Designing artificial dens for the Northern Quoll from readily available materials in the post-mining landscape

The Northern Quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus) is under increasing threat from widespread mining activities in north-western Australia. Post-mining rehabilitation activities include the creation of waste rock piles with crevices that are potential refuge sites for Northern Quolls. However, creating artificial dens that effectively buffer temperature and humidity extremes, as well as promote breeding can be expensive and time consuming. Here, we describe a small demonstration trial showing that readily available mine site material (e.g. high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes) can be incorporated into waste dump design to create low-cost artificial dens that may be suitable for the Northern Quoll. Over the study period, mean maximum temperature in the buried artificial dens was 33.6°C with a range of 2.1°C, and mean maximum humidity was 62.1% with a range of 21.2%, which were similar to those recorded in natural denning sites. Furthermore, remote sensing cameras and track pads indicated that Northern Quolls were actively entering and exiting these constructed artificial dens. These results suggest there may be potential for creating artificial dens using discarded HDPE pipes, if that material is of sufficient length and can be buried to a depth that provides thermal buffering. Replicated trials are required to fully test the efficacy HDPE pipes as artificial dens and to determine the optimal design and placement of the pipes in relation to surrounding landscape features and microclimatic attributes.