The encounter 2002 expedition to the Isles of St Francis, South Australia: Vertebrate fauna

• Main Authors: Robinson, AC, Armstrong, DM, Armstrong, GP, Dalzell, B, Canty, PB, McDowell, M, Hall, L-M
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Australasia 2003
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; Ecology; Terrestrial Ecology; New Zealand; Francis Island
• Online Access: http://www.rssa.org.au/publications.html; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/132414

The vertebrate fauna of the Isles of St Francis includes eight native and one introduced mammal, thirty native and one introduced bird and nineteen native reptiles. The terrestrial vertebrate ecosystem is dependent on the annual nesting of thousands of Short-tailed Shearwaters. A population of Carpet Pythons at a density of 1.5 per hectare occurs on St Francis Island and data from a mark-recapture study between 1988 and 2002 is presented. Counts of both Australian Sea-lion and New Zealand Fur-seal populations indicate a previously unrecorded breeding colony of the former on Masillon Island and a possible population expansion in the latter since the first counts in the early 1980's