailed eagles. Red foxes were formerly important on the mainland and remain a potential threat if established in Tasmania.

The academic account reports that 1080 baiting programs targeting marsupial herbivores caused population declines of 97 to 98 percent in one study. Eight of ten radio-collared pademelons killed during that operation were recovered an average of 31 metres from the bait line.

Reported decline after one 1080 program: 97 to 98 percent after a 17 day baiting program

Mean recovery distance from bait line: 31 metres for 8 of 10 radio-collared animals recovered

  • Check whether pest control or baiting is proposed near the work area and confirm its target species, timing and potential exposure pathway.
  • Manage domestic and construction-site dogs so they cannot enter retained refuge or chase wildlife.
  • Record carcasses and injured animals promptly and follow the project's fauna handling and reporting procedures.

Threats: Roads, fire, disease and hydrology

The supplied sources do not quantify road mortality, fire response, disease impacts, or hydrology change for this species. Roads and construction traffic can still create direct collision and disturbance risks where animals cross between forest cover and open feeding areas.

Wet forest and wet gullies are used habitat. Drainage, altered runoff, sedimentation or loss of moisture in these areas could reduce refuge quality, although the sources do not provide species-specific impact thresholds.

Documented health pressures include a large strongylate nematode, Baylisascaris tasmaniensis larvae in tissues, and several ectoparasitic mites. No disease prevalence or project-specific risk rate is provided.

  • Use night-time traffic controls and fauna signage where roads cross forest edges or known feeding routes.
  • Keep drainage and sediment controls out of wet gullies and dense refuge wherever practicable.
  • Record evidence of sick, injured or unusually lethargic animals and seek wildlife health advice rather than handling them unnecessarily.

Survey methodology: 1. Nocturnal spotlighting

Survey for the rufous-bellied pademelon should focus on nocturnal activity around dense forest cover and adjoining open feeding areas. The species is widespread and abundant in Tasmania, but the mainland population is extinct and the species may be encountered in South Australian projects under the state listing provided for this profile.

Undertake spotlighting after dusk along forest edges, wet gullies, rainforest and wet forest margins, and adjoining pasture or crop areas.

Use routes that remain close to dense cover because pademelons commonly leave daytime shelter to feed but rarely move more than 100 metres from the forest edge.

Record the date, start and finish time, weather, route length, observers, spotlight type, habitat, number of animals and the distance of each detection from cover.

Give particular attention to short grass, herbs and forbs beside retained forest, because these are preferred feeding resources.

Activity period: Primarily nocturnal, with activity beginning around dusk.

Typical distance from forest edge: Rarely more than 100 metres.

Preferred habitat: Rainforest, wet forest, wet gullies in dry open eucalypt forest, and forest edges beside open feeding areas.

  • Repeat spotlighting on separate suitable nights when the project may remove or fragment dense cover.
  • Avoid treating a zero count as evidence of absence where wet forest, dense vegetation and adjoining feeding areas remain available.

Survey methodology: 2. Daytime habitat and shelter searches

Map dense daytime refuge vegetation, wet gullies, forest edges and adjoining open feeding areas before clearing or construction begins.

Walk the proposed disturbance footprint and its edges during daylight to identify thick vegetation, animal tracks, scats, browse signs, runways and places where an animal could remain concealed.

Record the area and condition of retained cover, the width of vegetated connections, and any breaks between forest patches and feeding areas.

Use the daytime assessment to position nocturnal spotlighting routes and to identify areas requiring a pre-clearance check.

  • Search slowly and quietly through dense vegetation before machinery enters the area.
  • Treat dense ground cover as potential shelter even when no animal is visible.

Survey methodology: 3. Camera and other supplementary detection

Use motion-sensor cameras as supplementary detection tools where dense vegetation, restricted access or safety conditions limit spotlighting.

Place cameras at forest edges, narrow vegetated connections, animal runways and likely routes between daytime cover and open feeding areas.

Operate cameras for a period that reflects the size, habitat complexity and risk of the project, and report the number of cameras, deployment dates, camera nights and locations.

