Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00432:reg:3:p5
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00432
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 3 (pt 5/14)
Character Range: 31202–34019

such as the Kimberley is not known.
Bilby burrows appear to be important refuges for a variety of other fauna such as goannas, echidnas and other small mammals (Read et al. 2008; Hofstede & Dziminski 2017).

3.5.1             Interactions with dingoes
Dingo and bilby distributions have overlapped for thousands of years. Dingoes are also known to take the bilby as prey, but have not been substantially linked with the decline of the species (Southgate 1990a; Southgate et al. 2007), with the exception of Queensland (Augusteyn et al. 2021) where wild canids (including Dingoes) have been identified as a potential threat. In contrast to their response to the threat of feral cat predation, bilbies show an innate antipredator response to the threat of dingo predation (Steindler et al. 2018) – noting that this may be lost without continued exposure to predators (Jolly et al. 2018).
Bilbies and dingoes occur in similar environmental conditions, and the presence of dingoes may improve habitat suitability for bilbies by predating upon or displacing more effective predators such as the foxes and feral cats. The dingo is known as an important predator of feral cats in the Tanami and can possibly displace foxes (Southgate et al. 2007). At Astrebla Downs NP (Qld) feral cat remains were recorded in wild canid scats (Augusteyn et al. 2021) although it was noted that on one occasion wild canids were observed scavenging from piles of old cat carcasses. In arid areas dingoes have been found to have positive effects on small mammals and negative effects on foxes (Letnic et al. 2009b, cited in Letnic et al. 2012). Kennedy et al. (2011) observed a negative correlation between dingo and cat activity in northern Australia, but noted the reason was less clear and may be due to cats avoiding areas where dingos are present or due to cats being less abundant in areas where dingo density is high. However, one study in central Queensland concluded that there was no evidence that dingoes excluded feral cats (Fancourt et al. 2019). McRae (2004) reports that there is significant anecdotal but little scientific evidence that dingoes may exclude foxes from some areas, Saunders et al. (1995) suggests that dingoes may regulate fox density rather than their distribution under specific circumstances. Augusteyn et al. (2021) noted that in addition to interactions between predators, the impact wild canids have on a species may depend on how other threats interreact.

3.6                 Distribution
Before European settlement, bilbies occurred over 70 % of the Australian mainland, with fossil deposits suggesting a range that also included Rockhampton in Central Eastern Queensland (Hocknull 2005; Hocknull et al. 2017). Since the late 1800s, bilbies have disappeared from approximately 80 % of their former range