Ms Leah Kemp

Telephone	+61 8 8313 3935
Position	Postgraduate
Email	leah.kemp@adelaide.edu.au
Fax	+61 8 8313 6222
Building	Benham Laboratories
Floor/Room	1 18a
Campus	North Terrace
Org Unit	Ecology Evolution and Landscape Science

To link to this page, please use the following URL:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/leah.kemp

Research Interests

Research Topic:

Establishment and habitat requirements of the Tammar Wallaby (Macropus eugenii eugenii) reintroduced into Innes National Park SA.

The SA mainland tammar wallaby, was once widespread across southern western Australia, Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula, and the Adelaide Hills, and has been presumed extinct since the early 1900s (Poole, Wood & Simms 1991). As luck would have it, Sir George Grey (former Governor of SA) took a number of these SA mainland tammars to Kawau Island in New Zealand in 1870.

The Department for Environment and Heritage (DEH), The Royal Zoological Society of South Australia, and The University of Adelaide are collaborating to reintroduce this previously extinct species into part of its former range, Innes National Park on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia.

Aspects of the reintroduction that I am studying include: group cohesion, exploratory movements, home range, habitat use, and diet. With the aim to: Determine whether group familiarity influences the dynamics of group cohesion, and survival; Study the initial movements of released groups and assess exploratory movement patterns; Determine the home range and core area use of each individual, relative to other individuals; Investigate habitat use and selection in connection to habitat availability; Analyse the diet of the tammar wallabies and the resident western grey kangaroos relative to the presence and abundance of the vegetation in the area.

Results found from this work will have multiple benefits. These results will further our understanding of reintroductions of native mammals. More specifically, these results will increase our understanding of tammar wallaby wild population ecology. Having a detailed knowledge of group dynamics, exploratory behaviour, diet, habitat and home range requirements will ensure that decisions made about future reintroductions will provide the best chance for this species survival in the long term.

Supervisor(s): Dr. Susan Carthew, Dr. Greg Johnston

Project Support:
The Department of Environment and Heritage Monarto Zoological Park
Adelaide Zoo
Conservation Volunteers Australia
Innes National Park

Links: http://www.deh.sa.gov.au/biodiversity/tammar.html http://users.esc.net.au/~biologysociety/field7.htm

Entry last updated: Friday, 22 Jul 2011

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