Use trapping only where it is approved, necessary and supervised by appropriately authorised personnel, because the supplied documents do not provide a species-specific trapping effort or trapping protocol.

  • Do not substitute cameras for nocturnal searches when the project may remove dense refuge vegetation.
  • Record non-detections, equipment failures and access limitations as well as confirmed records.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

The supplied documents do not specify a prescribed number of spotlighting nights, search hours, camera nights, transect length or trapping effort for this species.

Set and justify effort in the survey plan according to the area of habitat affected, the amount of dense cover, the number of forest edges and gullies, seasonal conditions, access and the likelihood of dependent young.

Submit confirmed records, including reliable non-detections where required by the project, to the relevant state wildlife database and retain the coordinates and supporting photographs or other evidence.

Report survey limitations, weather, observer effort, detection conditions, habitat affected and any animal handling or relocation.

  • Check the current state wildlife database and permit requirements before fieldwork starts.
  • Use the current accepted scientific name, Thylogale billardierii, and record the common name used by the relevant regulator.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise habitat loss

Avoiding removal of dense refuge vegetation is the first management measure. Plan the work around the species' use of forest edges, wet gullies and adjoining open feeding areas, and confirm all state and Commonwealth requirements before disturbance.

Retain rainforest, wet forest, wet gullies and dense vegetation wherever practicable.

Retain connected cover between forest patches and avoid creating isolated strips or breaks between daytime refuge and nearby feeding areas.

Retain adjoining short-grass, herb and forb areas where they can be kept outside the disturbance footprint, because pademelons feed in these open areas at night.

Avoid unnecessary removal of understorey and ground cover at the forest edge.

  • Map habitat to be retained and mark the approved clearing boundary before machinery arrives.
  • Do not use the species' abundance in Tasmania as a reason to remove habitat without checking the applicable approval and permit conditions.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and work planning

Check whether the project requires state fauna permits, wildlife handling authority or approval under the relevant planning and environmental legislation.

Check whether an EPBC Act referral is required if the species or its habitat is nationally listed for the project location, and confirm the current listing before work starts.

Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies survey methods, qualified personnel, exclusion zones, stop-work triggers, handling arrangements, veterinary contacts, release sites and reporting requirements.

Where practicable, stage clearing so retained habitat is available before disturbance begins and so fauna can move away from the active work area without being driven into roads or machinery paths.

Main birth periods: April to June and October to November.

Gestation: About 30 days.

Pouch life: About 6.5 to 7 months.

Weaning: About 240 to 300 days, or approximately 8 to 10 months.

  • Consider the breeding calendar when setting the work program, with particular care during the main birth periods of April to June and October to November.
  • Allow for dependent young because pouch life is about 7 months and young remain at foot and continue suckling for a further period.

Before habitat disturbance: Site preparation

Complete the pre-clearance survey shortly before works, using nocturnal searches and a daytime inspection of dense cover and forest edges.

Mark retained vegetation, exclusion zones, safe access routes, release areas and any habitat features that must be checked before removal.

Install exclusion fencing only where it will direct animals towards retained cover and will not trap them within the clearing or block access to food and shelter.

Brief all operators on the species' appearance, nocturnal behaviour, likely refuge habitat, speed limits, stop-work triggers and the fauna spotter catcher's authority.

Adult size: Adults generally weigh 4 to 11 kg; males can reach about 11 to 12 kg and females average about 3.9 to 4.6 kg.

Body length: Overall length is about 1 to 1.2 metres in the Tasmanian Government account; mean total length was about 853 mm for males and 750 mm for females in the academic account.

  • Do not install fencing that creates a dead end, directs animals towards traffic or separates an animal from its dependent young.
  • Confirm that machinery, lighting and night works will not compromise the spotter catcher's ability to detect animals at the forest edge.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and spotter coordination

The fauna spotter catcher should control the sequence of clearing, maintain a clear view of the work area and stop machinery whenever an animal or dependent young may be at risk. Pademelons are most likely to be encountered in dense cover and at the edge of open feeding areas.

