Headstarting is a conservation technique for
endangered species, in which young animals are raised artificially and subsequently released into the wild. The technique allows a greater proportion of the young to reach independence, without predation or loss to other natural causes.[1][2][3][4]
The technique was trialled on land-based mammals for the first time in Australia. In the three years prior to May 2021, young
bridled nail-tail wallabies were placed in a fenced-off area of 10-hectare (25-acre) area within
Avocet Nature Refuge in
Queensland. The population, safe from their main predator,
feral cats, more than doubled over this period.[6]
References
^
abAlberts, Allison; Lemm, Jeffrey; Grant, Tandora; Jackintell, Lori (2004). "Testing the Utility of Headstarting as a Conservation Strategy for West Indian Iguanas". Iguanas: Biology and Conservation.
University of California Press. p. 210.
ISBN978-0-520-23854-1.