Dancing with the devil: Could native predators inside 'predator free' havens be good for the conservation of threatened native prey species?

As invasive predators continue to drive global biodiversity loss, predator-free havens are rapidly being established to recover threatened fauna. An unintended consequence of these efforts is that havened populations can lose anti-predator traits, making them poorly suited for reintroductions into landscapes that contain predators. One approach showing promise in preventing the loss of these critical responses from havened populations is in situ predator exposure. Here we evaluate this via experimental translocations to determine whether predation pressure from a native mesopredator (chuditch; Dasyurus geoffroii) is effective in retaining behavioural and morphological anti-predator traits in the Endangered woylie (Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi). We conducted replicated reintroductions of semi-havened (free from invasive predators but exposed to chuditch) and non-havened (control) woylies into vacant bushland containing chuditch, feral foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and feral cats (Felis catus). ..., These data were collected following a translocation of woylies. Woylies were captured multiple times following their release, during which information on their age, sex, pes lenght, head length, weight, and behaviour were taken, as well as faecal samples which were later assay for faecal glucocorticoid concentrations. The names of animal handlers have been anonymised, and no further processing has occurred to the data presented here - they are in their raw format., , # Dancing with the devil: Could native predators inside 'predator free' havens be good for the conservation of threatened native prey species?

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tx95x6b74](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tx95x6b74)

## Description of the data and file structure

These data are collated from capture-recapture studies of woylies at 3 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months after their translocation to satellite forest blocks in Dryandra National Park.

### Files and variables

#### Files: Contine\_Captfile.csv and Stokes\_Captfile.csv

**Description:** These are the capture files that were input into the CJS models (one for Stokes, one for Contine).

##### Variables

* \#Session: This is the primary session
* ID: Animal identity
* Occasion: The night within a session
* Detector: Trap number 
* Source: The population that the animal was originally sourced from

#### Files: Continetrapfile.csv and StokesCaptfile.csv

**Description:** A list of traps used for the CJS models for C...