Complete a daily pre-start inspection of the clearing footprint, retained vegetation, exclusion fencing, access routes and known release areas.

Keep a qualified fauna spotter catcher present and in direct communication with machine operators whenever vegetation or ground cover is being disturbed.

Clear in a controlled direction towards retained habitat where safe, leaving an escape route rather than surrounding animals with machinery.

Use low speeds and staged removal around dense vegetation, forest edges and wet gullies so the spotter catcher has time to detect and manage animals.

  • Stop work immediately when the spotter catcher calls stop, loses visual contact with the active clearing face or identifies an animal in the exclusion zone.
  • Keep vehicles, workers and dogs away from retained refuge and release habitat.

During habitat disturbance: Finding and handling an animal

Stop machinery and establish a quiet exclusion zone if a pademelon is seen, heard or suspected within the work area.

Allow the animal to move into nearby retained cover where this can occur safely and without driving it towards roads, machinery or people.

Handle the animal only when necessary to prevent injury, and only by a person authorised and competent under the applicable state requirements.

Use an approved nearby release area with dense cover and access to adjoining feeding habitat when relocation is necessary, and record the release location.

  • Do not chase an animal through dense vegetation or continue clearing around it.
  • Do not separate a female from a pouch young or young at foot unless authorised personnel have assessed the situation.
  • Transfer an injured animal to a veterinarian or authorised wildlife carer as soon as practicable, using the approved wildlife rescue process.
  • Do not keep, transport or release the animal outside the authority of the relevant permit or fauna management plan.

During habitat disturbance: Habitat features and stop-work triggers

Inspect dense ground cover, logs, rocks, debris and other potential shelter before they are removed or crushed, even though the supplied species accounts do not identify these as specialised structures for this species.

Check the underside and surrounding cover of material that must be moved, and move it slowly under the spotter catcher's direction.

Treat wet gullies and forest edge vegetation as high-priority search areas because they provide daytime refuge and routes to feeding areas.

Stop work for any live animal, injured animal, dependent young, unexpected concentration of animals, damaged exclusion fence or failure of the approved fauna controls.

  • Do not assume that a cleared area is fauna-free because no animal was seen during a brief inspection.
  • Recheck an area after machinery has withdrawn and before work resumes if visibility was poor or cover was removed rapidly.

During habitat disturbance: Records and incident response

Record every animal observation, capture, attempted capture, relocation, injury, mortality, nest or shelter check, stop-work event and permit breach.

For each record, note the date, time, location, habitat, activity, sex or life stage where known, action taken, release or treatment location, personnel and outcome.

Notify the project environmental officer and the relevant regulator or wildlife authority of injuries, deaths, escapes, unauthorised handling and other reportable incidents.

Review the work method after an incident and change the clearing sequence, exclusion controls or survey coverage before restarting.

  • Keep photographs, coordinates, permit details, daily checklists and veterinary or wildlife carer records with the project environmental records.
  • Submit required fauna records to the relevant state wildlife database.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

Post-clearance checks should confirm that no animal remains in the disturbed area and that retained cover, release areas and movement routes remain usable. Continue controls until the site is stable and all permit conditions are met.

Inspect the cleared footprint, retained vegetation edge, exclusion fencing and access routes after each clearing stage.

Undertake a final daylight search of dense cover and a nocturnal check where the clearing removed habitat used for shelter or feeding access.

Check for injured, trapped, displaced or dead animals and respond through the approved fauna management process.

Remove temporary fencing only after the environmental officer confirms that it will not create a trap or obstruct movement between retained cover and feeding areas.

  • Do not declare the area clear solely because machinery has completed the planned pass.
  • Reinspect sites where vegetation was mulched, stacked or left in windrows because these can conceal animals or restrict movement.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

Monitor retained forest, wet gullies, dense edge vegetation and adjoining open feeding areas for continued use by pademelons.

Use the same spotlighting routes, camera locations or observation points where practical so activity can be compared before and after works.

Record the timing, effort, weather, detections, injuries, mortalities, habitat condition and any corrective action.

