HOME-RANGE SIZE AND FIDELITY OF WESTERN GRAY KANGAROOS (MACROPUS-FULIGINOSUS) LIVING IN REMNANTS OF WANDOO WOODLAND AND ADJACENT FARMLAND

The home ranges of western grey kangaroos living in a 300-ha remnant of wandoo woodland surrounded by farmland at Baker's Hill, Western Australia, were studied over four years. The home ranges of six of the population of c. 200 animals, measured from radio-tracking, varied from 39 to 70 ha; there was, on average, only a 16.4% overlap in the area used during the day and that used at night. Many of the kangaroos fed at night on farmland. The night ranges of 51 tagged animals were obtained from spotlight locations of these individuals. The animals showed a strong fidelity to their home ranges. Only three shifted their night ranges; all were males and about five years old when they did so. However, the centres of the ranges moved only 600-800 m. Older males had significantly larger night ranges than younger males and females. Individual females and the younger males showed preferences for using particular access points to get onto farmland; the older males showed no preferences. The core areas of the night ranges of many adult females overlapped closely in 'groups', but there was no evidence of 'mob' home ranges that were socially separated.