HARRASSING wallabies could be the next big thing in Australia. But this
bizarre-sounding activity isn’t a hobby of mindless thugs. It’s an innovative
new strategy to protect a species.
By showing tammar wallabies a stuffed fox and then chasing them with a net,
biologists have taught captive-bred tammars to be more afraid of the predators
that helped make them extinct across much of mainland Australia.
What’s more, trained animals can pass their newfound skills on to untrained
animals—the first clear demonstration of social transmission in
marsupials. Such social learning could be vital to conservation efforts, because
it’s not possible…
