The Wildlife Lab

26/08/2026

While doing a fuel reduction burn on his bush property yesterday afternoon, Rob filmed some unusual Magpie behaviour and uploaded a video to his socials. Picked up by Yahoo News today, it may be the first photographed observation of these smart birds learning to hunt in front of fires. If you’ve seen this before, let us know!

Three leading experts in magpies have never seen the behaviour before.

15/07/2026

House Crow (Corvus splendens) is found throughout the sub-continent and parts of the Middle East. It is widely introduced and considered a high risk invasive species. A pair have been at Rockingham for 10 days so far without being removed by authorities. Many in Perth’s birding community have been to see these confiding visitors. Rob checked them out today. As much of a drawcard as they are for twitchers, it is important that they are removed for the security of our native birds. Hopefully DPIRD will get on to the task soon as it has been a surprisingly long time.

06/07/2026

It’s been a busy few weeks with Rob travelling to Bunbury, Manjimup and Walpole as part of the fire Research Collaboration with DBCA, ECU and Murdoch University. Our lab is investigating the impacts of prescribed burning on threatened mammals, hollow logs, birds and tree hollows. Ongoing until 2029, so stay tuned as we bring you more.

14/06/2026

New research from PhD student, Bec Quah, was published in Ecology and Evolution this week! 📄🦘🍄

In this study, Bec examined the fungal diets of two threatened ecosystem engineers, the boodie (burrowing bettong) and woylie (brush-tailed bettong), using s**t DNA metabarcoding. Both species are widely translocated to predator-free areas but is food a limitation in establishment success?

Sampling was undertaken across five field sites in WA and the NT, ranging from Mediterranean-type to arid climates, to assess the plasticity of fungal diets. This work seeks to guide future translocations of these species and inform potentially ecological restoration value. Read it here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.73839

Bec’s PhD is supervised by A/Prof Anna Hopkins, A/Prof Rob Davis, Dr Saul Cowen (DBCA) and Dr Harriet Mills (Perth Zoo Science).

First video: Boodie release on Faure Island.
Second video: Woylie release at Mt Gibson Sanctuary.
All animals were handled under the appropriate ethics and licences 📑

ECU School Of Science

20/03/2026

I talked at length about the need to manage at scale - councils working together. Also that culling while effective is not the only solution over alternatives like managing roost sites, protecting infrastructure and moving flocks on. Also controlling breeding. Unfortunately most of this didn’t make the cut.

20/03/2026

Rob was interviewed about invasive corellas in the Perth and Bunbury region. Thanks to Nine.com.au for the opportunity and it should air on the Perth News at 6pm. The lab is working on a genetic project to identify hybrid corellas with Sean Buckley as well as starting research on corella ecology more broadly.

14/03/2026

Rob will be crossing live via zoom to ABC TV News Breakfast show at 730 Perth time/1030 AEST tomorrow talking rodenticides and what the ban means. Tune in if you remember!

13/03/2026

The newly announced rat poison bans are a long time coming. But what does it means for wildlife? Rob’s thoughts are out in The Conversation, reflecting on a decade working towards this outcome with Mike Lohr CUBE - Curtin University Behavioural Ecology Owl Friendly Margaret River Region and many more.

Rat and mouse baits are an everyday product. But these chemicals can persist in the tissues of rodents that eat them for months and poison native animals.

10/03/2026

: Woo hoo! 🦉 Together, we did it! The regulator is now recommending a BAN on the public sale of bird-killing rat poisons.

After massive public pressure and a decade of campaigning by BirdLife Australia and other conservation groups, the APVMA has strengthened its recommendation to include the removal of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) from retail sale. This announcement comes just one week before the original submission period was due to close.

This was not the original decision proposed by the APVMA, and if approved and implemented, SGARs would be restricted to licensed professionals and removed from shelves, marking one of the biggest conservation wins for Australian wildlife in recent years.

These toxic baits have been killing owls, eagles, and other native wildlife across Australia. This new recommendation is a huge step forward in protecting our birds and other animals.

Victory is in sight, and it is thanks to all of you. Over 10,000 submissions to the APVMA were from BirdLife Australia supporters alone. The APVMA heard your voices and we thank them for listening.

While this is a huge win for wildlife, we still need this recommendation to be finalised and signed off. So over to you, Julie Collins, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry of Australia, to make it official.

There is still work to do so stay tuned for more and we thank you so much for your passion and support. Today, you have all made a difference for Australia's wildlife.

📸 Ray Sayers, Rebecca Harrison & Teresa Madgwick

10/03/2026

Breaking: APVMA suspends sale of persistent owl poisons in Australia! We have fought tirelessly for years about the secondary impacts of second generation rodenticides and after meeting with the APVMA last week this is not an outcome we had anticipated!

We hope this is a prelude to a permanent ban on sale to consumers pulling Australia in to line with other developed countries.

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has today certified that it is in the public interest for chemical products contai