Golden bandicoot

Isoodon auratus

Blamed on cats

IUCN status: Vulnerable

EPBC Predator Threat Rating: Moderate

IUCN claim: “The reasons for past declines of the Golden Bandicoot are predation by feral cats and red foxes”

Studies in support

Cats were the main predator of a group of reintroduced, predator-inexperienced bandicoots (Blythman et al. 2020) and also on locally-born bandicoots (Wysong 2016; Doherty et al. 2017). Bandicoots were last confirmed in the Nullarbor and the Canning Stock Route 22-52 and 40-51 years after cats arrived, respectively (Wallach and Lundgren 2025).

Studies not in support

Cats were not recorded as predators of a group of reintroduced bandicoots (Christensen & Burrows 1995). A cat breached a bandicoot enclosure, none were hunted in five weeks (from Moseby et al. 2015). Bandicoots were last confirmed in western NSW (two records) 23 years before, to 30 years after, cats arrived (Wallach and Lundgren 2025).

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

No studies were found linking cats to golden bandicoot population trends. The fate of reintroduced animals is not a reliable proxy for the fate of populations. In one region it cannot be verified that extirpation occurred after cat arrival.

Evidence linking Isoodon auratus to cats. A. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Isoodon auratus and cats. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that cats contribute to the decline of Isoodon auratus, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance. Gold borders indicate studies that meet qualities of scientific rigour. B. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of cats. Error bars show minimum and maximum extinction intervals. Predator arrival records were digitized from Abbott 2008. See methods section in Wallach and Lundgren 2025 for details on evidence categories.
Evidence linking Isoodon auratus to cats. A. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Isoodon auratus and cats. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that cats contribute to the decline of Isoodon auratus, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance. Gold borders indicate studies that meet qualities of scientific rigour. B. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of cats. Error bars show minimum and maximum extinction intervals. Predator arrival records were digitized from Abbott 2008. See methods section in Wallach and Lundgren 2025 for details on evidence categories.

References

Abbott, The spread of the cat, Felis catus, in Australia: re-examination of the current conceptual model with additional information. Conservation Science Western Australia 7 (2008).

Blythman, M., Lohr, C., Sims, C. and Morris, K., 2020. Translocation of Golden Bandicoots, Isoodon auratus barrowensis, from a fenced enclosure to unfenced managed land on Matuwa (formally Lorna Glen) September 2015: Final Report. Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions, Perth Western Australia, 43.

Christensen, P. and Burrows, N., 1995. Project desert dreaming: experimental reintroduction of mammals to the Gibson Desert, Western Australia. Reintroduction Biology of Australian and New Zealand Fauna’.(Ed. M. Serena.) pp, pp.199-207.

Doherty, T.S., Dickman, C.R., Johnson, C.N., Legge, S.M., Ritchie, E.G. and Woinarski, J.C., 2017. Impacts and management of feral cats Felis catus in Australia. Mammal Review, 47(2), pp.83-97.

EPBC. (2015) Threat Abatement Plan for Predation by Feral Cats. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, Department of Environment, Government of Australia. (Table A1).

IUCN Red List. https://www.iucnredlist.org/ Accessed June 2023

Moseby, K.E., Peacock, D.E. and Read, J.L., 2015. Catastrophic cat predation: a call for predator profiling in wildlife protection programs. Biological Conservation, 191, pp.331-340.

Wallach A.D., Lundgren E.J. (2025) Review of evidence that foxes and cats cause extinctions of Australia’s endemic mammals. BioScience. DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biaf046

Wysong, M.L., 2016. Predator ecology in the arid rangelands of Western Australia: spatial interactions and resource competition between an apex predator, the dingo Canis dingo, and an introduced mesopredator, the feral cat Felis catus. PhD thesis, University of Western Australia, Perth.