Predator awareness training improves survival of released critically endangered western ringtail possums, pseudocheirus occidentalis

We provided predator awareness training to a group of captive-raised western ringtail possums (Pseudocheirus occidentalis), a critically endangered arboreal marsupial, to assess their learning capacity and test if predator awareness improved survival after release into the wild. Fifteen out of 29 captively raised individuals undertook three training sessions, during which they were placed in an enclosure with a taxidermic fox (Vulpes vulpes) and fox urine, while producing loud noises to frighten the animal. In addition, in the third session, the fox was also placed on wheels to make it move. All individuals were released in Yalgorup National Park (Western Australia) and radio tracked for three months. Two individuals from the control group and two from the trained group were excluded from the analyses, therefore the resulting sample consisted of 25 possums. Fox awareness training improved survival rate: 10 of 13 trained and 3 of 12 untrained possums were still alive three months after release (χ² = 6.740, N = 25, df = 1, p = 0.009). Fox predation was confirmed in two animals, both of which had not received the training. Our results show that possums can learn and be taught to fear foxes to improve the success of their translocations.