Provide the final fauna report to the approval authority and project environmental officer, and submit required records to the relevant state wildlife database.

Useful monitoring focus: Forest edges and dense cover within about 100 metres of adjoining feeding areas, because pademelons rarely stray farther from forest edge.

  • Continue monitoring for the period specified in the approval, fauna management plan or permit.
  • Escalate repeated detections inside the work area, repeated fence breaches, injury or mortality, or loss of retained cover.

After habitat disturbance: Controls, offsets and corrective action

Maintain retained vegetation, movement routes, exclusion fencing and site speed controls for as long as the project risk remains.

Repair erosion, access damage, weed invasion or other changes that reduce dense refuge cover or disconnect retained vegetation.

Where residual impacts cannot be avoided or minimised, apply the offset, rehabilitation or other compensatory measure required by the relevant approval.

Document the area, condition and management requirements of any offset or compensatory habitat.

  • Do not describe an offset as a substitute for retaining suitable habitat within the project area where avoidance is practicable.
  • Check the approval conditions for the required offset location, security, management period and reporting.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore cover and connections

Rehabilitation should recreate connected dense cover beside suitable open feeding areas. The aim is to restore daytime shelter, safe movement and access to the low-fibre grasses, herbs and forbs used by this browser and grazer.

Replant with locally native rainforest, wet forest or wet-gully species that match the pre-disturbance vegetation community and site conditions.

Restore a continuous understorey and ground layer rather than establishing isolated trees with open ground beneath them.

Reconnect retained forest with adjoining dense vegetation and keep links close to open feeding areas where practicable.

Use locally suitable grasses, herbs and forbs in open feeding areas, while preventing these areas from becoming dominated by weeds.

Diet: Grasses and broad-leafed forbs form major parts of the diet; one study reported 53% grasses and 38% broad-leafed forbs by dry matter near a young pine plantation.

Recorded browsing impact: Browsing reduced the height of eucalypt seedlings by 17% compared with seedlings inside exclosures in the cited study.

  • Protect new plantings from browsing until they are established, using guards or fencing where the approved design allows.
  • Do not create artificial openings that increase the distance between shelter and feeding habitat.

Rehabilitation actions: Ground structure and site protection

Retain or reinstate suitable fallen timber, low vegetation and other ground structure where these were present before clearing and do not create a fire or safety hazard.

Do not install nest boxes as a pademelon measure because the supplied species accounts describe ground and dense-vegetation shelter rather than hollow use by this species.

Control weeds that replace dense native understorey or reduce the availability of native grasses, herbs and forbs.

Manage domestic dogs, feral cats and other introduced predators in accordance with the site plan and relevant authority requirements.

Known predators: Feral cats, dogs, Tasmanian devils, spotted-tailed quolls and wedge-tailed eagles are recorded predators in Tasmania; red foxes and dingoes were predators on the former mainland range.

  • Use fire planning that protects regenerating wet forest, rainforest, wet gullies and dense refuge vegetation while meeting the land manager's legal fire obligations.
  • Avoid piling rehabilitation material where it blocks movement between retained cover and feeding areas.

Rehabilitation actions: Monitoring and success measures

Inspect rehabilitation after planting and after major weather or fire events to confirm survival, cover development, connectivity and control of weeds.

Use repeat spotlighting or motion-sensor cameras at restored edges and connections to test whether pademelons return to use the area.

Measure the area of native cover established, the continuity of vegetated links, survival of plantings, condition of feeding areas, weed cover, browsing damage and records of pademelons.

Set success measures against the pre-disturbance habitat assessment and the approved rehabilitation plan, rather than relying only on animal sightings.

Indicative density recorded in Tasmania: Pademelons can reach about 8 individuals per hectare, although this is not a rehabilitation target.

Reported home ranges: About 29.7 hectares for males and 14.8 hectares for females in the cited Tasmanian study.

  • Replace failed plantings and repair breaks in fencing or connectivity when monitoring identifies a problem.
  • Continue monitoring until the approval authority or land manager accepts that the restored cover and movement routes are established.

Sources