Predator avoidance, feeding and habitat use in the red-necked pademelon, Thylogale thetis, at rainforest edges

Food acquisition and predator avoidance are principal, but often conflictin g, components of the survival strategies of most animals. We investigated t he behaviour of red-necked pademelons, Thylogale thetis, (Marsupialia: Macr opodidae) in pasture adjacent to rainforest edges in eastern Australia, by testing the relationships among age and sex of individuals, time of day, se ason, site, distance from cover (forest edge), feeding, vigilance and group size. Foraging behaviour was responsive to changes in predation risk. Feed ing and vigilance activities accounted for most of the activity budget of f oraging pademelons, and were negatively correlated. Reproductive females an d individuals in smaller groups foraged closer to forest edges, were more v igilant and spent less time feeding. Vigilance decreased with increasing gr oup size even after controlling for other confounding factors. Increased pr edation risks of feeding further from forest cover were offset by the padem elons doing so only if their group size was large, so that the time allocat ed to vigilance did not increase.